Anyway, I am now moving my blog – this blog – to Blogger, because I LOVE the “Blogger in Draft” feature, and all the fun layouts. I searched for months for a good layout on WordPress that would reflect my personality, but all I got was weird stuff that just did not sit well with me.

So, this blog will be around for a while, but I will be blogging from now on at ‘Ad Libitum’ on Blogger. Go here for the blog.

Thanks for staying with me on this one, guys! I love you.

I’m not here anymore!! Come visit me on my blogger blogs!!

And WordPress.com? It’s not you, honey…. It’s me… Sorry.

You know me too well, so I won’t elaborate on that!

Instead, what I did was, used my normal bread slices that I always have lying around at home, and turned it into something that would satisfy my perennial pizza craving. Yes, I do have a perennial craving for pizza. I think I was born with that technical fault! Something about the cheese and the sauce and all those carbs…

Anyway, if you suddenly have a craving for pizza, and want to fix a quick and painless dinner, make Bread Pizza.

Bread Pizza

Things you need:

- 1 tbsp oil – either olive oil or normal sunflower oil.

Psst, you could also use butter…or pretend I said nothing…

- bread slices (obvsly!)

- onions diced into not-so-large pieces

- green peppers (capsicum) diced

- red peppers (capsicum that’s red)diced

- yellow peppers (capsicum that’s … you get the idea.)

(you don’t need all of them, just one kind will also do just fine)

- 1 tsp black pepper (ha! No. This time it’s the black powder!)

- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

- Pizza Sauce 1 tbsp per slice (I think FunFoods has a product that some Ngl grocery stores carry – Lynns to the rescue!)

- Mozarella cheese grated

- chopped canned-meat of your choice – chicken frankfurters, luncheon meat, or even cooked and shredded chicken – whatever you want your topping to be. As long as it’s not sweet – I don’t dig sweet pizza! Sorry, there are some things my palate won’t accept…

- oregano flakes

- soy sauce

- 1 tsp red-chilli powder, or 2-3 finely chopped green chillies

Here’s what you do:

Just make the topping and arrange on the bread, then microwave! Ba-ding! You’re done!

Okay. So making the topping takes a little longer…:P Sorry!

I just threw stuff together on the pan, and improvised as I went along. So, anything that caters to your taste/craving should do.

1. In a pan, pour in a tbsp of oil or melt some butter. When the oil heats up, drop in the diced peppers.

2. When the peppers are well sauteed, add the onion and a tbsp of ginger-garlic paste.

3. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on this, and saute well.

4. Now pour in the soy sauce. Then add the green chillies or red chilli powder if you need more heat. Note: if you have a palate that doesn’t take much heat, STOP with just adding black pepper powder.

5. Throw in the meat, and let it cook with all the veggies for a while. If you want to go vegetarian on this one, or if you didn’t have any meat on hand when your craving struck (you know who), skip this step.

6. Let the whole mixture simmer for a while, till all the water content in the veggies have released and reduced. Now you have yummy pizza-topping! Yaay!!

Note: You know, you could also arrange all the toppings raw on the slice, but what’s the fun in that?

7. Next, grease a baking pan or microwave dish that’s flat and arrange bread slices on it.

8. Spread some pizza sauce on the bread slice. Go easy on the sauce, because it has a distinct tangy flavor that you might not like too much of. I got so excited that I slathered on the sauce for a couple of slices, and regretted it with every bite. One spoon sauce per slice will do.

9. Place some of the pizza-topping on the bread. Arrange greens olives or just leave it like it is.

10. Finally, for the glorious part of the entire thing – grate some Mozarella cheese onto each slice. You can over-do it or under-do it, but I’d think you were weird, if you didn’t want too much cheese on your pizza! Hence, my culinary contempt for a certain cheese-hater’s preferences…

11. Now, just stick it into the oven or the microwave for 3 minutes or till the cheese melts. Let it sit for a while after you remove it from the oven.

