Gummie's Brownies

<----- ready to pop into the oven!


Do not misread that title. These are not "gummy brownies". Gummie is what me and my siblings called my maternal grandmother for as long as I can remember. I'm not sure if it's just something that stuck because one of us couldn't say grandma or if she named herself that. Either way, these brownies can also be referred to as "little chocolate bites of heaven".


You are going to need:
4 eggs
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of butter (TWO STICKS)
4 squares of unsweetened chocolate (this comes in bar form. Usually individually wrapped squares)
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 cup of flour
2 cups of miniature marshmallows

Directions:
1. Beat the eggs until they are thick and lemon yellow.

2. Melt the butter and all of the chocolate. You can do this over the stove or in the microwave. I used the microwave. I did it for 5.5 minutes on 40% then I stirred it up and did it again for another 3.5 minutes on 40%.

3. While the chocolate is melting, add sugar to the eggs gradually. Continue to beat and add in the vanilla.

4. Mix the chocolate/butter mixture into the bowl with the eggs and mix together.

5. Fold in the flour and then stir in the marshmallows.

6. Bake in a greased pan (I used a 9x13) for about 30 minutes at 350. (My sister said DO NOT OVER COOK - so I'm not!)

She also said to let this sit as long as humanly possible to actually LET chocolate sit around uneaten before cutting and serving. They DO taste better then next day to be honest. which is unfortunate because they are baking right now and the smell is driving me CUHRAZY! I WANT TO EAT THEM NOW RAWR!

These brownies do have a copyright. You may NOT alter this recipe in any way and still call them Gummie's Brownies. If you do make these brownies you must pay tribute to me by making me a batch and sending them to me. Period!

Eight years ago today...

Eight years ago today I was out in Texas visiting Gary while he was in tech school. We woke up one Tuesday morning and he said "Hey, let's go get married today!". I thought he was joking at first. Not that I didn't WANT to marry him, it was just very spur of the moment. We had talked about it a lot for the year before so it took NO convincing me at all. I knew he was the love of my life and I knew that I wanted to marry him and spend the rest of my life with him.

Now, it's been an eventful 8 years. We've had great ups and some serious downs. I know in life it's hard to remember and think about the "ups" when you have so many "downs" flooding your thoughts but if I write it all down in my head we've had a million more good times than bad and that's what I try and focus on every day.
This man is one of a kind. He IS the love of my life. I couldn't imagine life with out him as my husband and most of all my best friend.

I love you Gareth John Doyle and I'm looking forward to allllllllll the years we have ahead of us.
You've made this week great and today is going to be special and I'm never going to forget it.
I love you so much baby.

Check your comments at the door.

Ok, Short and sweet.
I KNOW it's dry here about 9 months out of the year but our hottest months consisting of July/August/September is Monsoon season. Google it ok?
It's over 110 most of the time and our humidity is 50% and up. Is it as high as the south east coast? Nope but it's NOT dry.
I don't see any of you guys packing your bags to come visit us those months because you're a bunch of chickens. ;)

If I hear "But, it's a dry heat" one more time do NOT be surprised if our phone call is suddently disconnected. K? Thnx and Bai.

p.s. The day I took that picture it was 68% humid outside. Is that dry? No, I didn't think so. :)

Greek Chicken Pitas with Sauce

I made this for our dinner last night and it was just too delicious to not share. It's very a very simple, tasty crockpot recipe that takes about 3 hours from start to finish! (and 2 hours and 45 minutes of that it's cooking in the crockpot!)

You're going to need:
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and thinly sliced
1 medium onion cut into 8 wedges
1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil
Greek Seasoning and Salt
4 Whole Pita Rounds

For the sauce you're going to need:
1/2 cup of PLAIN yogurt
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1 tablespoon of regular yellow mustard
Greek Seasoning and Salt

Optional Ingredients (to top the prepared Pitas with)
Sliced Cucumbers
Sliced Roma Tomatoes
Feta Cheese
Sliced Olives
(really whatever you'd like to top your pita with - I used cucumbers, tomatoes and feta)

Spray your crockpot with some cooking spray. Place the bell pepper strips and onion wedges in the bottom of the pot. Add the chicken and drizzle with the olive oil. I sprinkled a generous amount of Greek seasoning (about 1 or 2 tablespoons) and about 1/4 teaspoon of salt on top of the chicken.
Cook it all on HIGH for about 2.5 hours (until the chicken has NO pink in the middle).

Remove the chicken and slice or shred. Mine was sorta messy but who cares, it's going in a pita and into your tummy. Use a slotted spoon to remove the veggies so they're not all soggy.

Prepare the sauce. Combine the yogurt, mayo, mustard and I added about 1 teaspoon of Greek seasoning and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Mix until it's smooth.

Warm pitas according to the package instructions. Cut in half, open and layer with chicken, sauce and toppings of choice.


Notes: 1. Normally I don't use green bell peppers. They're usually too strong for me but I went ahead and did it this time and they were not strong at all and I'm not sure a red/yellow one would have any taste left in it after 3 hours in a crockpot.
2. This made about 4 servings. (4 whole pitas so 8 pita sammiches).
3. If you can't find Greek seasoning (I found mine at World Market) the following makes a perfect substitution.
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried mint
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion
- 1/4 teaspoon dried minced garlic

(Lisa, I'm sending you some Greek seasoning in the mail probably next week!)