Recipe: Glazed Orange Brownies

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Ann Roth

It’s recipe time! This one is easy and delicious.

Glazed Orange Brownies
A Paula Deen recipe, with modifications (in parentheses) that cut down on the sugar and fat

Ingredients
Brownies:

2 cups sugar (I use 1)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened (I use 1 stick instead)
4 large eggs (I use 2 instead)
2 teaspoons orange extract
2 teaspoons orange zest, divided (1 for the batter and 1 for the glaze)

Glaze:

1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice, fresh

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 13×9-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray. (This pan is too big! I use a smaller one.)

2. In a large bowl, stir together sugar, flour, and salt. Add butter, eggs, extract, and 1 teaspoon zest, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake for 30 minutes or until light golden brown and set. Remove from oven, and pierce cake all over with a fork.

4. In a small bowl, combine confectioners sugar, orange juice, and remaining teaspoon zest until smooth. Pour over warm cake. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

Enjoy!

Until next time,
Ann
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Don’t Worry… Be Happy

Posted on March 18, 2015 by Ann Roth

I have a friend who never uses her favorite plates or tableware for fear of who knows what? She’s never said. She only wears her good jewelry and the outfit that makes her feel pretty on special occasions. She covers her favorite sofa with a slip cover to keep it nice, and she usually puts herself last. But hey, life is short! It is often predictable.

My friend deserves to be happy, and so do you. Promise me that you’ll at least think about that…

Until next time,
Ann
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Change… It Does the Mind Good

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Ann Roth

Here is a profound bit of wisdom for you to think about. Try it, and you’ll see that it’s true!

Until next time,
Ann

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I Swear, I’m Working

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Ann Roth

There are time when this froggie could be me!

Writing is hard work, even when it looks like loafing. I often sit and gaze into space. Or fiddle with a pen and a pad of paper, making silly doodles or jotting down a word or a phrase. Or open a book or magazine to read, and end up simply staring at the page. Sometimes I even watch the tube or listen to the radio without absorbing a word.

When I do these things, I’m working–I swear! Creativity requires lots of daydreaming and thinking. What-if, could it be done, is it possible, how and where, who and why–these are the stuff of which stories are made.

At the moment, I’m busy editing a book, whipping it into shape for publication. I’m spending countless hours every day making the story as good as I am capable of making it. This process also requires serious thinking and focus, but at this stage, at least for me, most of my thinking happens at the computer.

But soon enough, I’ll be back to looking very much like a goof-off. Now you know the truth–I’ll actually be hard at work.

Until next time,
Ann
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Interesting Firefighter Info: factoid #4

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Ann Roth

I am working on a series featuring firefighters. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting some of the interesting facts I’ve learned about these heroic men and women.

Fire departments use military time to clock in, for mealtime, in reports and for all other matters pertaining to the job.

Until next time,
Ann

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Interesting Firefighter Info: factoid #2

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Ann Roth

I am working on a series featuring firefighters. For the next few weeks, I’ll be posting some of the interesting facts I’ve learned about these heroic men and women.

“Fighting fires is only a small part of what firefighters do. As a matter of fact, only 20% of 9-1-1 calls are fire related. The other 80% are requests for Emergency Medical Service (EMS) such as heart attacks, car accidents, home accidents, drowning’s, etc. Duties are not limited to responding to calls.”

–City of Mesa

Some Things Firefighters Do

Until next time,
Ann

Ya Gotta… Accent the Positive

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Ann Roth

Interesting fact: I always learn something from the characters in my novels.

A good story is filled with conflict and problems, and I usually throw such terrible obstacles in my characters’ paths. (I love to make them suffer!!) Yet as the true heroes and heroines they are, they always figure out ways to overcome and succeed.

How they do this depends on who they are and the story. I’m never sure how they will triumph, but often, a willingness to learn and a can-do philosophy helps.

It can’t be done? Of course it can, if I just tweak the picture a little…

And so, when I came across this, I thought, Aha… This humorous and positive spin on gray hair is a metaphor for overcoming the trials and challenges of life.

My characters have taught me that no matter how painful or difficult life is, there is always a way to put a glittery spin on life. Finding the glitter may take some digging and hard work to find, but the reward is worth the effort.

Until next time,

Ann
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Finishing Up

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Ann Roth

I am hard at work, finishing edits on a recently completed novel. Wahoo!!!!

Until next time,

Ann

Best. Listener. Ever.

Posted on January 21, 2015 by Ann Roth

“Are you talking to me or yourself?” my husband has been known to ask. That way, he knows whether to listen or not. Smart man.

The thing is, I talk to myself a lot. When I’m in the process of making a decision. When I think through a plot idea for a book or cook or search for a recipe in one of my many recipe boxes. When I decide what to wear to an event or pack for a trip. Occasionally, even when I read. Because, face it, I really pay attention to myself. 🙂

Sure, there are times I grab a pen and notebook (or scrap of paper–whatever I can find), and scribble my thoughts on paper instead. That works, too.

I don’t know where or how the habit of talking to myself started. I’ve tried to stop it, but sooner or later, it always creeps back.

I try not to do it in public. I don’t want people thinking I’m nuts or something. 🙂 But from time to time, it does happen. If someone is within hearing or seeing distance, I make a joke about talking to myself because know I’m truly listening. People usually smile. Some admit that they to it, too.

I’m pretty sure there lots of folks out there who do the same thing. Why else would the comic above be so popular?

Until next time,

Ann