Lookie what I got!!

So the kind and talented Jenny gifted me this!! So while I may not follow all the rules (I'm a rebel) I would like to thank Jenny for thinking of me, especially since I haven't been especially Kreativ in any way that isn't digital for some time now. (I may have something fun coming up hehe. Then again, maybe not, don't hold your breath lol). These are the rules:
1-Thank the person who nominated you for this award. - check
2-Copy the logo and place it on your blog. - check
3-Link to the person who nominated you for this award. - check
4-Name 7 things about yourself that people may not know. -check
Now here is where it gets dicey...I won't nominate anyone specifically, but anyone I follow tends to be fairly crafty in some way, so if any of you follow me, and consider yourself crafty, by all means, consider yourselves nominated and go ahead and share the Kreativ love!
5-Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6-Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7-Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they've been nominated.

And here are my 7 random things you may not know about me:

1. I gave birth to my daughter at home, in my bedroom, in twenty minutes flat. Paramedics barely made it in time, and it ruined our bed. It was not a planned at home birth!!!
2. I am terrified of moths, if one is even remotely close, I will spot it, and keep my eyes on it until it goes away. If it flies anywhere near me I will scream and run.
3. I have gutted a moose. Interesting, no?? Afraid of moths, but not guts. Hmm.
4. I am selfish.
5. I am more like my mother than I ever imagined.
6. I like my eggs poached, yolkes runny, my toast lightly browned, and my coffee with cream and sugar. A double double from Tim's and you'll be my friend forever!
7. I lost my job this summer, started a dayhome so I could be with my kids, and am still trying to find out where I fit into it all.

So thanks again Jenny, and if any of you grab this award, let me know so I can check out your random things that I don't know about you!

Chocolate Brownie Pie

I don't know if you have a Boston Pizza where you live, but we have two in my hometown. And they have this dessert, that is the bestest, yummiest, chocolate browniest, ice creamiest dessert. They call it the Chocolate Brownie Addiction. Well, lucky you!! I found a brownie recipe that tastes (to me anyways) identical to the one from the restaurant. And if you don't have a Boston near you, you don't know what you are missing! I found it in the Betty Crocker Cookbook, which I purchased after a friends mother gave me an awesome recipe for turkey stuffing from the same cookbook. If you are a new mom or new to cooking, or just love cooking in general, this cookbook is for you! It has lots of pointers and tips on things like how to whip cream (and pictures of what the different stages look like) and basics like how to cook a roast (I can admit I have needed help with this one!!) I find it to be a great resource as well as having lots of good easy recipes that use ingredients that for the most part I usually have on hand. You can buy this cookbook HERE.

The other book I have used while baking many times over and am sooooo glad I bought is called The Food Substitutions Bible. I purchased it for when I have those cooking emergencies...you know the ones....where you forgot to go over the recipe and make sure you have all the ingredients...and find that halfway through with your flour and sugar and eggs mixed that you're missing something...and you can throw away what you already started or go to the store and buy the ingredient that you don't have...OR!! You go to your Food Substitutions book and look up the food, and use one of the three substitutions listed to save yourself the shopping trip, and save your half made recipe. I used it making this recipe as I didn't have the unsweetened chocolate it asked for, so I looked it up, and removed 1 tsp of the butter and 3 tbsp of the sugar and used bittersweet chocolate instead. It still turned out great!! You can find this handy book HERE.

So, if you followed through with all that, here is the recipe for...(drumroll here...or theatrical music, whichever you prefer...)

Chocolate Brownie Pie

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter or margarine (I used butter)

5oz unsweetened baking chocolate, cut into pieces

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla

3 large eggs

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup chopped walnuts.

Heat oven to 350F. Grease bottom and side of pie plate, 10 x 1 1/2 inches , with shortening. (I used two 9" plates and PAM.) In 1-quart saucepan, melt butter and chocolate on low heat, stirring constantly. Cool 5 minutes. In medium bowl beat sugar, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on high speed 5 minutes. Beat in chocolate mixture on low speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in flour just until blended, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in walnuts. Spread batter in pie plate. Bake 35 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into wedges. Serve with ice cream and hot fudge sauce. Hot fudge sauce?? you ask? Here is the recipe for that from the great Betty Crocker as well:

Hot Fudge Sauce

Ingredients:

1 can (12oz) evaporated milk

1 bag (12oz) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 teaspoon vanilla

In 2 quart saucepan, heat milk, chocolate chips and sugar to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly, remove from heat. Stir in butter and vanilla until mixture is smooth and creamy. Cool about 30 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken. Serve warm. Store remaining sauce covered in refrigerator up to 4 weeks Sauce becomes firm when refrigerated, will thin out when heated. (Also great on ice cream alone!!)

So I served up a brownie wedge with Breyers vanilla ice cream and the hot fudge sauce with a little cool whip (from the aerosol Wwwwssshht! can). Let me know if you make this recipe and how you liked it, because I thought it was great!! There is also an icing recipe if anyone is interested, and you can bake the brownies in a 9" square pan if you want to do a more traditional brownie. Enjoy!!!

P.S. Anyone else out there having trouble with Blogger not putting in spaces and such?? I had spaced out the whole recipe section (two or three times but when I publish it the spaces disappear, what gives??) And now I added a picture, and it keeps adding spaces where I don't want them!! ARGH!

Also, I forgot to mention that I received my first blog award!! YAAAAY ME!! Ginger from Ginger's House nominated me and I am very thankful.

I really enjoy her blog, and she posts some beautiful word art for free. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to pass it on, so for now I will just say thanks, and I really appreciate it!