Monthly Archives: December 2011

Great Family Recipes: Grandma Roth’s Brownies

Recipes

April 5, 1956, Wausau Daily Record Herald; Wausau, Wisconsin

From far left: my mom, my aunt, my grandma, and my uncle

I’d like to start a new series in the month of December. I’m going to share a favorite family recipe every Monday. Let’s start with my grandmother. I think Grandma Roth is a great cook, but she doesn’t do it very often. Plain and simple, she doesn’t enjoy cooking. Grandma told me that she finds it annoying when she works over the stove for hours only to see her food to be gone in minutes. She always said that the best thing to have for dinner is reservations. Oddly, when her children were young, she told me only went out to dinner twice per year so there must have been a lot of home cooking at one time. One of the few times she went out for dinner was for her husband’s company’s annual dinner! I’m not sure when the other time was…it might have been for her wedding anniversary, but I can’t be sure because her wedding anniversary falls over Thanksgiving and I can’t imagine her going out for dinner over the holidays. Happy 62nd wedding anniversary, (Great) Grandma!

I don’t know why she was featured in the paper (above), but in that article she shared a recipe for lemon chiffon pudding. I don’t think she ever prepared that for me, but she did make brownies on special occasions. These ARE the best brownies ever. As a family we actually make them very infrequently so I haven’t tried making a gluten free version yet. Years ago I begged Grandma for the recipe. I’m sharing the recipe with you today for you to enjoy. If you want to share it, do please attribute it to her.

Grandma Roth’s Brownie Recipe

3/4 cup butter

3 squares chocolate

4 eggs, well beaten

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups flour

Nutmeats (optional)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Melt together butter and chocolate. Add beaten eggs. Spread batter about 1/2 inch thick in an 8 by 12 or 9 by 13 pan. Bake in a slow oven for about 30-35 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Note: make sure you use a rectangular pan or they won’t turn out right.

Copyright – @Grandma Roth — Don’t mess with Grandma!

Lunch Wrap Up: Week of Nov 28th

Packed lunches

What a week. It wasn’t that unusual, but I really felt like I barely got through. Then I was sick this weekend so I am really behind in everything, especially housework.

Charlie’s lunches

Turkey wrap, blueberries, peas, apple slices, bar

Charlie told me he wanted a wrap when I had asked him in the morning. He was so over leftover turkey that I decided to go with lunch meat (anti-biotic free, no nitrates). After I picked him up from child care I mentioned the wrap and he said he wished I had cut it. Duh. Child care menu: Meatballs in tomato gravy, steamed rice; veggie blend, apple

Potatoes, gravy; apple slices; turkey; avocado; bread

I made that bread in the bread machine and my son was crazy for it. Yes, it’s gluten free. You can find gluten free bread machine mixes. I haven’t felt strong enough in the kitchen to try to make my own gluten free bread. Also there’s the whole lack of time thing. Child care menu: BBQ chicken, cheesy mashed potatoes, green beans, orange, Italian bread

Turkey carbonara with sun-dried tomatoes; frozen chickpeas; oranges and pears; corn muffin; bar

We were looking for creative ways to use up the turkey and we had started pasta before we realized we didn’t have a drop of red pasta sauce in the house. We dug up my cousin’s partner’s carbonara pasta recipe and it was phenomenal. I will be sharing the recipe after I secure permission. We ate through a ton of the pasta and only had enough leftovers for the little guy (and not us). The chickpeas were not a hit, but everything else was. I purchased bagged frozen chickpeas to avoid cans. Why? BPA levels soar after eating canned soup. Yuck. Child care menu: Pizza noodle bake, salad with dressing, pineapple chunks, wheat roll.

 Mac and cheese; pretzels; pea pods, egg; sliced oranges

The oranges came back, which was slightly surprising. I have agreed that he can eat some fruits and veggies provided by the child care so I’m wondering if he ate their fruit. Child care menu: Mac and cheese, veggie blend, banana, roll

Bacon; applesauce; crackers and apple butter; green beans

This is one of those skimpy kind of lunches. Friday lunches are usually bad. He ate everything accept for the apple butter. Child care menu: Turkey and cheese wrap, lettuce, applesauce.

