When you are a working wife and mother it is often hard to find that elusive "quality time" everyone talks about. In my case it is doubly hard because my office hours differ greatly from the norm. I work evenings here at the newspaper and so my schedule means I only see my family (awake anyway) 3 days out of 7 and one of those I have to work and one of those they have work and school. So the time we can spend together is quite limited.
That does not mean we are any less close than we were when I worked what most people call "normal" hours. When I worked in a corporate environment, yes, my scheduled work hours were 8-5 but often that turned into 7-9 and sometimes 6 days a week. So was I really getting those quality hours with my family? Not really no, and I was killing myself doing it.
So my hours now, though not always ideal, are at least not of the work myself to death variety, and now I get to do things I didn't before. Like go to my son's school when they have things scheduled during the day for parents. Like around the holidays when the schools invite parents to eat lunch with their child.
Now the weekend tends to be when I cook the most, especially Sunday.
It isn't just cooking though; when I cook on the weekends I have my helpers. My family joins me in the kitchen, where we laugh and joke and prepare our meals or in this past week's case, dessert.
My husband generally stations himself across from me at the island in our kitchen and our son takes up a chair nearby and watches and joins in the discussion and helps when he can. He is 13 but I still don't trust him with a really sharp knife not to lose a finger if he's too distracted with all the talking going on, and often quite a bit of laughter. And a side note: apparently nothing is funnier than seeing mom with some sort of food splattered all over her. (Now people know why my weekend attire includes an apron worn most of the time.)
My husband is my biggest helper, and this is our time to bond, to talk about things we haven't talked about in e-mail or on the phone during the workweek. His "station" is on the refrigerator side of the kitchen while mine is near the sink, stove and oven. I suppose it is almost like surgery in a way but instead of asking for a scalpel I'm asking for the milk or butter. Our son's job tends to be fetching things for us like finding a measuring cup or mixing spoons.
This past weekend we made brownies together. I was stationed near the oven as always with a big bowl and the family bonding commenced from there. We talked about our weeks, we shared jokes, even talked politics and history and we laughed.a lot.
When everything was ready they hovered near the kitchen until the brownies were ready and we all sat down to share them together. Of course, I have to "make one pretty" to take a picture of for this column and usually that either turns out to be mine (in the case of a regular meal its generally cold by the time I eat it) or in the case of desserts I've found my son begs for the "pretty one."
In fact, when I was taking the picture of the chocolate dipped strawberries for my Valentine's Day column a few months back he stood just to my left and kept saying "Are you done yet?" because he wanted to eat them. That might annoy some, I've been told, but I indulged him and while I was at it, taught him about lighting and how to use the digital camera's macro setting.
When I sat down to write my column this week I wondered how many other people turn something as simple as making a pan of brownies into a family bonding moment? I hope every family does, because I have found that it is those moments I tend to treasure the most each and every day.
Richest Fudge Brownies Ever
(This recipe is best recommended with a bar of bittersweet chocolate but semi-sweet will work if it is all you have.)
12 ounces best-quality chocolate bar, chopped
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chocolate chips (these can be left out if you want less of a chocolate kick)
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optionalmine are without because my son dislikes nuts)
Preheat oven to 350 and place rack in middle of oven. Butter and flour a 13 x 9 inch baking pan or you can use a baking spray. Melt chocolate slowly with butter, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth. Let cool until lukewarm. Stir in sugar, vanilla and eggs, one at a time and in that order, stirring well after each addition. (These steps keep your eggs from "scrambling" from the heat of the chocolate.) Stir in salt and flour, stirring just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts. Pour into prepared baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs attached. Let cool completely and cut into bars. Suggest you cut them small to make about 24, they the incredibly rich.
If you want to ice them like I did mine you can use a store bought icing of choice that you stir until it is no longer stiff before using or you can make your own icing. The following is extremely rich icing. With or without icing these brownies are going to require a big glass of milk or ice cream with them because they are very rich.
Chocolate Frosting
1/2 lb bittersweet chocolate
6 1/2 ounces unsalted butter
1 teaspoon espresso powder, dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water (this is optional)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
5 ounces unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy cream
Chop chocolate and place in double boiler already brought to simmer and add 6 1/2 ounces of unsalted butter. Whisk together as soon as chocolate and butter soften. Keep whisking until just melted and combined. Remove from heat and stir in espresso and vanilla. Cool to room temperature. Whisk together powdered sugar, cocoa and salt in a bowl. Place 5 ounces of unsalted butter and 1/2 of the powdered sugar mixture in a food processor. Process scraping down sides. Add rest of powdered sugar mixture, start processor and slowly pour in cream. Process for about 10 seconds. Whisk butter and cocoa mixture together with room temperature chocolate/espresso mixture in a large bowl until it becomes shiny and smooth. Can be frozen. Bring to room temperature before using. Yield: Plenty for a 9" layer cake.
Both recipes are adaptations from www. recipezaar.com.
