Yum, yum!

Tonight is International Night at the kids' school. We went last year and it was so fun! Basically, it's a huge school-wide potluck where you bring an item that represents your family's culture. I was thinking about what to bring, and I decided to bring brownies made from scratch. A big, huge pan of them. Caitlyn helped me make them, and they turned out wonderfully. A little too wonderfully, if you know what I mean. Now mama's gonna have to find something else to bring, y'all. Sorry. It started out with just one teeny tiny corner. One small square. A rectangle. A tad bit more. And ended with about 20 "just one more bites". Sorry kids. Mama has absolutely no willpower when chocolate is involved. Better luck next time. Here's the recipe just in case you want to torture yourself with a bit of chocolatey goodness: I found it by google-ing "scratch brownies". Google is a mom's best friend, you know that, right?

Scratch Brownies

• 1 cup butter or margarine (melted)
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla flavoring
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup cocoa
• 2 cups plain flour
• optional - nuts, raisins, chocolate chunks, caramel pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream margarine and sugar. This works well with a mixer, but you can do it by hand.
3. After the creaming stage, do switch to a spoon for mixing. Brownies tend to get tough if worked too much.
4. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix just until smooth.
5. Pour in cocoa and flour. Again, mix until smooth and lumps are broken up. But, don't go to wild on the mixing.
6. If you want to add extras, just fold those in easily.
7. Bake for 18-20 minutes in 2 pans size 8 inches by 8 inches. You can use a larger pan like the 9 x 9 and cook for a little longer-25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. If you use a single pan, then the Scratch Brownies are thicker.

The batter is VERY thick. You have to smoosh it into the pan. I use a 9x13 pan and bake for 15ish minutes. For that extra "oomph" sprinkle a handful or two of chocolate chips on top before you bake it. You can thank me later.

In other news, we are leaving in 3 days for our Thanksgiving get a way. I. CAN'T. WAIT!!!