The Domestication Diaries

I feel like I ought to have a division devoted to domestication diaries.  Tonight I made brownies.  From a mix, yes, but they were the very first brownies I ever made.  My mother will not make brownies, because she said that she could never get them to turn out right when she was younger.  I think the secret is that you cannot wait til you think they are done, for they will be too hard and dry.  I noticed that the directions say to check 2" in, from the pan's edge.  If you are an experienced baker, you usually check in the middle of the pan.  So if you were to wait til the middle gets done, then the outside is ruined, hard as a rock.  Fortunately, I followed the directions and did just what the package instructed, in spite of my urge to leave them in because they didn't seem done yet.   And guess what?  They are delicious and moist and chewy and just right!

Now I am branching into more "from scratch" dishes instead of just boxed mixes.  I've done breakfast casseroles to the point I feel very comfortable with them.  The other day I made tea bread from scratch.  So right now, there is another loaf baking.  I only was able to snag a taste the other day, before the entire loaf disappeared!  It got rave reviews.  This time, this loaf will be for me and my guy.  The great thing is that there is no added sugar.  The loaf is moist and chock full of plumped raisins and berries.  They provide the sweetness without it being too overpowering with sugar.

Waiting for the loaf to come out, I put together a pan of rice lasagna.  I've not tried this before so we'll see how it comes out.  It uses cold rice, egg, grated cheese; and cottage cheese and grated cheese; and tomato sauce; and ricotta cheese.  Layer it all together, top with grated cheese and it's ready to go.  I'll let ya know how that turns out.