I have to brag.  I think I have come up with the best homemade brownie recipe ever.  Seriously, it tastes like chocolate orange truffles! If you like the mixture of chocolate and orange you have to try this...guests will be BEGGING for the recipe. promise.

I came up with this recipe by accident really.  I was making my standby chocolate mint brownies (always a hit) and I had to make two pans of brownies so I decided I had creative liscense since if the orange turned out badly...I had a backup.  Well, turn out badly they did not and the kids were fighting over the crumbs...seriously!

Here is the recipe I came up with...go ahead, thank me.

RECIPE:
 2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup melted butter (has to be REAL butter)
1 cup flour
2/3 cup baking cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 drops orange essential oil (sold here)

FROSTING: 
6 T baking cocoa
6 T melted butter
3 cups powdered sugar
5 or 6 T warm water

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Add butter and mix well.  Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt then add and mix well.

2. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.  Cool.

3. For frosting, combine cocoa, butter and 2-3 drops orange essential oil (sold here).  Then gradually stir in powdered sugar and add just enough water to  create a spreading consistency.

As my readers know I was so excited to have my own makeshift greenhouse.  The plants were transferred from my laundry room to the greenhouse and they were thriving.  However, with every up sometimes comes a down.  I had been keeping tabs on the weather to be sure we weren’t going t to experience a freeze or other problem that would kill the tender seedlings…that is when tradgedy struck.  We have a saying in this part of the country…if you don’t like the weather, just wait 5 minutes and it will change.  Change it did.  The forecaster reported the low to be 39 degrees when in reality it dipped to 29 (he missed the mark didn’t he?)  

I am not sure exactly why but my hubby’s design did not allow the seedlings to withstand the intense cold.  I came out in the a.m. to some very sad and wilty plants that had been thriving just the day before.  I nurtured them throughout the day and did everything I knew but by that evening ALL but the cabbage were totally dead (cabbage looks great though!).  Sooo discouraging!  I lost over 100 plants.

What is a determined farmgirl to do?  Start getting her hands dirty.  I did and we planted all of them again.  

The bright spot was a beautiful butterfly baby that landed while we were potting all those seeds again.  My 11 y/o (an optimist like her mama) reminded me to be thankful that we didn’t live in a time where those seeds were our only source of food and if they didn’t grow…we didn’t eat.  Well stated darlin’

I have a creative friend who brought over a clear plastic tub of sheer entertainment when she visited recently.  Both of our toddlers and preschoolers were entertained while we visited on my porch and the idea was pretty ingenious.  So, not my original idea...but so worth sharing!

After my friend left there was a constant request for her "sand" from my little ones.  So, what's a mama to do but to recreate the fun.  This is play sand that reallly is actually edible if need be (not that I want my children to eat it but I won't be quite as upset as when they eat real sand).  Here is the recipie I used: two 5lb bags of flour ($1.50 each at Aldi) two cups of cheap cooking oil (less then $1).  That's it!  You put the flour in the tub you are using and then pour the oil around and mix together (kids can even help with the mixing).  The finished product feels cool to the touch but similar to moon sand. There is however a warning that comes with this project:

Warning: you may experience an unexpected space of time for yourself as your little ones will be so totally engrossed in thier play...however, you will be best to do this project outdoors and will likely need to strip your children's clothing off before returning inside as it is messy.

all was fine and the play was going very well...but then we got excited.  And then it snowed.

I was lauging so hard that the picture ended up crooked.  Luckily it brushed out of his hair much better than real sand does and the clothes?  We just dusted them off and washed them.

While I do not like all the rain that comes with spring I do love the intensity of the colors that are a product of all this rain.  I went outside searching for signs of spring and the colors are just so vibrant and amazing this time of year.  I imagine that green cannot get any greener and one day in Heaven I imagine that all the colors may be like this, but even more amazing...all the time!  

So here it is...a few signs that I know this cold bitter weather is on its way out at least until next year.

I love my hostas.  I especially love the ones that are green with white edging, they always come up last (picture on left).  I love that they stay beautifullly green and lush all summer (well as long as the free-range hens don't decide to make salad out of them).

My chives are sprouting!  We just made hamburgers yesterday and I clipped a tuft to mix in with the burgers...yum!

My raspberry bushes are starting to spread and grow.  My 3 y/o saw this and immediately asked where the red bees (red berries) were at!  He remembers picking some for a fresh snack every day last summer.

Yes, I have started the garden.  So far I have a small amount of lettuce coming up, spinach is planted as is cilantro, basil and as you see above...sugar snap peas.  I began using the "Back to Eden" method of gardening last year and it worked so wonderfully that I plan on continuing it.  Want to learn more? HERE is the link to a free video.  It is basically the idea of using wood chips (not chemical laden mulch) to control weeds and keep moisture in your garden.  I had the most amazing garden last year that was also much less weedy then ever and a joy to work in.

It is about this time of year, almost every year, that I begin coveting a greehouse.  I would love to have one that was big enough to walk through and have shelves upon shelves for my plants...I kinda drool when I see those kinds.  

For the time being I have always resorted to growing my plants  near windows which often results in "leggy" tomatoes and some loss as I eventually run out of room in the house and then on warm days have to put the plants outside (inevitably every year some get forgotten overnight when temps are still a bit too cool).

However, this year hubby took a day last weekend and with what materials he could scrounge from the barn (no money was spent on this) he created me at least an oasis for my seedlings that will give me my laundry room back for laundry room type activities.

Several children decided to get involved in the process with my 9 y/o helping to remove nails from the old boards and holding things together while dad used power tools.  Meanwhile I looked over my shoulder and saw the cutest photo op...

So now that I have more room to put the tomatoes, cabbage and peppers that I have started, what is a girl to do?  Well plant more of course...a new flat of rainbow cherry tomato plants you see here...50 to be exact with 10 of each variety (yellow, orange, black, red and pink!)

Why is it that the little things excite me so?  This is my second year growing cabbage from seed and I never tire of seeing the new little sprigs of any of my new plants emerging.  I am getting so excited to get out and start the garden...I have plans in the next several days (if time allows before Easter) to get my lettuce and spinach planted as well as maybe my sweet peas too.  I am so anxious to get back to daily time in the garden!

yes, that's right they both got a ride on the 4 wheeler...they loved it!  Even the littlest was not scared by the loud noise (and yes it was a veeeery slow ride!)

There was even time to go back to daddy's special deer stand...how cool that was!  

On the walk back someone got too tired and needed a ride.