mmmmmm ...ISU Buttermilk Brownies...mmmmmmm

Do you love chocolate? Do you love brownies that don't come from a box? Do you love recipes that include buttermilk?

Then you'll love ISU Buttermilk Brownies. Check these out!

When I went to college at ISU, this was always a must when having lunch on campus. My absolute favorite brownie recipe in the entire world. It's also a very old and sort of secret recipe. The consistency is more like cake and the frosting is like a thin layer of heaven. I guarantee you that one piece of this will satisfy your chocolate craving for at least an hour ;o)

The recipe is kind of interesting in that it's given in weights instead of volumes, so to make it easy for people without a scale I went through and measured everything in volumes. I'll give it to you both ways so that kitchen ninjas with scales can have fun, too.
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ISU Buttermilk Brownies (yield 2 lbs., 3.5 oz. or one 9x13 of chocolate goodness):

Ingedients by weight and volume (if measurement appears in black, you can just measure it out as is):
 Brownie Batter
6 oz all purpose flour 1 1/3 C
.18 tsp salt dash
3/4 tsp. baking soda
12.06 oz. granulated sugar 1 4/5 C
6 oz. water 3/4 C (liquid measure)
2 3/4 oz. canola oil ~3/8 C (liquid measure)
3 oz margarine 6 Tbsp
2 1/3 Tbsp + 1/2 tsp sifted cocoa 2 1/2 Tbsp
2 1/2 oz frozen whole eggs 2 whole eggs, lightly beaten
3 1/4 oz buttermilk ~ a tiny bit more than 3/8 C (liquid measure)
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

Buttermilk Frosting
1 1/2 oz. melted margarine 3 Tbsp
1 2/3 Tbsp + 1/2 tsp cocoa ~2 Tbsp
1 1/2 oz. buttermilk ~1/4 C (liquid measure)
6 1/2 oz powdered sugar 2 C
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Methods
1. Preheat oven to 325. Sift flour, salt and baking soda together. Add sugar to sifted dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Combine water, oil, margarine, and cocoa in a steam kettle; heat to boiling. I don't have a steam kettle, let alone know what one looks like, so I'm guessing a double boiler will work just fine. If you're lazy like me, you just use a small saucepan and watch it closely so you don't scorch the mixture.

2. Add boiling water to flour mixture 1/3 oz. at a time. Mix well after each addition. Batter should have smooth consistenecy. Add buttermilk and vanilla. Add eggs. Mix well. Instead of mixing the boiling mixture into the flour mixture 1/3 oz at a time, I mixed 1/3 of the mixture in at a time. Also, my husband warned me that adding the eggs to the hot mixture might cook the eggs. I didn't have any trouble.

3. Pour into greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 325 F on center rack for about 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center.

4. For frosting: Melt margarine in steam kettle. Add cocoa and buttermilk. Bring to boil. Remove mixture from kettle. To do this right, don't make the frosting until after you take the brownie out of the oven and let it cool. Again, a double boiler would probably sub just fine for the steam kettle, but I just used a sauce pan and then removed it from heat.

5. Add 1/3 of cocoa mixture to mixing bowl. Add powdered sugar and vanilla to mixture in mixing bowl. Using flat paddle, beat mixture until cream and all lumps have disappeared. Add remaining 2/3 of cocoa mixture to frosting. Mix well. Caution: Overmixing will cool frosting and it will not spread easily. Frosting should be glossy, forming a glaze. Caution: Making the frosting too early and then reheating in the microwave because you didn't read through the instructions in the first place can cause your frosting mixture to crystallize, giving it a more fudge-like consistency.
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I hope you enjoy making this recipe (and especially love eating it). If you see any mistakes or have any questions or comments, substitutions, or want to share the way you made it or how much you loved (or hated) it, please make sure to leave a message below!

Almost Two

Liv is turning 2 is less than a month, and I need a new outfit for her 2nd birthday pictures. I decided the theme for her dress - and ultimately for her pictures - would be "Sassy and Classy."

I have something fabulous in mind - a more formal tutu dress - so I went to the fabric store and grabbed some satin, lace, and tulle. I can't wait to see how the dress comes out. I've never worked with tulle before and only a few times with lace, so it may take a little time. I plan on documenting this "event" so if you're into tutorial's keep an eye on the blog - there will be one coming within the next week or so!

Happy sewing!

Arroz con Pollo

You know when you've been lazy busy all day and you just can't think of anything you want to cook or everything you have to cook will probably take too long? This happened to me the other day. My sweet husband has been awesome enough to take on the grocery list making duties (apparently it takes me way to long to do it - score!) and one of the dishes he chose was arroz con pollo, a Mexican dish - can't get enough Mexican around here! I know the recipe came out of my recipe box, but prior to that, I'm clueless as to its origins. As I was reading through it I thought, This recipe doesn't sound very much like the arroz con pollo I used to eat at Cazador.

When I mentioned that to Guy, he told me to make it like they do. I gazed at him with stupidity while I contemplated the idea. Then I decided to take the easy way out - the Interwebz would have the answer! But it didn't. All I found were Progresso recipes and the like - ones that called for cream of chicken soup (bleh!) or ingredients I would only be able to find in a Latin market.

