MAY DAYS

My new-old cup only cost  $1.50, another total op-shop bargain. There's been so much work to do in the  house and garden that finding a quiet moment to write has been hard,  plus the computer started to make a very annoying high pitched whine. The whine turned out to be a slow vibrating fan so I used some WD-40 and that seems to have done the trick. Furgus has turned out to be a supreme mouser although I'm not to keen on the occasional live one he brings inside. The living room has a new lamp and I bought a matching shade for the overhead light as well.  Here's a happy Furgus after a day of  helping me in the garden.
              

                                                                                                                                                                                              

                                      

EASTER BROWNIES

I didn't manage to do any special Easter cooking this year we were to busy painting the lounge room. Instead my Dad made the most lush chocolate fudge brownies for everyone. Be warned, you can't stop at just one.

Triple Chock Brownies
2 x 100 gr blocks Lindt dark chocolate (either 70 or 85 per cent cocoa)
125 gr butter
3 tablespoons cocoa (Dutch if you can get it, but Cadbury’s will do)
1 and a quarter cups white sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 175 degrees. Line a 20 cms square pan with cooking paper (this is very fiddly but worth it), then coat lightly with vegetable oil spray. Melt the chocolates, butter, and cocoa in the microwave, stirring often, check after 1 minute.
2. Whisk the sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk in the melted chocolate mixture until smooth. Stir in the flour until no streaks remain.
3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 35 minutes.
4. Let cool completely on a wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours, before removing from the pan and cutting into squares.
To make ahead
The uncut brownies can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Do not cut the brownies until ready to serve or they will dry out. When taken from the fridge and cut they will be very hard. This is normal.
Note: wrap each pack of chocolate in a tea towel and bash evenly, back and front, with a hammer on a brick or concrete. This’ll break the chocolate into small bits so you don’t have to bother breaking it up by hand. Just unpack the chocolate and let the bits fall into whatever you’ll be melting it in.

BACK TO BLOGGING

Meet Furgus, He's six years old and was hiding behind a door in the last room at the cat home. He's doing really well,  I'm slowly winning him over with good food often and heaps of love. The lounge room walls have finely been painted it took four coats and twelve litres of undercoat to cover the forest green suede effect. They're now Wattle ID "sunnydale" a warm cream. Once the undercoat was done the ceiling  looked filthy so we had to paint it as well. The windows are next project they need to be sanded, filled/sealed and painted inside and out . Another big job but one I can do without any help.