Best Brownines I Ever Made

   I have tried all kinds of brownies, but this is my favorite!  It's not hard either...I always have trouble with the edge of the brownies being too crunchy.  I have tried lowering the oven temperature, and decreasing the baking time.  Adding icing to it and letting it sit awhile took care of that problem.  They were even better the day after I made them!  Very moist and divine....

Brownies

1 box brownie mix - bake according to directions on box.  I like a moist, not cake type brownie.  Let cool before pouring icing on top.

For Icing:

1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 cup milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/2 cup melted butter

Mix all ingredients in a small pot and heat until everything is melted.
Pour over cooked brownie while it's still in baking pan.

Sprinkle with 1/2 cup chopped pecans.

Let me know what you think!

Pumpkin Souffle

     After 34 years of cooking pretty much EVERYDAY, I get pretty bored with cooking the same dishes day in and day out... So this recipe kind of changes it up a bit!  It's a remake of the Piccadilly Restaurant's Carrot Souffle recipe. I looked in the pantry and found a can of pumpkin (ran out of carrots) and decided to make a souffle. We don't like it too sweet, so I cut the sugar quite a bit from the original recipe.  This one is so good!  It's almost like dessert instead of just a side dish...

Pumpkin Souffle

1 can pumpkin

1/4 cup sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1  teaspoon vanilla

2 Tablespoons flour

3 eggs

2 Tablespoons melted butter

Powdered sugar to sprinkle on top

In mixing bowl, add pumpkin, sugar, baking powder and vanilla.  Whip until smooth.  Add flour and mix well.  Whip eggs in separate bowl, then add them and the butter to the mix.  Blend well.  Spray baking dish with cooking spray.  Pour mix into dish - should be about half full- the souffle will rise.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.  

Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar and serve!

     If you want to change the recipe and use carrots, that is delicious too!  I tried using 1-3/4 cups whole, peeled carrots.  You need to boil them first, then mash them up.  I decided that was too much work, so the next time I tried it, I used a can of carrots.  Made it go much quicker!!!  You decide how you want to do it, depending on how much time you have.

Enjoy!

Tabasco Sauce

     This is an interesting article and video on CBS News -60 Minutes Overtime, about Tabasco Sauce made at Avery Island,  Louisiana!

Tabasco goes in many dishes here... You can buy it almost everywhere, so give it a try to add some spice to your food!  (See links at bottom of page.)

 Link for the article:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-journey-to-the-island-where-tabasco-is-made/?fb_action_ids=10202935010077371&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B275133162654831%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.likes%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D


   Where is Avery Island?  If ever you are in the area, it is a MUST see- Just beautiful!  Here's the link to Avery Island:  http://www.tabasco.com/avery-island/



Links if you'd like to order some:

http://www.tabasco.com/avery-island/

http://www.amazon.com/Tabasco-Original-Sauce-Pepper-Ounce/dp/B0004LZSYS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395161083&sr=8-1&keywords=tabasco

Try some today!

No Mess Bacon

    I don't know about you, but I love bacon!  Although, I don't like the mess that COOKING it makes... My son told me how he cooks his. (We are never too old to learn from our children!)

After trying this, I will never cook bacon the old way again!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with Pam Cooking Spray.  I used a 12 oz. package of thick sliced bacon.  Lay out the strips of bacon on the sheet.  Bake 10 minutes, then flip the strips over. Bake another 7-8 minutes.

That's it! There was no grease flying everywhere, and no stove top to clean! It doesn't get any easier than that!!!

Enjoy!

Homemade Dish Washing Detergent

    Now that I made laundry detergent, I thought I'd try dishwasher detergent.  This is even easier than the laundry detergent!  So there is no excuse not to try.  Each load only cost about a nickel.... No sale or coupon, that I know of,  will get you dishwasher soap that cheap!

Ingredients:

1 cup Borax

1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

1/2 cup Kosher Salt

3/4 cups Lemi Shine

All of these ingredients are at Walmart- check the laundry section and the dish detergent sections.

Mix all ingredients together and put in container.  Leave container open (stir occasionally).  Be sure not to skip this step, otherwise you will end up with a large BRICK!  The next day, stir again and close container.  Use 1 Tablespoon per load.    Makes enough for about 50 loads.

*You could double recipe, but try it this way first.  If you don't like it, you won't waste much! 

Let me know how these are working for you or if you have better recipes- I am open to all new ideas!

Homemade Laundry Soap

     I know we are probably all trying to save a little money, so I thought I'd try to make my own laundry soap.   How hard could it be, right? As it turns out, not hard at all.  The great thing is, you can save quite a bit of money too!  I found all of the ingredients at Walmart.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda
1/2 bar Fels-Naptha Soap
2 cups water

Heat 2 cups water in sauce pan.  Grate the 1/2 bar of soap (this is important!) It will not work if you just chop it into chunks!  Add the soap to the water and stir on medium heat until the soap is dissolved.

 Using a 5 gallon bucket, fill it about 1/4 full with hot tap water.

Add the Borax and Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda to the 5 gallon bucket of hot water. Stir until dissolved.  Then add the soap mixture (from the saucepan) to the bucket and stir well.  Add more hot water to the 5 gallon bucket until it is 1/2 full. Stir again.  Cover bucket with lid.

Let sit overnight.  It will be thick in the morning. Stir again and use a funnel to put the detergent in containers. I used old Hawaiian Punch bottles and a used laundry detergent bottle to store the detergent in.  Fill the container to about 3/4 full and then add water to top it off. Shake well before using.

It may be a little work, but I got about 3-1/2 gallons of detergent for less than $2.00!

Give it a try!!!!

Cajun Winter Wonderland

     I couldn't help sharing some of these photos from the past couple of weeks here in South Louisiana.  Sorry about the quality of some of the photos.  My camera broke, so I had to use my cell phone....

     For those of you who live further north, this is a common sight.  Down here,  we RARELY see anything like this!  This is about as close to a winter wonderland as we get... just beautiful!