Thanks to everyone who played along in my personal ads contest! If you haven’t gone back to read the comments, you really should – y’all are extremely creative, if somewhat twisted, folks. 😉 Many thanks to Jeanne and Deb for providing judging services! Cyn and KitKatKnit tied for first place, and Pao was selected for a dishonourable mention. Congrats!
Jen’s having a contest – leave her a comment about your favorite holiday tradition for one contest entry, and/or post a link to Jen’s blog for a second contest entry. Play along by midnight CDT, December 16, and you could win some “tasty sock yarn.”
Janet’s interested in seeing your recipe posts and photos. Leave her a comment with the link to your recipe/photo, and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win some socks personally knitted for you by Janet! Ok, my entry doesn’t have any pictures, but here’s one of the easiest, tastiest brownie recipes ever:
Gluten-Free Double Fudge Brownies
2T butter or margarine
2T water
1/2 cup sugarMix the above ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high until mixture starts to boil. Remove from microwave, add
6 oz (1 cup) semisweet or double-chocolate chocolate chips
and stir until the chips are melted. Add
1 tsp vanilla
2 slightly beaten eggsand mix well. Add
2/3 c gluten-free flour (you gluten-eaters can use wheat flour)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp xanthan gum (only for gluten-free version)and mix well.
Stir in 6 oz (1 cup) chocolate chips, mix well, and pour into a greased 9″ square pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350F. Do not overbake! If you wait until a toothpick comes out clean or the edges pull away from the side, they’ll be too done. I usually take them out at about 20-22 minutes. These brownies are very rich. They will be crumbly when warm, but they’re quite cohesive when they cool.
Looking Back
I’ve seen this on a few different blogs and I remember doing it last year… For a quick review of the past year, here are the post titles and non-contest, non-reading first sentences of my first post of each month.
January Reports of my demise were only slightly exaggerated…: I spent six hours of New Year’s Day in the emergency room, getting fluids and antinausea meds for the most evil migraine I’ve had in 12 years (i.e., the last time a migraine sent me to the ER). I’m still not feeling the greatest today.
February Secrets of Cat Photography Revealed (Part the First): Two things have inspired me to write this post. First, I promised the info to Michaele at least six months ago (whoops – sorry, Michaele!). (Um, the photos for Part the Second are still in my unused photos directory… whoops again!)
March Killing you with the cute: Aw, thank you all so much for the kind words about my refined raglan and yesterday’s self portraits! *blush*
April What I did with my weekend, or Meet the Peeves: As I mentioned Friday, the Peeves came to Minneapolis for approximately 24 hours, en route to see more sights and meet more bloggers (Hi CarrieK! Hi La! Hi Laurie! You’ll have fun!!). Meet the notoriously camera shy Peeves:
May A message from Mayhem: Hi everyone! Mom said I could post today because she doesn’t feel very lively…
June And finally, some knitting: Aw, Mayhem really appreciated all the sweet birthday wishes yesterday! For those who are wondering where the heck the year went, I didn’t get her until September last year.
July Feline groovy: Rachael’s cat Digit returned after being long given up for dead! However, he requires surgery and a lot of other medical care, and Rachael and Lala don’t have that kind of money right now.
August Handy Mayhem butt: I’ve mentioned swap-bot a few times recently. Kristi has a great post on how to establish a rating on swap-bot.
September Trying to catch up: I took a bit of a computer break over the holiday weekend and am frightfully behind in bloglines. Please let me know if you’re having a contest you’d like me to mention, as I’ll probably read about it on your blog long after the deadline has passed…
October Monday meanderings: I finished my Los Monos Locos on Saturday! *sniff sniff sniff* -Mayhem
November A Halloween walk: I thought I’d share a few pictures from my walk yesterday. Some of the house pictures are worth clicking to see the Halloween details!
December We were all stricken with camnesia: Thursday evening I picked up Kristi the Fiber Fool from the airport. We chatted and knitted while Chaos glared balefully and May tried to entice Kristi to open up the MGWT closet.