12. Eat. And thank me for this pizza short-cut. Or not. Don’t have to thank me if your mouth is too full with wonderful pizza! I’ll understand

Just want you to know that I failed, AGAIN, to take a picture of something I made! So, your pizza could look like this…

image not mine

Or this…

image not mine

…based on how colorful your pizza-topping is. Mine was pretty amazing – emphasis on ‘pretty’. Unfortunately, you know what transpired. I ate, and forgot everything else…sigh. This is getting to be a problem.

Note: These pictures are not mine.

Anyway, enjoy, until I come bug you with another recipe, complete with MY OWN pictures of the food!

Anyway, cooking, by and large, has been that way for me, which you already know if you have closely followed this blog. I can’t cook. That should probably be my epitaph, or something. So, I used to think that making pizza, pancake, and brownies were like high-end magic, or at least stuff that I would never be able to do, without changing life as it was for myself!! HAHA! I have no idea what I just said! Oh yeah, what I said was that I thought pancakes and brownies were hard to make.

But then, (I love how you can break all rules of grammar on your personal blog!) I decided last week, that I am going to figure out the pancake and the pizza. One was, and the other wasn’t really…

So, here’s how I made pancake – those who make scrumptious pancakes on a daily basis and WOW your family every day, and are adventurous with their pancakes to turn them into 5-star restaurant cuisines, please…PLEASE ignore this post. Others, like me, who have no idea how a pancake is made, have never eaten one, or think that it is ‘Un-do-able’ follow me. It’s really elementary, my dear Watson!

Basic Pancake Recipe

pancake & image not mine!

This is what you need:

- 1 egg

1 & 1/2 cup milk

1 cup flour (maida)

3 tbsp sugar

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tbsp baking powder

Here’s what you do:

1. Whisk together the egg, vanilla essence, sugar and salt. Whisk till the sugar is, at least partially, dissolved.

2. Now, add the flour and the baking powder, and combine well.

3. Pour in the milk and stir well, so that no lumps are formed. Remember, lumps are no good for any one, anywhere.

At this point, let me just say, that if you have ever made wheat dhosas for dinner on those totally uninspired evenings, you know that making a pancake is not very different. It’s the ingredients that are the fun part!

4. Anyway, make sure that your batter is not too watery (or milky!), and not too thick either. You know… your 1&1/2 cup of milk should be enough to make an easy-to-pour batter.

5. Heat up a flat pan (non-stick pan or your dhosa pan should do), and, if you don’t care about your diet, go ahead and dab some butter on the heated pan. If you do care about your diet, skip the butter. Nothing inedible will happen!

6. Take a large ladle-full of batter, and simply pour in the center of the pan. NOTE: Please, please DO NOT spread it around with your ladle!! If you, like me, have made one too many godhumai dhosas (wheat dhosas) and rice dhosas in your life, you will have the tendency to spread batter around on the pan. DON’T DO IT! Hold your hand back, and grit your teeth if necessary.

You see, pancake is wonderful like that. No effort at all, no stress to make perfect round-shaped things. Just pour and let it be.

7. You will see that the batter itself has the tendency to spread a wee-bit. After that it will stop spreading and start to fluff up nicely. YUM!

8. Wait till all the bubbles on the batter burst (now it’s back to the dhosa process again!). Flip it over on the pan, if you have crazy Julia-Child-skills! If not, just take a flat ladle and turn it over.

9. Let it brown up a bit on the other side too. You shouldn’t let any dark-spot, burn-marks, or scars form on the pancake. Treat it like a gentle flower…

10. Flip it back up onto a plate…and go make some more. Or…leave some one else to make their own breakfast (I only wish…) and pour some honey over your pancakes and stuff your pretty/handsome face with them!!! Usually, people use maple syrup. I have no idea what it is. So, I used honey, and I was anything but regretful…meaning, that I could not wipe the smile off my face…

Pancake, where were you all my life? Sigh!

pancake & image not mine!

