Home Sweet Home

It was so good to have Jessica home with us for a few days over the weekend. It's always good to have time together. We had a chance to do some shopping in town on a beautiful cold Saturday, but some of the best times were just hanging out at home, watching old movies, and eating popcorn. We're glad she still likes to be home at the farm, where life moves a little slower than in the city. We don't have our children home nearly enough!

We went out to breakfast in our small town Saturday morning. Well, not exactly "in" town, but nearby. The big city doesn't have restaurants like ours. What our eateries lack in decor, they more than make up for in good food.

And after dinner at home on Saturday night, she made us brownies. I'll admit I usually use a box of mix when I need brownies, but she can whip up a batch from scratch almost as quickly. She has used this recipe for a long time. I like mine with a scoop of ice cream. Just like her mom, she has tweaked the recipe to suit her taste. Here is the recipe the way she does it...

NIGELLA LAWSON BROWNIES  (JESSICA'S VERSION)

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
13 oz. best milk chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli chips, buy 2 bags and dump the leftover chips in at the end, to add a chocolate bite inside)
6 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1-2/3 cups sugar
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/3 cups chopped walnuts (I use pecans, but leave them out if I’m taking them somewhere and not sure of everyone’s allergies!)

9x13 inch baking dish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your brownie pan—I think it’s worth lining the sides as well as the base—with foil or parchment paper. Spray with PAM.

Melt butter and chocolate together in a large heavy-based pan (don’t let it scorch!). In a bowl or large wide-mouthed measuring cup, beat the eggs with the vanilla and sugar. Measure the flour into another bowl and add the salt.

When the chocolate mixture has melted, let it cool a bit before beating in the eggs and sugar, and then the nuts and flour. Beat to combine smoothly and then scrape out of the saucepan into the lined pan.

Bake for about 25 minutes. When it’s ready, the top should be dried to a paler brown speckle, but the middle still dark and dense and gooey. And even with such a big batch you do need to keep alert, keep checking: the difference between gungy brownies and dry brownies is only a few minutes; remember that they will continue to cook as they cool.

We have a few brownies left from the weekend. Still good! Good enough for a snowy afternoon snack. We had a little snow this morning. The cows will be more than ready to see Daddy-O coming this morning. He's heading out to the tractor now.