March 27, 2012

Fresh from the Kitchen: Mile High Fudge Brownie Pie (Best. Dessert. Ever.)

I am always on the lookout for a great dessert. The ones which people consume in a matter of seconds. The one that you NEVER bring home leftovers of. The one that people fight over for the last piece. Here is that dessert--found courtesy of the Cool Whip label on some random container...
Mile High Fudge Brownie Pie--best dessert ever!

Mile High Fudge Brownie Pie

(courtesy of Cool Whip.com)

Prep: 25 min
Total Time: 2 hr 55 min.
Servings: 9” pie
Oven Temp: 350 degrees F.

Ingredients:
Brownie:
4 squares semi sweet chocolate (1 oz each--4 oz total)
½ c. (1 stick) butter
¾ c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
½ c. flour

Filling/Topping:
2 c. cold milk
2 pkg (4 serving size each) Chocolate INSTANT Pudding
1 tub (8 oz) Whipped Topping, thawed and divided
Chocolate syrup (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely  melted.

2. Add sugar; stir until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Stir in flour until well blended. Spread into GREASED 9” pie plate (shallow ones).

(I tried it once in my 9" deep dish pie plate--it just doesn't look as impressive! LOL!)

3. Bake 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack.

(If I'm in a hurry, I don't always wait long enough for it to cool completely...but if you are careful, you can still scoop it out warm...just go slow)

4. Scoop out center of brownie with spoon, leaving ½” rim around edge and a thin layer of brownie on the bottom. Reserve removed brownie pieces for later use.

(Ha! Who are we kidding? We KNOW we will eat those...but try to save a FEW...)

5. Pour milk into large bowl and add pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk or mixer (on low/med) for 2 minutes or until well blended. The mixture will be thick. Gently stir in half of the whipped topping and all but ½ c. of the reserved brownie pieces.

(And lick the spoon!!! Yum-O! Whipped cream and brownies...sigh. Heaven!)

6. Spoon into brownie crust; top with remaining whipped topping and remaining brownie pieces. Drizzle chocolate syrup over the top to make a design as desired. Refrigerate 2 hrs or until set.

***
The drizzle of chocolate syrup really adds a pop to the visual presentation! The original recipe doesn't have it, but I am all about visual presentation, so I do it every time! I have added small grated chocolate pieces to it too. You can't go wrong!

There is one thing I HAVE to say...make sure you use INSTANT pudding! Trust me. I accidentally grabbed without looking and I got a mile WIDE pie instead...not cool.

Want to print it for your collection?
Mile High Fudge Brownie Pie Printable Recipe

One last little note...for those of you looking for a great recipe for Unleavened Bread...in case you didn't notice...this one IS UNLEAVENED!! Didn't I tell you it was a great recipe??!!

This is my #1 requested dessert for any occasion.My husband tells me that I would make it for him weekly "if you really loved me." I tell him that it's BECAUSE I love him that I don't make it weekly...
(giggle)
With chocolate syrup drizzle and chocolate shavings

The deep dish version--with caramel syrup drizzled
So if you decide to attempt this luscious pie...come back and tell me about the reactions you got! I love to hear about my favorite recipes in YOUR kitchen!


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March 26, 2012

A Few Rr-Rocks

I don't know what happened to all my pictures from our Rr-Rock week for My Father's World-Kindergarten...but I'll share what I have...
Next we read several chapters from this FABULOUS resource that I bought for our library. They had it at Costco and I couldn't leave without it! The pictures are full color and spectacular!

He totally enjoyed all the pictures about the earth and it's rocks...and he learned the names very quickly--especially any related to volcanoes. He has an affinity for them right now.

He enjoyed my instructions for him to go to our creek and find rocks of all shapes and sizes for us to look at...
I had him do a lot of sorting with these--big and small. Big Bigger Biggest. How many in each pile? Rough vs Smooth...and he loved handling the rocks.

Another day during this week I pulled out the Cuisinaire Rods for him to use with his workbook. I randomly take them out so he's always excited when he sees them on his desk.
And he got a special meal this week...we were learning about compound rocks so I decided to let him make "Sandstone Stackers" and then he enjoyed his "Chalk sticks"--to be washed down with "Lava Juice"--I even poured club soda in to make it bubble and fizz. Yeah, I "rocked" lunched for him that day. He totally enjoyed it!

And last but none the least, as we drove around town, we slowed down to look at our limestone hills so he could see all the layers. That was pretty interesting to him too. That and playing with my pumice stone.

We also learned and sang (MANY times) "The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock". Oh my, he just loved that song! He wanted to watch the little YouTube video of it over and over...here it is if you want to use it too:


It was a good week...wish I had taken more pictures...

March 22, 2012

Life Cycles Part 2: Ff Frog

It's the Fabulous, Fascinating, Fantastic letter F this week as we continue in our learning about Life Cycles with Ff-Frogs!

We came up with quite a collection of F words...and yes, he eagerly shouted "Fart!" to add to the list...and then giggled every time we read our words and that one was said. Sigh. Boys.

Here is what we did over the course of our unit...



Here is what we did for learning about Ff- FROGS:
We put together a quite extensive lapbook (see link below)--and Little Britches claims to be a frog expert now. He likes to *share* his new knowledge with anyone who will listen! LOL!

We also celebrated National Pencil Sharpening Day playing a fun little graphing game...
We also watched many videos about various frogs on YouTube...here were our favorites:
We also went HERE to listen to different kinds of frogs...very cool! Little Britches favorite was the Coqui frog--"he sounds like he is saying Cookie!"

It was a fun unit and we ended it by using the John Deere Gator to go up the field and see the pond where there are HUNDREDS of frogs and we listened to them all and even spotted a few!
Nature Study for Your Homeschool
Click for More Nature Study Blog Posts!

Linky List
* Frog Lapbook~ Homeschoolshare.com
* Ff packet~ Raising Rockstars Kindergarten by Carisa at 1+1+1=1

March 14, 2012

My Memories Digital Scrapbooking *Giveaway*

 

Just wanted to let you know that I'm hosting a giveaway of a My Memories Suite v3 Digital Scrapbook Software on my papercrafting blog--get entered win by checking out the details HERE.


My Coupon code: STMMMS31572
Use it to save $10 on your order and get an additional $10 Gift Certificate for the store!