PS: If y0u are wondering what’s all this ‘pancake & image not mine!’ about, I just wanted to let you now, that I did NOT photograph even one part of the pancake-making process. Even though I seriously considered it for all of 2 seconds, I did not even stop to photograph the finished product. It was all already in my mouth! I made it twice last week, and still failed to get a picture. So, I used an image I found on the web. Just googled ‘basic pancake’ and got these images. These images are not mine. But, for the record, I would like to sincerely state that I did make pancakes and they did taste heavenly. And mine looked exactly like those in the pictures. So, There!

OhAmanda’s Top10Tuesday linky party)

1. Cut my hair short – I’ve seen many people take the plunge and be happy about the results! Whenever I look at my straggly, split-ended hair that is so neanderthal, I just want to lop it all off. When summer comes, I just want to go bald, and sport a jug of ice cold water as a hat!! Don’t laugh! You would too, if you have really experienced south Indian summers! So, I dream about the day I cut my hair, style it, and look uber cool…so not happening right now.

2. Write a Book – Am I totally out of my mind???!!! Who in the world has the time?? I have ideas, but no time. My sorry tale of entering the NANAWRIMO is testimony to this…

3. Traveling the World – Or at least, The Americas and Europe…Or France and USA? No? Okay, how about just USA? … Okay, just India…you know? All India Tour! No? Okay, what about if we just visited Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata? They’re interesting! No? Okay, can I just visit my friends in Chennai, please? No? Okay. Sorry, I forgot…I’m married to a very grounded and level-headed man with his “feet firmly planted on the ground”. Had no idea that he meant he hated traveling!! And, anyway, who in the world’s got the time?!?!?

4. Make Chocolate Ganache – It looks yummy, it looks easy, but I’m not getting it done in this century, because 1. I will never find the ingredients. 2. I don’t think I will ever buy any more cooking equipment. Not after what happened yesterday (What? Oh, you didn’t know? Yeah, I almost blew up the microwave, when I reheated bread pudding on a plate that had a little gold design on the sides!! Sparks flew…and I blew a fuse… Also, the electricity bill is the highest we have ever had. My baking is taking a year-long hiatus!!)

5. Make a Living as a Real Writer – you know, the sort that writes a best seller, and then makes book tours all year long, but somehow finds the time to write the next best seller, so that he or she can fill the next year with book tours! And autographed copies of the book sell for thousands of dollars…or rupees! Yeah, that dream…meh!

6. Live in France – WhyFrance? I don’t know…maybe because I can eat macaroons and croissants all day long? Could it be that? Or is it because I just want to look at the Eiffel Tower at night, whenever I feel like it…I’m sure it’s one of those reasons…Also, let’s face it…We ALL, at some point, envy the French for their ‘laid-back-ness’!

7. Sip a Cool Glass of Clear Water! – not happening. Bad teeth, one of them missing a nerve because…well… it just right out decayed! (Sorry, TMI, I know), and the others are all wailing at me every night to go make that damn dentist’s appointment… So, No. No sipping ice cold water, ice tea, or iced anything for me…

8. Take Debbie to DisneyLand – She loves Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, and is currraaaaizzzy about Donald Duck! Taking her to DisneyLand, and watching her squeal in delight is what my best dreams are made of…Anyone has extra tickets, you know where to send them…Plane tickets, I mean…

9. Master Indian Cooking – Sometime around last week I realized, to the chagrin and dismay and ____ (fill the most disappointing/negative words here!) of my husband, that I cannot CANNOT really cook Indian cuisine well. Nope. Sambar, rasam, and fish curry that is digestible is the best I can do… Whereas, give me a microwave and the right ingredients, and I can make a good plate of mac&cheese, or really delicious pasta, make a whopper hamburger with the yummiest ingredients, some good dessert etc. I wish I could cook good Indian food, I really do… My husband looked crestfallen when I announced my discovery…Yes, ‘Crestfallen’ is the word to describe the cheese-hater…Ho Hum…

