Mmmmmm... brownies

You know how you have those old recipe books passed down from older relatives? My favourite is one published by Five Roses Flour in 1932, called "A Guide to Good Cooking". Though I'm not quite sure about some of the savoury dishes ( I can do without "Fluffy Turnip" and "Creamed Sweetbreads", thank you very much), the cookies and pastries are refreshingly simple and delicious. I especially like looking for the ones that have comments written in. Here is one that my grandma noted as "easy + good" - the absolute best brownie recipe I've ever come across. Not only is it dense, chewy and intensely chocolatey, it also has few ingredients and is unbelievably easy to make.

Chocolate Brownies

(also known as Fudge Squares)

2 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted

1/2 cup butter, cut into smaller squares

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature, well beaten

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8" square pan.

Add butter to melted chocolate, mixing well until butter is melted. Stir in the sugar. When well mixed, add in the beaten eggs. Add flour. Stir to a smooth batter, then add the nuts. Spread in the pan and bake for 25 minutes. When removed from the oven, this mixture will appear to be soft and rather undercooked. Resist the urge to overbake! Let the brownies stand in the pan until they are cool and hardened. They will look and taste like chocolate fudge.

Yum! Try not to eat the whole pan...

Bird Seed Balls

I love birds.  Living in the deep-freeze we call Winnipeg, there's not many that don't migrate south for the cold winter months.  These hardy little guys have to contend with temperatures that are often around -30c plus a cold north wind.  I made these bird seed balls to help provide them with fat and nutrients.  I like to use bacon grease in mine (birds are tiny dinosaurs, after all!) but I'm sure you could adjust this recipe if you don't feel like saving a pot of stinky fat in your fridge for months.  Good substitutes for bacon grease would be lard or suet.  This recipe is very, very messy... but if you have all your supplies ready and laid out, and keep the mixture fairly cold, it can be made slightly less so.  I also suggest having some paper towel handy to wipe the mixture off your hands when you want to pop the bowl into the fridge to chill.

Bird Seed Balls

1 part bacon grease 

1 part peanut butter

2 parts vegetable shortening (softened)

berries or chopped fruit (I used wild cranberries)

wild bird seed

hemp cord cut into 12" lengths, folded in half

Mix the fats together.  Stir in the fruit, and then add enough bird seed to make a fairly stiff "dough".   Chill in the freezer for about 15 minutes or until hard.  Take about a tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball, squishing the hemp cord (folded end in the ball) into the middle.  Keep the two ends long enough to tie later.  If the mixture gets too soft, place it back in the freezer for a few minutes. Roll the finished ball in more bird seed and place in a plastic egg carton or other suitable container.  Freeze until ready to use.  

To hang these, simply tie a square knot in the hemp ends hanging out of the ball and place onto a twig or branch. 

Chickadees really love these.  It's neat to watch them hang upside down to eat!

I've also noticed that our red squirrel routinely makes off with at least one ball each time I put these out.