Finally I decided to wing it. For my family of 5 (with 4 eating), here's my recipe for arroz con pollo:
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Ingredients:

• 3 cups of prepared rice (I use brown but you can use white)
• 2-3 T olive oil
• 3 or 4 Small Frozen Chicken Breasts, thawed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped 
• 2 T minced garlic (I always use lots of garlic. Use less if you don't like it so much)
• oregano to flavor
• paprika to flavor
• 8 oz. fresh baby portabella mushrooms
• 1 1/2 C water
• 1-2 tsp chicken base (I use Better than Bullion)

Prepare the rice. I use a rice cooker because I can't cook rice (or milk-based sauces) without scorching or burning it.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Thaw your chicken and cut into pieces. Throw it in the pan, sprinkle on salt and pepper to taste. Add onion, pepper, and garlic and cook until onions are transparent and chicken is nice and browned and cooked through. Add oregano and paprika to flavor (I used about a T of oregano and 1/2 T of paprika). Taste your delicious concoction and add more spices if you need to. Reduce heat to medium low, add 1/2 cup of water and mushrooms. Cover and simmer until mushrooms are heated through and are tender - about 5 minutes. Add 1 C water and chicken base and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add your rice to your dish, mix thoroughly, and you're ready to eat! Alternatively, you could just put the chicken mixture over the rice.

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If you try the recipe, let me know how you like it or what you did differently!

I especially like the fresh mushrooms in this dish, they add a really robust and savory flavor. I can't imagine canned mushrooms could add the same flavor, but give it a shot if that's all ya got! I could have also used a little more oregano according to my husband. I told him next time he cooked it, he could add as much as he wanted, lol! Overall, I was very pleased with the flavor and texture of this delicious and quick meal - it was very similar to the restaurant version that I miss so much. It may not be "authentic" but it sure is good!

Learning New Skills

While my mom was here to provide some much needed (and VERY appreciated) help around the house when my belly was on the verge of exploding out a baby and my two- and three-year-old were running amuck, I was looking for newborn photo ideas to freeze the first moments of baby Ivy's life.

In my many hours of searching, I found dreamy photos of fat little sleeping babies in crocheted stork pouches, and scrunched up sleeping in snug little crocheted baby bowls and cocoons. The more sweet photos I saw, the more I wanted those photo accessories.

Since I had my mom at my disposal and she is an avid crocheter, especially of fabulously fancy and adorable baby things (seriously, wow!), I naturally asked her how to make them. I saw her eyes twinkle so bright it was like seeing Venus on a clear winter night. She couldn't resist teaching me to crochet. So I made a stork pouch and a baby bowl.

And since we're poor, and we have an amazing Sony DSLR we got for Christmas last year, we opted to take newborn photos ourselves instead of dropping the money for a mid-quality Sears or JCP photo shoot. This meant I needed to learn how to photo edit for real. So I did some searching and found an immensely helpful post at it'salwaysautumn.

{{Plus it's unfathomably hard to pack up three small kids, myself, and my husband, take them to said photo outlet, and try to keep track of them all while directing a photographer who has no creative ability or autonomy. Harsh, I know, but when you get 5 or 6 good digital photos back that aren't even 1MB in size and are grainy when printed, it kind of doesn't equal the work you put into just getting there. At least at home I can be miserable and tired in comfort, lol.}}

I took Autumn's advice and used the many PhotoShop actions generously offered by The CoffeeShop to get some glorious results.And so then I edited our sweet dreamy photos (including the ones above) and came out with a few favorites: 

I love to learn to do new things! Have you learned any new skills lately??

Happy Valentines Day!

ROY G BIV

Katie turned three just days before the baby was to be born. But even though I was tired and getting out of bed was hard work, I owed Miss Katie a rainbow party. She'd been talking about it for weeks and was so excited to be three (while holding up two fingers, haha). And, boy, did I deliver!

A rainbow balloon wreath welcomed our guests at the door and we cupcakes and a rainbow fruit tray for food. We had rainbow snow paint for an outside activity but we got freezing rain and couldn't play outside. Play dough (with sparkles, of course), rainbow wands, rainbow hair clips all went in the treat bags. Simple and fun! I wouldn't have been able to do it without Pinterest!

Addition Added

You may or may not have known that I was expecting in late December of 2012. On December 27th, baby Ivy Ember was born. My newest pride and joy **grin**:

And here's a picture of both of her big sisters giving her some new baby sister attention (as much as a 2 and 3 year old can give, anyway):

So....right toward the end of December, I got a bug up my butt and I started "nesting." But not in a gotta-get-the-house-cleaned-up kind of way (although there was that). My nesting consisted of hunkering down in front of my sewing machine and making some ridiculously adorable baby outfits: a dress and matching hair piece, and a ruffled petti romper and matching hair piece. Here's the dress on a hanger.

I just happened to be at the fabric store and ran across the gorgeous flowered fabric (which I used for the front of the skirt) and HAD to have it, even though it was a bit expensive! It was the inspiration for the dress and head piece. Feathers, ribbon, and fabric! I am SO IN LOVE with this dress. I made the basic pattern and added the ribbon around the waist and the bow at the neck. Once I finished the dress, I  moved on to the headband piece. I didn't get a picture of just the head piece, but it's just as fabulous as the dress! It has a clip on the back so it can be attached to different colored headbands or in different orientations.

Here's a picture of little Ivy in the dress and headband at three weeks old:
 

What a DOLL!  I know every mother thinks her babies are the cutest, but really, I'm gushing!

For the petti romper, it was really hard to figure out how big the baby would be as a newborn before she was born (duh!) so I went by a romper pattern I found on Pinterest from Frame Worthy Shot. Unfortunately, by the time I had the guts to try the outfit on the Ivy, it was too tight...or maybe I just ruffled it too tight (most likely). So I ended up cutting off the top half so it was just a petti diaper cover. Still looked freaking adorable! I made a headband clip to match this outfit, too! Blingy!