10. Meet The Pioneer Woman – You know, I have never wanted to meet anyone as badly as I want to meet Ree Drummond!! No really, it’s like an obsession!! I remember, when I was in 9th grade, I wanted to meet Tom Cruise this bad!! And then, well, he went whacko, and I kinda lost interest. Now I am a bit repulsed by him!! But, Ree? Well, I want, WANT, to meet her. I want to see her in person, and I want to shake her hand, and be at the receiving end of that smile, I want to take a tour of her kitchen where all the magic happens, and I want to take one bite of her famous Cinnamon rolls, and I want to die in peace….SIGH!!! Sorry, did not mean to sound like a psycho fan, but really, I adore her that much…If  you, by some sad twist of fate, do not know who Ree Drummond is, go and visit The Pioneer Woman! Your life will never be the same again!

Tell me, who wouldn't want to be friends with her?! She is so sweet!

——————————————

I know it’s Thursday, but I am entering this post in OhAmanda’s Top10Tuesday posts anyway!

I made it for my in-laws when we visited them this weekend, and I am glad to say they liked it! It was the kids and the husband who liked it the most, I think. My man is a lover of all baked stuff, so I couldn’t go very wrong with this one! Also, Karen’s instructions and pictures are really helpful, so it was a breeze! Here is Karen’s recipe.

And now…

Ingredients:

2 – 3 medium apples (or 2 large ones)

1 & 1/2 cup maida (flour)

2 heaped tsps baking powder

1 & 1/4 cup sugar

about 80 grams butter

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 egg

Equipment:

Baking dish

Baking oven (or microwave)

Method:

1. Peel the apples and slice them into wedges.

I like this dish with its pretty African shapes and colors

2. It will be very convenient if you have a helper to get rid of all the skins and seeds of the apples! My diligent helper did a pretty good job, I must say!

She emptied the skins onto the table and put them in the dish again to pose for this picture!!

Public announcement: At this point I felt like I will not be able to do any proper dinner-cooking, so I resorted to serving this and left over sambar from lunch, for dinner:

dhosa - a South Indian favorite and the savior of all working women throughout the country!

3. Next, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan, over a low flame, and add 1/2 cup of sugar to it. Stir constantly till the sugar melts.

I may have added a tad bit more butter than necessary...I'm not saying.

4. The sugar will melt to form a golden gooey liquid. This should probably be made into currency or something!! It’s that golden and precious!

The good stuff!

5. Please ignore the not-so-ideal-looking pan, and go to the next step before the sugar hardens into toffee. ‘Coz harden it will! I let it harden a bit too, just like Karen did! But don’t worry, you can totally dilute it again, but why bother if you can do it right the first time?

6. Now add the apples in and stir to coat them with the caramel syrup. Cook till the juice of the apples completely leaves them and mixes with the caramel and the entire thing becomes sticky, gooey, golden, sweet and brown, and you can’t resist sneaking a spoonful into your mouth!

7. Butter a baking dish and spread some flour over it. Now spread the apple caramel mixture at the base of the dish, making sure that the entire bottom of the pan is covered.

8. Let’s make the batter now. In a bowl, add all the remaining melted butter (I like the sound of that!), and the sugar and mix well.

I have no more pictures the next couple of steps. Seriously, do you think I was so skillful to photograph the ENTIRE process?!?! I’m glad I got this far without burning anything!!

9. To the mixture of sugar and butter, add the egg and beat well. You can also add the vanilla essence into the mixture.

10. Now add the flour and mix vigorously because you really want everything to blend together smoothly. You can add the milk gradually to loosen things up and form a smooth batter that is pourable. If you are greedy and disobedient like me, you can add some chopped nuts – I added cashews!

11. Pour the batter above the caramelized apple, and sit back and contemplate on how awesome this is going to turn out. Also, you can smell the divine perfume of vanilla and caramelized apples.

12. Stick it into the oven for about 30 – 40 minutes or you microwave it on high for 10 minutes. Open the oven and take a peek to make sure everything is going okay….if you are paranoid like me!

