My kids took a bike ride to the park and Metamorphosis Monday and Brownies!

My kids took a bike ride to one of our parks and had fun taking pictures of each other. I didn't go with them. I had already gone for a 11 1/2 mile run that morning with some friends. We're training for a marathon.

This is my son Chauncey




This is my daughter Sloan


I decided to take a tip from my daughter over at Tuffet and join Metamorphosis Monday ( From Between Naps on The Porch)

I bought a bunch of ribbon the other day but needed a way to store it. I had ribbon all over the place. You'll have to picture it, because I forgot to! The ribbons were coming off the spools, so I taped them all down and found a wire coat hanger. I had my sweet husband untwist the top and he clipped some of the wire off, then re-bent the end in a small hook that would fit in the holes on the cardboard ribbon spools! Voila! It looks so much better!


This is Sloan holding my ribbon organizer
Here's the nice little hook my sweet husband made


Here's another shot of the hook



Now on to the brownies!





We have a family get together tonight so I decided to make brownies. You can't go wrong with brownies, everyone likes them. I like to put frosting on them when I take them to something. This has been my favorite recipe, I've been using it since I was a teenager. I always have the ingredients on hand and it's fast and simple. You can leave the frosting off or you can add some nuts.

My Best Brownies

2 cups sugar
2/3 cup shortening
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanila
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Beat the sugar and the shortening, add the eggs and vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients. Spread into a greased 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 25-27 minutes. Cool and frost, or cool and cut and serve!

Chocolate Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons butter, softened
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk

Beat all the ingredients until thick and glossy. Spread on cooled brownies.



I have a spoon rest I keep on my stove top all the time, but I like to have extra ones for baking that are easy to store. I came up with the idea to save extra lids. They don't take up much room, I can store them on their side in the front of a drawer. I like the cocoa can lids.


This spoon rest stays on my stove all the time. Isn't she cute! I found her at our local second hand store, and on the back it says she was made in Italy! Funny, my dishes are from the second hand store, and they were made in Italy too! They were both made somewhere I'll probably never get to go!