The Hortons go sledding!

Having fun in Utah snow!!!

Last week in numbers

2 the number of times I went to the mall, trying to get warm clothes for my little people for our trip.
5 the number of time madden threw up, yuck!! He just had a Viral infection.
2 the number of times I made egg nog.
About 50, the Number of times I had to tell my children to go brush their teeth.
About 25, the number of times I threatened to spank said children with my ruler. I just have to hit the counter real hard with it and their eyes bug out! (note to self, don't forget to pack ruler on road trip next week.)
5 the number of lb.s of candy we probably have.
0 the number of times I worked out :(
7 the number of loads of laundry I did.
1 the number of times I had Milano cookies for breakfast.
1 the number of times I had a black brownie for breakfast, I like sweets for breakfast!!
4 the number of inches I'm gonna have to had to my jeans if I keep eating goodies and not working out!!
A million, times I kissed Madden J's cheeks!
4 the number of times MJ got in trouble yesterday:(
3 the number of times I went to Taco Cabana for their street tacos, oh my gosh they are so good!!!
2 the number of days I couldn't turn my head, don't know what I did but it was so stiff, probably slept real wrong because there is a 2 year old that insists on getting in our bad at night!!!
Well that about sums up last week!

All dressed up!

Justin and I went to a Halloween/ birthday party for a friend and we actually dressed up!! I usually don't dress up!! Justin was a Texas ranger, I sang The theme song from Walker texas ranger to him, or tried, can't remember all the words!! And I was a sailor girl.

The kids ready to head out to get some candy.

Living on the dark side

Of chocolate that is!!! I just found out about black cocoa powder!! This stuff is sinful!! Its a super Dutch processed cocoa powder that is black as night!! Makes all your chocolate goodies come out super rich and dark, just the way I like it!! These brownies are so good, its kind of hard to describe the flavor, its rich and strong, so much so that you use it with regular cocoa powder in your recipes. I absolutely love the color!
I found the stuff at king Arthur Flour web site, if you haven't been there, go! But when your done reading my blog!! They have tons of recipes on the blog.

Salted Black Cocoa Brownies
makes one 9 x 13" brownie or two 8" brownies

salted butter, for greasing the pan
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1/3 cup black cocoa powder
2/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 tspn baking powder
1 tspn salt
4 eggs
2/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 tspn vanilla extract
coarse sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Using the salted butter, grease the bottom and sides of the pan(s). Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powders, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
4. Combine the wet ingredients with the prepared dry ingredients, folding until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated. Batter will be very thick and difficult to stir.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pans, smoothing the tops. Sprinkle liberally with coarse sea salt.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes if using a 9 x 13" pan and for 25-30 minutes if using two 8" pans. Be careful not to over-bake.
7. Remove the brownies from the oven and let cool completely before removing from pans and cutting. (This part is the most difficult--resisting until they are all cool!)