13. When it’s done, it should be brown, and slightly cracked in the middle – if you used the baking oven….head to Karen’s recipe to look at the picture. If you used the microwave, chances are you’re not really getting the brown look, rather it will look like this:

This looks alarmingly like the dhosa! But I assure you, it is very yummy apple cake!

I have poked a hole into the cake to make sure it is baked. I don’t have toothpicks at home (I have a 3-yr-old instead), so I used the end of my wooden spoon! You may now laugh your heart out at me…sigh.

Oh! Look at the pan from the side! It looks good enough to just scoop put and eat with some icecream!

14. Now comes the ‘Upside Down part. Take a large cake dish, or a stainless steel plate, if you don’t have those fancy things. I don’t have one because, never in my life did I expect I would be baking…So…

15. Place the plate upside down on the plate, and then carefully turn the entire thing upside down again.

16. Let the cake loosen itself from the pan and settle on the plate. Now you have the lovely apple top-side, and all is well with the world!

Oops! Sorry. I did it again!

Now, you can cut a piece, all warm and lovely, and eat it with vanilla icecream!

So, lately, I have been quite adventurous, and have been taking pointers from Karen’s food posts. I have tried out a couple of her recipes. The first that I tried iiiiis (drumroooolll)  Macaroni and Cheese!

What? That is your idea of adventure?!?!? Believe me people, when you live in a place where cheddar cheese and unsalted butter is a rarity, simple and straight-forward Mac & Cheese is akin to jumping from the top of the Empire State Building – months of research, scouring the market for the right equipment, and then, taking the plunge! When it’s done people appreciate you for the sheer awesomeness of the act, but they still can’t believe that you were actually able to do that! Some others will ask, “Okay, but why do you need to do such things? What is the purpose?” To those people, I say, “I do it because I wanted to tell myself I can… HA!!”

So, here’s what I used for Karen’s Mac & Cheese, but I made a few changes for my convenience:

Ingredients

1 cup of elbow macaroni

2 – 3 tbsps butter

1 heaped tbsp flour (maida)

1 & 1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup cheddar cheese

1/2 cup ham or  salami chopped. I had chicken frankfurters, so that’s what I used.

salt, pepper and oregano to taste (this is the stuff that I mentioned scouring the market for – oregano. I found it in Lynns! So, Nagercoilans take heart!)

Equipment:

Baking oven (I only have my loyal microwave, so I just nuked it. Note: it does not give the best results. The baking oven is ideal)

Baking dish (or a glass or microwave friendly dish)

Method:

1. Cook the macaroni aldente (that is, it should be soft but half-done. Like it requires more cooking. Don’t be like me and be oggling at the white sauce that you made and let the macaroni over cook!) Make sure you add some salt when you cook it. Drain the macaroni and set aside.

2. Heat the butter in a pan on a low flame, and add the heaped tablespoon of flour to it. Keep stirring so that the entire thing does not form one big lump! You don’t want that. Lumps are bad, wherever they are…think about it!

3. While you’re reflecting on the dangers of lumps, don’t forget to add the milk! Add it slowly, constantly stirring the mixture to make sure that everything blends in smoothly. This along with salt and pepper, as Karen says, is the basic white sauce.

4. Remove the pan from the flame, and add 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese to the sauce. It will melt in the heat of the sauce, and you can give it a stir to make sure it makes friends with the sauce.

5. Now add the pepper, salt, and oregano to the sauce.

6. You can also add the meat – in my case, the frankfurters (about 1/2 cup) – and stir everything in well. Note: the meat part is optional. If you are on a diet (ha! what are you doing making mac & cheese?!?!!), or are resisting meat for a while (poor your!), or just do not want to add to the extra calories and guilt (join the club!) then you can leave out the meat… I know, I jabber a lot…

7. Anyway, now, pour the macaroni into your baking dish.

8. Now comes the good part. Pour the sauce onto the macaroni, and give it a light stir so that all the macaroni is completely coated with the sauce.