“Whatever, May. I know the blog readers really appreciate my dark smouldering sensuality more than your insipid cuteness.” -Chaos
Pearl Phyllis Says “Oooh, that Chaos is a hottie!”
I’ve gone back and read the personal adds,
I’m going to get Pao to write mine,
I loved them all,
How could you not get a cutie using any of them?
Of course we do, Chaos… but May’s cuteness doesn’t hurt either…
Yay, Chaos. There’s more of you to admire and love 😉
Anyway you put it, another year with you, Chaos, and May as my friends is a pretty spectacular year!
I am definitely trying your recipe – once I find the xanthan gum 🙂 (<— for kids at the boys’ school who normally have to opt out of birthday cake)
I loved reading and clicking your look back!
Little tidbit is that I take REALLY bad food photos — notice I don’t have any. Ever.
Oh, if I were to look back…how many WIP’s would I have started? And still not completed?
*sigh*
Mae sez – “Me.ow!”
Chris- Kitten-Chow says it’s onward and upward from here.
And wishes abundant Whiskas Temptations to all!
Ooo, thanks for sharing that brownie recipe! I had just been thinking I should ask you for it to pass along to a friend. Now I can just link her to you! 🙂
Dishonourable! Charming that is.
I do the best I can to sell you off to a rich Arab for a life of depravity and I get dishonourable.
Pfffffft.
Congrats to the winners! Chaos, that belly, why it just cries out to be rubbed…must…not…look…at all the…smouldering…kittiness.
I’m stunned! I didn’t win? 😉
I hope next year is full of fun, frivolity and friends and none of the being sick part!
Hey – I thought that brownie recipe was a deep dark secret?
why is it that only one of Chaos’ nipples is visible?
I didn’t win? Oh poo. Don’t mind me. I’m just going to go sulk in the corner… 😉
Great, StumblingOverChaos, new and improved: now with more kitty p-r-0-n.
😉
Poor Chaos!
Here’s to a very good next year!
Sorry I never contributed to your contest – but I could never have approached Cynthia’s brilliance anyhow. What fun reading all the entries!
Congrats to winners! I laughed so hard reading all of the entries, that I had tears in my eyes. Great idea for a contest too.
Oh Chaos belly! Makes me want to reach through the screen to scratch it if I knew I wouldn’t come away with a bloody stump.
That was a great contest – very fun to read the comments!
Chaos, don’t tempt us with that oh-so-soft belly fur.
Gonna go read the personals when Oliver naps. If he naps.
I remember that migraine you had in January. BOO.
How am I supposed to make a choice like that? Chaos’ hot smouldering sensuality or Mayhem’s cuteness?
I can’t do it! I’m weak!
Yummy recipe and I like the year in review, I should try that. Those personal ads suggestions were too funny. 🙂
Heh, heh. You had some creative personal ads, there.
I am officially in the mood for brownies
You and Deb don’t have enough baking to do if you have time for these end of year reviews with lots of links!
Hope 2008 is a healthier year! No red wine on NYE, eh?
Insipid cuteness? Oh Chaos. Don’t underestimate it.
OTOH, smouldering cat sensuality….mrrrow.
aww. I suppose I had an ‘in’ as I cater/play sub to 2 of my own black kitties. Give Chaos a belly rub for me! (Really, for those of us who do not know… where do we by the GF flour and Xantham Gum? I might make these for my research advisor).
2008 is just around the corner!(lol, i will be still be swollen from surgery, no red wine allowed either)
loved the contest entries! congrats ladies!
hey there kitties!
Hehe 🙂 That was a fun contest – pao is chuffed to bits with his dishonourable mention (English spelling – hurrah – we’ll convert you back to the mother tongue ;))
This is actually much like my brownie recipe, but I add another 2 cups of chocolate chips after the batter’s all done. The original recipe said white and maybe milk, but I use whatever I have.
Now that’s some fabulous dark smoldering sensuality! The brownies look delicious.
heee heeee, more interesting this year, especially January! Hope this next year is healthier!