Been a long, been a long, been a long time! :)

So, the last time I wrote, Heidi and Tim and Baby G hadn't arrived yet, and now they've gone again. Heidi and Gus back to Germany, and Tim to California. During the time between postings, I've gone to NE to see the Johnson side of our family, had spring break, had quite a few things happen at school, spent time relaxing with Heidi, Tim and Gus...

I had a wonderful time spending time with all of my family. It was with great sadness that I headed back to work, and "normal life". I'm planning on posting some pics of all of us, but that will have to wait until the next posting, as my camera is at school right now.

Life, as always, has been busy. It's been a flurry of meetings and staffings at school, and by the time I get home I'm ready to hit my bed. Add to that the fact that my migraines have been especially bad lately, and I'm ready to have another spring break!

This evening, I've spent time cleaning up my house. The stack of dishes needed to get done. The pile of laundry on my couch needed to be folded and put away. The table needed to be cleared....I should still vacuum the house, but the floor actually looks ok. The next two evenings I'm having people over, so I want it to look decent. Tomorrow I have a meeting for our assistive technology team at my house right after school, and then Friday I'm hosting our Girls night gathering at my house.

Tonight, I've also been preparing snacks for the upcoming evenings. I've made a sweet, spicy nut mix (Thanks Maretta!), yummy brownies (recipe to follow), and I'm marinating some chicken for satay. The house smells wonderful! I hope everything tastes as good as it smells!

Here are the recipes of things I've made tonight, in case any of you are interested.

Cranberry Trail Mix (I tripled this recipe)
1 cup mixed nuts (I used assorted mix nuts, and then added additional peanuts)
2 cups small pretzels
1 cup dried cranberries (I used a mixture of dried cranberries, blueberries, and cherries)
1 egg white
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Spread nuts evenly on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 7-8 minutes at 350 degrees until nuts are slightly darker (watch carefully, they easily burn!). Cool completely. Reduce oven temp to 225 degrees. In a large bowl combine nuts, pretzels and berries. In a small bowl, beat egg, sugar and spices until foamy. Pour over pretzel mix; toss until coated. Spread evenly on baking sheet. Bake one hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool completely on pan, then store in an airtight container.

Erica's Triple Chocolate Brownies
(Once upon a time, I worked in a little eatery in Newton where I made brownies nearly daily. I gained several pounds that summer from eating those wonderful brownies, and was disappointed when I discovered I never wrote down the recipe. I guess I thought that I had made them so often that I would never forget! Anyway, since I'm having a gathering with plenty of people who love chocolate, I thought I'd attempt to recreate the brownies. Here's what I did tonight, and if I alter anything in the future, I'll modify the post to reflect that)

3/4 cups melted butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 to 1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add in the chocolate chips, and cocoa. Stir until smooth. Add in the sugar and stir. Remove from heat and allow to cool a bit. Add vanilla and eggs (make sure to stir so that the egg doesn't cook!) and then the flour and baking powder. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or whenever you think they're done (for those of you who like gooey ones!)

**I'm making the Chicken Satay recipe up as I go, combining several I've got, and until I test it I'm reluctant to post it. After I finish them tomorrow, I'll post the recipe in case you want to try them. They smell good at least! :)