9. Spread grated cheddar cheese on the top of the macaroni.

10. Plop it into the oven and let it do its thing for about 10 -20 minutes. I nuked it on high for about 8 minutes.

11. There is no ’11th step’. Take the macaroni out and oggle some at the browned crispy top of the dish, and then dig in!! I totally missed out on the crispy browned top because of the microwave. Invest in an oven. I will, one day…sigh!

Mine looked like this:

Ooohhh Mama!

No crispy top, but who cares?!? It was yummy, YUMMY!!! Debbie loved it! Why, even the resident cheese-hater (hint: I married him) deigned to have a plate! WIN!

——————————————————————————————-

Karen’s Macaroni and Cheese

Want yummy life-size images that make you drool? The Pioneer Woman’s Macaroni and cheese will give you the fix!

“Stop. What are you ranting about?” You ask.

Well, this…THIS!!! Go ahead and read the article if you have the morbid fascination and the stomach for this sort of thing….

For the love of all that is dear to mankind, where the heck is this coming from?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I thought cuddly toys are just for little kids to snuggle with! The teddy-bear-lover in me feels violated when soft toys are incorporated into horror movies. It’s even worse when children become horror objects in these movies. That “Chucky’s Back” crap was the worst…or so I foolishly thought! Now this!

Already, I feel nervous that Debbie is taking her teddy-bear too seriously – talking to him all the time about her school, reading him her books and singing him her rhymes, and the worst yet, crying to him when she gets told off by one of us!! I HATE that!

And, can I just say, that I HATE, DETEST, and am totally and irrevocably repelled by Mr. BEAN! I mean, what is the deal with that jerk? People, please, please, for the sake of the mental stability of your children when they reach their 40s, don’t let them watch Mr.Bean…PLEASE!

That show is utter crap! All that nudity, innuendos, and the sheer stupidity and crassness of the man. And I am not even talking about the real show! I am talking about the animated series that is meant for little kids!!!And he has taught my daughter how to talk to her teddy bear.

If you see this man, you have my permission to shoot at sight! With a gun, and real bullets.

You are probably now asking me, “Woman, why don’t you just turn off the television, and be done with it? Stop the whining already!” Well, I am working on it. I really am. I feel ashamed with myself for letting things get this far….You see, this show comes around Debbie’s dinner time, and she will not let one morsel of food get past her lips if she is not watching this crappy show. And after I deal with 30 minutes of copious tears, the worst case of 3-yr-old tantrums, and the highest pitched screaming in the world, I usually cave in, because I just don’t want my already skinny child to go to bed on an empty stomach….

Sigh….

So, this post, which started as a rant on cuddly toys with mental disorders has come down to a plea for help to all moms on the internet. Someone, please advice me on how I can wean my daughter off her soft toy (and her incessant thumb-sucking, while you’re at it!), and this stupid Mr.Bean animated series.

I’m waiting for your advice in the comments section. HELP, someone!

Filed under: Parenting, Random thoughts Tagged: child rearing, cuddly toys, Debbie, fear, irritating things, moms, Mr.Bean ]]> http://janeadlibitum.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/defeating-the-purpose-of-the-teddy-bear/feed/ 6 janehamilton mentally ill cuddly toys http://janeadlibitum.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/microwave-brownies-and-my-baking-debut/ http://janeadlibitum.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/microwave-brownies-and-my-baking-debut/#comments Mon, 30 Aug 2010 06:48:20 +0000 Jane Pauline Hamilton http://janeadlibitum.wordpress.com/?p=417 ]]> My mother bakes the best cakes I have ever had. She is one of those rare people on the planet who can taste food and figure out the recipe all on their own. I think 99.9% of those people are master chefs!!! Okay, you guessed right…I am really proud of my mom and her culinary skills. I would also like to point out that my culinary skills are…well…no where in sight, so far!

