Brownies, writing, and lovely summer days

Hi everyone,

It's such fun to hear about what transpired at this year's Romance Writers of America conference in San Antonio this month!  I longed to attend,  but given a number of other trips this year plus going to the Romantic Times Convention this spring, I just couldn't be away from home once again.

I've been busy with other things though--lots of family activities, helping our married kids move--all three have bought (or are in the process of buying) new homes this summer.  And, I've been working on book proposals as well. After finishing three self-published books this past winter and spring, I've just finished a two book proposal for Love Inspired.  I look forward to hearing about what my agent and the editors think!

On another note. do you have a super easy, go-to recipe that you love and have made a hundred times? Thought I'd share this one with you--but I would LOVE to hear about yours!

I'd also love to hear about some great pet names--I need one for a cat who lives in my current heroine's antique store. I love animals (as you can tell from my All Creatures Great and Small blog!)  and I like to put them into every book I can.

 I'll draw a name from those of you who leave a comment, and the winner can choose one of my three current e-books on Amazon:  Summer at Briar Lake,  Comeback Cowboy, or A Montana Legacy.

Here is the recipe:

1911 Brownies--the best!

The only food item I make from a box is angel food cake. Something possessed me to buy a brownie mix last week and it was so awful that I swear to never do it again. These brownies are sooo easy, and are even better the second and third day. The recipe comes from a 1911 Boston Cooking School cookbook  (with some little updates that I made .) No preservatives, no extra chemicals. How could they be any easier?

1 cup butter (no substitute!)
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
2 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp real vanilla
1 cup flour

Melt the butter and chocolate until smooth and blended. Remove from heat. Stir in the sugar, let cool slightly. Stir in the vanilla and eggs, then add the flour.

Spray an 8" or 9" square pan with a pan release spray (the kind with flour in it is best.) Bake at 325 for 40 minutes, or until the sides are a darker color and the center isn't soft and gooey. Let cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar, cut, and store in airtight container or a ziplock bag over a plate. The photo is of the last one from a pan I made three days ago and it was still fudgy and soft and yummy!

Roxanne Rustand
www.roxannerustand.com