Brownies

1 1/2 cups pastry flour
1/2 - 3/4 cup cocoa (Use less cocoa if it is a darker kind)
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup honey (Or 1 1/2 cups sugar)
1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup butter

In a large bowl mix together flour, cocoa and salt.
Set aside.

Beat together eggs, honey (or sugar), vanilla and butter.

But don't do it all at once like I did, it worked in the end, but was pretty annoying.

Mix together with dry ingredients.

Pour into a 8 x 8 pan and bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 min.

Then cut them and enjoy! :-)

This is the view I had while baking them. The tree is free of snow now, but the ground still has a fair amount!

I made these the other day and they were really good if I do say so myself! :-)

Life

Thursday I came down with the flu and didn't get out of bed until Tuesday! I don't like being sick, I especially don't like being sick with something that lays me in bed for a day, but five days? No, thank you!!! I had been hoping that I wouldn't get it until Friday, thinking that I could get in a full week of school, then be in bed Sat&Sun and back to school on Monday. Yep, I was planning my 'illness'! Anna from Leap Year comes to mind, the plane is being diverted to a different airport because of stormy weather and she promptly says "No, I'm on a schedule!"

I made up the lost day of school on Wednesday and while that puts my graduation date back a week, I really don't mind, I wasn't quite sure how I felt about graduating on April Fools Day anyway! :-) Thankfully though, I feel right as rain today and am greatly looking forward to Corned Beef and Cabbage, so no complaints. :-)

Thoughts of Spring Blog Party

How would people describe your personality? (If they could only use ONE word.) Are they right?
Hmmm, I don’t really know, I’ve been called a lot of things. Quiet, maybe?

What celebrity/celebrities would create a “Star-Struck” feeling if you saw them in real life?
I wouldn’t really feel “Star-Struck”, but I have wanted to meet Anne Hathaway and Keely Hawes.

Who is your favorite blogger? Why?
I don’t have just one favorite, but the ones I like to read are: Little House in the Hills, In My Father's House, A Green Eyed Irish Lass, Retro Girl Creative and Culinary Wending.

What is your comfort food/drink?
Coffee and chocolate, hands down.

Be brave – tell us something very random and weird about yourself.
I’ve grown up in a household with dogs, but I can’t stand them!

Do you have a strong desire to do something you’ve never done? What is it?
Yep, I want to hunt a giraffe. :-D

Movies: Action, Drama, Romantic Comedy, Documentary, Comedy? What are your favorite genres?
Action is good, but Romantic comedy has its place. (As long as it’s not crude comedy)

Books: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Romance, Biographies, True Stories, Self-Help, Devotional/Study? What are your favorite types of reading material?
Fiction and Non-Fiction. I really like Dee Henderson and Frank Peretti’s books. (What I’ve read of them) The Light and the Glory is also one of my favorite books.

Music: Funk, Rock, Country, Jazz, Classical, Film Score, Blues, Classic Rock, Crooner, Alternative, Heavy Metal, Techno? What are your favorite types?
I like a little country, although I’m very picky about what type and I like a lot of classical.

If you inherited a million dollars, what is the first thing you would do with your money?
Use it to finish building our house, or pay for the entire family to go back and visit Ireland.

Name one weakness of yours (confession is good for the soul).
Coffee.

If you could live anywhere at all (and take all your loved ones with you), where would you go?
I wouldn’t go anywhere, I love where I live and would probably be fine living here the rest of life!

Strange Talent? Can you juggle basketballs, put your legs behind your head or perform some other strange feat?
Hmmm, I’ve been told I imitate voices well, but that's the only thing I can think of.

What’s something you consider yourself to be good at? (Don’t worry, it’s not bragging, it’s acknowledging a God given gift).
Singing is the first thing that comes to mind.

What is one of your favorite things to catch a whiff of?
Freshly cut grass and the coffee aisles in grocery stores.

When you leave a social gathering, do you wish: You would have talked more or You would have talked less?
Usually, less.

If money wasn’t a factor, what stores would you shop in?
Brookes Brothers and Cabelas.

What is your greatest fear or strange phobia?
I can’t stand the sound of my alarm clock.

What is your greatest accomplishment?
Humbleness. Just kidding! :-D

What are your favorite animals?
I like Black Panthers.

Are you a hopeless romantic?
No way!

What movie or book character can you most relate to?
Molly Gibson in Wives and Daughters. I can really relate to the fact that she knows so many secrets, but can't tell any of them! :-)

Why I love Fridays

~It's the last day of school for the week.
~I go visit with my sister-in-law and see my niece and nephew.
~I watch a movie with the girls.
~I get a lot of knitting done.
~I go to work. (Yes, I enjoy my job! :-))
~And in general, I get a lot more done then I do during the week.

Al Armclock Part 2

Something else that I've had problems with is that Al doesn't understand that when someone doesn't get to bed very early, it isn't nice to wake them up early! I've tried to explain to him many times that I need my sleep, but he just doesn't get it. I should have known not to get a brand new graduate!