The closest I ever got to a baking dish is when I dig in to my mom’s Dates Cake! (will get you the recipe soon) However, I decided that, having a chocolate-loving daughter, this state of affairs could not go on for very long! And, I have been craving brownies from the time I knew they existed. The local bakery sells brownies, but I came very close to asphyxiation when I tried them!!! I want to live, people!

And then, there is the fact that I have no oven…yes, I know, I sound like the pathetic soul that I am… But I do have a microwave!! Yaaay! So…

I Googled, found, learnt, revised, and etched into my memory…this recipe:

MICROWAVE BROWNIES

(Caps lock deliberate to indicate awesomeness!) This is my first attempt at baking, EVER. So, cheer me on, okay?

This is a small serving, but you can double it and it works out just fine, as I found out yesterday. I first made these 2 weeks ago, and the pictures are from that attempt.

Things you need: (Basic, non-fancy-schmancy stuff will do for this brownie! And that’s good, because, duh, I live in Nagercoil…)

1/2 cup flour (maida)

1/2 cup cocoa powder (Note for folks in Nagercoil – I used the Cadbury cocoa powder that is available in a purple tin in local shops)

1 cup sugar (best to use powdered sugar, because the granules take a heck of a long time to dissolve in the butter – not good. If you don’t have powdered sugar, just powder the sugar you have, in your grinder/food processor!)

1 & 1/2 stick of butter (I used the Amul salted butter)

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla essence

Chocolate chips (So not optional, but I could not find this wonderful blessing anywhere in this town, and I had to do without it…*sniff*)

Chopped Nuts – any kind. I used cashews and almonds

Method:

In a bowl, mix the cocoa and flour well so that both have blended in.

Soften butter and mix the sugar in with it, until soft and creamy.

Add the 2 eggs and whisk till soft and blended in well. You can add the vanilla essence too.

Now, add the dry ingredients very gradually into the liquid mixture (one tbsp at a time) and keep stirring till your arms fall out! Or, if you are lucky like me to have a sweet, patient sister, get her to stir while you casually stand by and add the dry ingredients!! Better, yet, use a hand-held or table-top mixer.

When the entire batter has been stirred well, pick the bowl up and sniff the awesome aroma of the entire thing. “People” have been known to eat a finger-full of batter right off the bowl…but that’s just “people”! You don’t have to do that…or you could, if you want to…*hint, hint*

Now, grease a round (or rectangular) glass baking dish* with butter, and sprinkle it with powdered sugar. I did not have powdered sugar, so I just powdered up some butter cookies that I had and lined the baking dish with it, over the butter! And it rocked!!!

*Use only glass dishes that are meant for microwaves. NEVER use metal, unless you plan to blow up your microwave oven!!

Now, just pour the batter into the baking dish. You might have to spread the batter equally to all parts of the baking dish, because sometimes the batter can be on the thicker side.

Now, stick it into your microwave and set it on high, and set the timer for 10 minutes.

I would strongly suggest that you take a peek at the 7th or 8th minute to check on things. Take a toothpick and insert it into the center of the brownie. If it comes out clean, it’s done. If there is almost-cakey batter stuck on it, you need it to go on for the remaining time.

There’s no hard-and-fast rule here. If after 10 minutes it still looks suspicious, give it another minute of baking.

At the end, let it sit in the oven for a few minutes. Then take it out and cool it completely, because warm brownies refuse to let go of the baking dish. They still want their mommy!

When cooled, eat the whole thing up without sharing…Oh, sorry…bad advice!!

When cooled, cut out a piece, place it on a small plate, top with vanilla ice cream and a cherry (optional)….eat and go to heaven!

Then come back and tell me how it was. Okay?? This part is NOT optional! Come one, I want to know how yours turned out!

This is the chewy, moist variety of brownie that I love! I am so not into the dry-cake kind of stuff…

Not the best picture possible, but it was after 10pm and I was not at my most patient self….

…as is obvious from this picture!

