Saturday, January 30, 2010

Black Pepper in the Brownies?

Well, i was so curious not knowing if my recipe was legit or not so i googled and also queried at http://ask.com/
I was surprised to find several brownie and cookie recipes with pepper in them. I also saw one with chili powder, cayenne pepper, and another with spinach.   What the heck!   Who knew of such craziness going on in the world!

But now that i think about it i can understand the pepper, a little, i think. Not sure if i want to try them, not today anyway. But i bet it gives a sharp little punch that might actually go with chocolate.

Oh, and one i saw had the pepper sprinkled on top before baking! Now thats just real crazy.
Another had sea salt and i can go with that.
Anyhow, these recipes are both a little different from the original recipe i had seen, just basically slightly different amounts of flour and sugar and both are untried by me.



Black Pepper Brownies


9 x 13" pan   300º 45 minutes


4oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 C butter
2 C sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp almond flavoring
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
4 lg. eggs
1 C + 1 TBS flour
1 C chopped pecans

I didn't keep the method - and stupidly forget to get the address but you know the routine  on how to mix the batter.



Heres another black pepper brownie recipe that sounds good too

Black Russian Brownies

9 x 13" pan   350º  25 mins.

4 sqs. unsweetened chocolate
1 C butter
3/4 tsp. ground black pepper
4 eggs lightly beaten
1  1/2 C sugar
1  1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 C Kahlua
2 TBS vodka
1  1/3 C flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 C chopped walnuts

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Random energy




Dis 'n' Dat from Delta

14 days until the winter Olympics start right here in Beautiful British Columbia
5 days until Lost season 6 begins and i can hardly wait

My thumbs are up to Jay Leno
Thumbs down to Heidi Montag


Product review - Snuggie - good
                           Magic bullet - bad


Goodbye - Wii, Hello again Super Nintendo Mario Brothers
Goodbye - Kate Gosslin


Biggest jerks - John Edwards
                     - Tiger Woods
                     - Jon Gosslin
                     - Dr. Conrad Murray


Most missed celebrity - Michael Jackson
Would like to see less of - Rosie O'Donnell


Biggest neighborhood mystery - Why do visitors to next door park in front of MY house?
Theres plenty of parking next door!


Best household/cooking tip - after chopping garlic rinse hands and fingers with plain water then rub them on stainless steel - sink, faucet, or knife etc.  Rinse again. No more garlic fingers, smells gone!


Question of the day - Is this ingredient a mistake in my Brownie recipe - 1 tsp. ground black pepper?

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Life is hard, then you nap


Cats possess numerous charms, and anyone who has ever loved a cat has fallen for its magic.


Dogs come when they're called. Cats take a message and get back to you.



With the qualities of affection, cleanliness, courage, dignity and patience, how many of us would be capable of becoming cats?



There is no way of talking about your cat that enables you to come off as a sane person.



I gave Pavel a bath the other day.....he loved it. He sat there, he enjoyed it, and it was fun for me.
His fur stuck to my tongue but other than that.....

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Avatar

I never thought i'd ever do a commercial for anything but i can't help it. I was so dazzled by this movie.

Avatar 
An Avatar is a human mind in an alien body

This movie has it all:  its a fun visual masterpiece in 3-D; spectacular, extraordinary, with romance and an environmental message too.   Its got it all; theme, storyline,plot, hidden messages, great characters and its just absolutely beautiful.


You will love Avatar!


This is Neytiri
You will love her and the indigenous people of Pandora, the creatures and botanicals
You'll love Sam Worthington as Jake Sully
See it on the largest possible screen




Tuesday, January 19, 2010

English is a crazy language

When the english tongue we speak
Why is break not rhymed with freak?

Will you tell me why its true
We say sew but likewise few?

And the maker of the verse,
Cannot rhyme his horse with worse?

Beard is not the same as heard
Cord is different from word.

Cow is cow but low is low
Shoe is never rhymed with foe.

Think of hose, dose, and lose
And think of goose and yet with choose.

Think of comb, tomb, and bomb,
Doll, and roll or home and some.

Since pay is rhymed with say
Why not paid with said i pray?

Think of blood, food and good
Mould is not pronounced like could.

Wherefore done, but gone and lone -
Is there any reason known?

To sum up all, it seems to me
Sound and letters don't agree.

written by Lord Cromer
and published in 1902

Read and agreed on by Lorraina
In 2010 its still a paina

Monday, January 18, 2010

This is my most recent piece of art.


This started out all acrylic then i started messing with the water soluable oil pastels and couldn't leave it alone. Everyday i'd see it and have to grab the pastels and add here and there. I think i overdid it but i've stopped now and so its finished, dead and done!

I should warn anyone tempted to click on it to make it larger - its HUGE.....i got a new printer/scanner/copier and havent learned how to resize yet.

Friday, January 8, 2010



Serendipity cards


These are more from my old art supply. They were fun to make using small bits of leftovers to make little squares and then attach to a card

Twinnings Lady Grey


collage, rubber stamping, measuring tape, postage stamp,little brass numbers, bit of vellum, bingo chip, a playing card, tea bag envelope, bits of paper doily, a ticket, sequin waste, gold star and a lacey fabric.
This is also an old piece. I havent been doing many collages lately but i do a little abstract acrylic painting.  Whenever my grandson comes over to either install a new scanner/printer or to hook up my old one, then i'll be able to put up my newer art.

Spooky lady collage



Rosy goes Cuban

 I wanted to add some art but unfortunately my scanner/printer wasn't hooked up to my new computer.  i had noticed it wouldn't print anymore so thought the whole thing was broken.  I tried scanning manually and it printed ok, so its not broken. I figured out a way to get old works from an external hardrive and put it up that way.
This started as an acrylic painted background. Then i rubber stamped some text, added some fish and the Cuban postage stamp then softened it in places with a lacy mulberry paper.
The twirly bit is grapvine.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Heres Tiger.....


no no, not THAT Tiger!  This is a very nice Tiger.  He does NO filandering!!!
His family moved and left him behind, hungry and alone until my daughter took him in as her own.  Can you imagine our luck! We are very happy to have Tiger as a part of our family.

Abigail

Abigail is my fur grandaughter.  Can you tell how huge she is?  She is ENORMOUS.  I'm such a bad grandma i've forgotten how old she is.  Her mama Seven is shy and wouldn't stick around for pictures. Abbi is the only kitten Seven had;  thats why she's so special.  Shes very cuddly, pleasant and nice.  She looks like shes wearing socks and her tail looks like a racoon.  Her eyes are actually a beautiful blue.

Pavel Petunia Blue


My furkid

Heres Pavel; he's my 14 year old.  TEENAGERS!  He sleeps all day and dosn't listen to a thing i say!