Did you know that for every hour the average person sleeps, they are supposed to be awake for two hours? Only two! One time I figured out that for the last 49 hours, for every hour I had been asleep I'd been awake for 6.5 hours!! Al and I had some intense discussions after this discovery, I mean, enough is enough!

For awhile, everything was fine, even though when I did wake up he would look at me and say
"You are a sad, strange little girl, you have my pity, farewell" Just when did he watch Toy Story?

The problem is, he has started waking me up early again! This is infuriating!! My brothers alarm clock must have thought him this! :-/ But, I think we have finally reached an understanding. I told him that if he only woke me up at the times that I told him, I would tell him a secret, he agreed to this and so I told him that in the mornings when he woke me up (At the times that I specified) if he was really loud about it, he might be able to wake up some of my siblings as well! He was overjoyed by this, only really big and important alarms could wake up more then one person at once, it was the ultimate badge of honor to be able too!

I'm glad to say that I think he is finally trained! (I just gave up with the "give me five" thing, that was also part of the agreement we made!) *sigh* They grow up so fast!

Al Armclock Part 1

When my poor alarm clock met with a sad fate (I'm not sure how it was sad, I don't even remember what happened to it, but it probably thought it was sad) I was given a new one. This little fellow however, had just graduated the academy and lots of training was still in order.

One of the first things I had trouble with was that his trainers had not fully explained the snooze feature. When I want to sleep just a little bit longer, I would tell him to "Give me five" because, you know, at 4 am in the morning, you don't really want to take the trouble to tell him "Wake me up again in five minutes".

However, being the enthusiastic little squirt that he is, he thought I was rewarding him for such a good job and that I wanted to high five. Since he doesn't have arms though, he wasn't quite sure how to high five and in trying to do figure out how, he fell off the shelf. I did not even attempt to catch him, thinking that he would learn better this way then any other. I was wrong. Either I must get up right away, or take a lot of time to explain that I want to sleep for five more minutes. I'm still working with him on this!

Part 2 Coming tomorrow.

Etsy Shop

A few days ago, I started an Etsy shop! I will be doing mostly jewelry, but will probably do more stuff here and there. You can see it here: Cinneadhs Crafts

When you get your license...

...you become a licensed driver. Does that mean that when you get your permit, you become a permitted driver? :-)

Doughnuts

I actually made these awhile ago, but decided to post pictures still!

I decided to try some experiments. With this one, I used sugar and cinnamon, melted it in a pot and then using a tablespoon I poured it over some of the doughnuts. The flavour was good, but I shouldn't have boiled it, because it caramelized!
This one (The one in the back) I put sugar and cinnamon in a Ziploc bag (I would guess 2/3 sugar, 1/3 cinnamon) and put one doughnut in at a time, zip the bag shut, then turn the bag upside down, shake it, whatever it takes to completely coat the doughnut! Warm doughnuts work best, but if you can't get to it right a way, a few minutes under a high broil warms the doughnut nicely. Miss Dickens came up with this and I must say it's my favorite!

This one is plain, still tasty, but I prefer them with the cinnamon and sugar! :-)

Recipe:

3 eggs

1 cup sugar (Or 1/2 cup honey)

2 tablespoons shortening

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

3 1/2 cups sifted flour

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Beat eggs until very light, beat in sugar, then add melted shortening. Sift baking powder, salt and nutmeg with 1 cup flour and stir into first mixture alternately with milk. Add lemon extract and just enough flour to make a very soft dough. Chill. Roll out 3/4 inch thick on lightly floured board. A soft dough makes light, tender doughnuts when cooked. Fry in deep fat (360-370 degrees F)and drain on unglazed paper. Makes 2 dozen.

Notes: I have never put nutmeg in. I also usually don't chill the dough, which I don't recommend, but it does work. After rolling out the dough (Which I also don't always do) I use a biscuit cutter to get perfect rounds, you can also make shapes, but they don't always turn out the way you put them in and I either use a tiny cutter (About the size of a dime) to get a little hole in the middle or I just poke one with my thumb.

I took the day off!

Normally, this doesn't happen! I can't remember the last time that I just took the day off!Literally! I got all my homework done really early and then decided not to do math! Usually, I'm so into staying right on schedule that I've even done four days worth of school in one day! The most awesome thing about it was, that because it was spontaneous, I didn't have a long list of stuff that I wanted to get done, I just had the rest of the day before me! So, what did I do with my free time? I was very productive, I assure you!
~Posted on my blog! :-)
~Changed my blog background

~Did some research (This was important)

~Made bread
~Helped make pizza
Aren't the weekends enough time off? Yes, but when I know ahead of time that I will have the day off, I try to get as much done as possible (As well as working for a neighbor) and Sunday is spent trying to get ready for the coming week!
It's was like being in a stuffy building and then walking outside and getting a breath of cold, fresh, crisp air!