My lunches

Turkey sandwich, avocado; yogurt; blueberries and an apple slice

Turkey, bread; avocado; grapes and yogurt; popcorn

I was so pressed for time that I couldn’t even fix myself a proper sandwich.You should know that grapes and yogurt is not the best combination. And the popcorn I made on the stove. I used “Tiny but mighty” popcorn in coconut oil with a dash of salt. Amazing.

Turkey sandwich; carrots; pears and oranges; Bumble Bar

Nothing green at all since I ran out of spinach. Boo.

Mac and cheese with peas; hard-boiled egg; sliced orange

Larabar; chicken stew/soup; apple; crackers

I made a crockpot meal the previous day for dinner. When I packed it up for leftovers, I heated it up that morning and then put it in the thermos hot. I’m happy to report that the thermos held heat. It was warm, not piping hot but not cold. Next time I might pack it in some kind of sleeve. If I knew how to knit well, I’d knit a little thermos cozy.

Open thread: Food advertising

Open threads

I guess I’m a delicate flower when it comes to the ad I blogged about yesterday. Based exclusively on comments, I’m in a tiny minority of people who are offended by that ad. Certainly the ad I blogged about is mild in comparison to bikini-clad babes, macho guys, or robots in many beer ads, which often make me scratch my head and wonder what are they selling anyway?

My reaction comes from a place of total advertising saturation and complete exhaustion of corporate shenanigans. I think that beer ad was the ad that broke the camel’s back. Ads are everywhere and most are boring, ugly, offensive, misspelled, or stupid. I appreciate parodies, but as I move into my jaded mid-thirties even Super Bowl advertisements that used to seem “witty” to me are far less interesting. I’m watching less and less TV in general and now I’ve stopped watching TV news completely. I can’t take the commercials. I can’t stand the advertisements masquerading as news. I can’t listen to my husband yelling at the TV anymore. It’s so easy for us to see it for what it is: a sham. (I’m no puritan though; I indulge in Netflix)

The most important thing for every citizen to do is to call advertisers on their offensive ads. To sit silent is to condone. Also we need to be aware of insipid ads creeping into our every day lives. Did you read about the school that started selling advertisements on children’s report cards? I was shocked at first and then I saw the brilliance. Next up -targeted ads on report cards. Getting all D’s on your report card? Try ABCD tutoring services!

Advertising must be responsible. I’ve come to realize that no corporation will become responsible on its own. It doesn’t begin with government regulations (because let’s face it — they don’t get passed). It starts with people at the grassroots level saying, “Hey something is wrong with this picture.” We have to demand it. No one is going to come in on a white steed to save the day.

What food advertising just burns you up?

 

Ad critique: God and Pabst Blue Ribbon

Happening Now

This blog post is completely off-topic, but I wanted to share this photo with you. I am appalled by this advertisement. What are your thoughts? Am I overreacting?

I spotted this large ad as I was driving east on North Ave just before Western. I turned around and stopped to take these photos. This particular area of Chicago is called Humboldt Park. It’s also the neighborhood that my husband lived in when he first moved to Chicago in 1999. I consider the area to be dangerous — at least it was when my husband lived there. Although there is a vibrant Puerto Rican community (back then I loved driving under the Puerto Rican arch), there was a lot of drugs, crime, and gangs in the area back then. One of my schools is about 15-20 minutes away.

While I normally appreciate a good parody, I’m offended in this case. First, the placement of this ad in this neighborhood is troubling. What does this community need? A donation to a community center? Yes. Investment in Roberto Clemente High School (which coincidentally participated in Cooking up Change) several blocks south on Western? Yes. This tasteless ad for beer? NO. I have to wonder if any community would welcome this advertisement. Would your community want this ad displayed?

I am the daughter of a former art teacher so I appreciate art. Michelangelo‘s work on the Sistine Chapel and his depiction of God and Adam does not scream beer ad. In fact, in my opinion Michelangelo’s work borders sacred. Does God drink and endorse drinking beer? I find that offensive (and I’m not even religious). The ad is part of Pabst Blue Ribbon’s online art parody project. Beer ads are notoriously offensive, but is the company taking it too far?

What are your thoughts? Am I overreacting?