GRANDMA'S BROWNIES

 The weekend went so quickly. I had good intentions of writing this post up to publish Monday, but ... Saturday chores are or at least one of them is what started this recipe. Wayne was trying to prepare the Sunday school lesson so I offered to mow the front yard. I enjoy mowing but haven't done much in quite a while. It makes me feel close to my daddy. I guess because I have good memories of my daddy mowing and even helping him some. 

Mowing is a good way to showing if you are in good shape or not. I must admit if I haven't before, I am not in good shape as I used to be. After stopping twice for a drink and allowing my body to cool off, a neighbor across the street came over and said it looked like we needed some help. He later said after seeing me stop to rest twice, he felt guilty being so able bodied and not come over and offer to do it. Well, I don't usually turn down an offer of help so I told him "Sure".

And that is how I had the opportunity to try this recipe for brownies. When I took him the pan of brownies, Ryan said, "Oh you didn't have to do that." I just said, "This is how I pay people for their kindness." (I hope they enjoyed them.)

I made two pans since I had never made the recipe before and I couldn't cut one out his pan to taste it. They weren't super sweet like brownies sometimes are, but just right for our taste buds. The recipe called for a cup of sugar and I used a half of cup of sugar and a half of cup of stevia. They also tasted better Sunday than they did right after I took them out of the oven.

Sunday the gkids, Madison and Tyler, came over at 1:00 and we had them for the rest of the day. It had been at least three weeks. I got such big hugs from both of them. We went out to lunch, Wayne took Tyler to the driving range, and Madison and I went shopping. Wayne had found Tyler some nice kid's golf clubs at Hillcrest Thrift Shop and this was the first time they had been together to go to the driving range. After dinner, we watched a video on Discovery + called So Cute (Animals) and played a game of Bingo before taking them back home. It was such an awesome afternoon. Looking forward to having many more this summer.

This recipe came from my late friend Linda's family cookbook.

GRANDMA'S BROWNIES

3/4    cup flour

1       cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup of stevia)

5       tablespoons cocoa

1/2    teaspoon salt

1/2    cup shortening

2       unbeaten eggs

1       teaspoon vanilla

1/2    cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or spray an 8" square pan. Set aside.

Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl.

(I sifted through the dry ingredients first and then added the rest.)

Beat with an electric mixer for 3 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl and stir the mixture if necessary.

Spread in pan and bake for 25 - 30 minutes.

Cool on wire rack. 

Great served with fresh fruit and sprinkled with some powdered sugar.

Better eaten the second day. 

If you want to make a bigger batch (9" x 13" pan), just double the ingredients.