Wasn't me!

Anyway, she loved it… that’s what’s important.

So, anyway, I walk ‘briskly’ every morning, and I’m usually having a happy, interesting conversation with someone….usually myself

And this is how it goes…

“Okay, hon, stepping out right now…you’re already late…you have 8 minutes to clear an 8 minute distance….Are you going to do this? Hmm…we’ll see…walking. walking. walking. step. step. step. looking good baby! Walk, walk, walk….

OOOUUUCChhhhh! What was that?…Something went ‘click’ in my knee! Okay, ignore it, keep going…Limp, limp, limp….ok, better now…walk, walk, walk…

Oh cripes. There’s the Cake shop across the street! Mmmm…nice smells…yummy smells…

(looking at watch) Do I have time to step in for a quick purchase? Okay, Do I NEED the extra calories?? No, and No…for God’s Sake Jane, NO!! Geez!

Okay, walk, walk, walk, walk…TRIP! Shucks! Who put the stones in the way?!?!

Okay, nothing happened…no one saw you hon..keep walking, keep walking…you have time…(looking at watch) OH CRAP! I have only 3.5 minutes…where did all the time go, darn it?!?!?!

Okay, keep walking…no ditch that…I think it’s time you started running! Oaky, run, run, run…”Run, Forrest, Ruuunnn!” Okay, grow up…Do you really need the “Forrest Gump reference now?!?!

Ooh, nice new shirts on display at the Men’s Clothing store on the way!…Hmph! Ignore it! Stupid stuck up clothing store…probably too expensive! Sour grapes…blah, blah…

Oh good, finally at the office building…(looking at watch [for the umpteenth time, even though it does NOT help!!]) Oh cripes…1 more minute…

Okay hon, now you have to climb 4, Four, FOUR floors…Sheesh people, lifts were invented for a reason, you know..Anyways, it’s the only exercise you get all day!! so, CLIMB already!!

Climb, climb, climb, no..scratch that…RUN, run, run…

What the…people walking up the steps are getting there faster than me! Shucks.

Run, run, run…GASP, GASP, GASP!! Run, run, drag your feet, stomp, stomp…..crawl, crawl, craaaaawwlllll……Wheeeezz, wheeezz, wheeezzz….cough, cough!

(Drumroll and trumpets blaring) I MADE IT, I MADE IT…YAAAAY!!!! And heck, I have 5 minutes left on the clock!!!!!

“WHAT?!?!?!?!?”, you ask?

Well, this is precisely why I set every, and I mean EVERY clock 10 minutes ahead, so that I think I start out 10 minutes early, and half way through I think I’ll be on time, and then I assume that I am already 5 minutes late…and PANIC…and when I reach, It’s a nice surprise to know I am 5 minutes early!!!

Now ain’t that wonderful…fine and dandy!!………………………………….

……………..Aw, shucks….sometimes I don’t even recognize myself….!

Somebody bring back the 20 year old Jane back, please!

What I wanna be…

What I really am…

HELLPPP!!!!!

Anyway, I found this Twitter-hopping linky party the other day, and am absolutely thrilled with it.

What is a Twitter Hop Thursday? Well, a bunch of bloggers host this linky party where everyone gets to enter their twitter handle/username. You get to follow many fun twitter users, and…get this…they follow you right back!!

Superb way to get more followers!!

So, Twitter Hop Thursday is hosted by Simply Stacie, The King’s Court IV, Little Yaya’s, and Review Retreat. All great women, with wonderful blogs (their blog layouts are awesome…I want too!), and to-die-for giveaways. Check them out! Oh, and they always follow you right back, on Twitter! how cool is that??!!!

So, head on over to Simply Stacie’s blog here, and get yourself the code, this here cute button, and linky code etc. I am no good at all this code and stuff, and after several frantic bouts of copying and pasting, I have not been able to make the linky thing appear on this post….HELP!!! Somebody….!

Aaaanyway, have fun Twitter hopping, you guys!