Loose Woman Brownies

Slutty Brownies - or, as Alan calls them, Floozy Brownies. These are currently making the rounds on the interwebz, and the recipe I saw consisted of chocolate cookie mix spread in the bottom of a 9” x 13” pan topped with a layer of Oreos and those topped by a brownie mix and baked.

They looked interesting, but it just made SO MANY. I thought they’d be better made from scratch as did everyone else and their brother. I also thought they might work baked in muffin tins. Today while I was at a Big Box Store I saw “snack size” mixes and thought I could give a small batch a try.

I used Betty Crocker snack Chocolate Chip Cooke Mix and Duncan Hines Snack Size Chewy Fudge Brownie Mix because those were my only snack size choices.

I got out 12 cupcake liners and lined some muffin tins. I made the cookie mix according to directions and added a little extra water so the dough wasn’t so stiff. I added about a tablespoon of dough to each liner (it made 10) and then pressed it down with an Oreo and left the Oreo on top. Then I mixed up the brownie mix and added another tablespoon to the top of each cookie. This left a little brownie mix left over, so the last two muffin cups were filled with a tablespoon of brownie mix, then an Oreo, and then another tablespoon of brownie mix.

These were baked for about 15 minutes. Make sure you DO NOT over-bake them. The brownie should be gooey, and the cookie on the bottom will still be soft.

I thought they were good. Not ZOMG AWESOME TO DIE FOR BEST THING EVAR! Personally, I found them to be neither fish, nor fowl, nor good red meat (metaphorically speaking). I’d rather have Toll House Cookies (made from the 1930’s recipe, thank-you-very-much) or chewy gooey brownies on their own. I don’t see that the Oreo adds much … but the snack-sized mixes make a reasonable amount, the cupcake liners are good portion control, and they will take care of that craving for sweets you’ve got.

I know, I know.

I am LONG overdue for a post. But it’s not like I’ve been sitting around all this time. Well, not much.

This spring, I decided I needed a new camp bed. My prototype had a couple of issues, and I thought I could improve upon my design.  So I sat down with a pencil and an index card and played around with some numbers, taught Sweet Daughter how to select lumber, and then went and cut it all according to the number while visiting my sister with the table saw. I also cut down my original camp bed for SD to use. And managed to leave the headboard behind. Sigh.

I got a good start on it in April, hoping to have it done in time for the Petersburg event, but that didn’t happen.  With SD’s help, I got it put together.

And painted.

And it worked. By having three support panels instead of two, it’s easier to pack and transport. The prototype needed one simple adjustment – one of the side boards had warped, and I needed to adjust some of the hardware to account for that. It made me cringe to not have it all square and plumb and stuff, but it works. As my brother-in-law said, “Working code trumps all theory.”

Having two bedsteads in the tent makes for a narrow aisle up the middle, but there is a ton of storage under them. And if it rains, I don’t have to worry about drying out wet bedding. No, they are not accurate, but if you happen to seem from outside the tent, they pass. And they’re a heck of a lot better that a cot from a Dead-Animal-Head-on-the-Wall store.

The Barracks

Then there was a trip to Ft. Frederick at the end of June for the 50^th Anniversary of the Brigade of the American Revolution. There weren’t as many participants as I was expecting, but it was a lovely relaxing weekend. Well, except for having to haul our gear into and out of the fort. And for where my leather shoes slipped on the dew-slicked wooden steps and I slid down a few on my shins (yes, I was holding on to the railing), but I got ice on the shins, and ingested some rum punch and felt better.

Breakfast

Salmungundi for lunch with fresh raspberries, beef, chicken, oranges, hardboiled eggs, mixed greens, oranges, fried chicken skin and I've forgotten the rest.

The view from the top of the fort shortly before slipping on the stairs.

The view from camp after slipping on the stairs.

I finished another gown for SD.

Tired girls.

Gate

Then it was off to the beach for a week with my sisters, which is another post. And I am starting on an insanely ambitious sewing project that is already overcome by mission creep that I refuse to jinx by typing it all out. Maybe I'll post pictures as bits get finished. I need it done by Columbus Day weekend.

More as I come up for air ...