The Living Room and some Brownies

Happy Friday out there to everyone. I will be doing a Fun Fact Friday later on in the day, but wanted to do two things that I've been meaning to do all week - 1) talk about my brownies I made on Tuesday and 2) show you how the living room is coming along.

I'm always amazed at how much difference a can of paint can make. Our living room before had tan carpets, tan walls, then we added a brown couch and had a lamp that gave off a yellowish light. We spend so much time in that room and it was annoying how dark it was. 

BEFORE

This is the day we moved in. The dungeon awaits. We have a screened in porch and it has a roof on it that acts as a porch off of our bedroom, which is nice. But all the browns with the lack of light make for a dark room. 

Here it is at christmas. I tried to add some light and some decor but it still was ssssooooo darkkkkkk

This is how it's coming along. We've got paint on the walls!! It already looks a million times brighter!!!

The next step - we're painting the fireplace a light grey and then painting the mantle piece white. I used the fabric in the pillows to pick the paint color. 

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Next on the list - BBBBRRRROOOOWWWNNNIIIEEESSSSS

I used a recipe I found on Pinterest from Brown Eyed Baker. 

Recipe - 

The Baked Brownie

Yield: 24 brownies

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Bake Time : 30 minutes

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dark unsweetened cocoa powder
11 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

ingredients

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the sides and bottom of a 9×13-inch glass or light-colored baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.

3. Put the chocolate, butter and instant espresso powder in a large bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and smooth. Turn off the heat, but keep the bowl over the water and add the sugars. Whisk until completely combined, then remove the bowl from the pan. The mixture should be room temperature.

4. Add 3 eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk until combined. Add the vanilla and stir until combined. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or your brownies will be cakey.

5. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the chocolate mixture. Using a rubber spatula (not a whisk), fold the flour mixture into the chocolate until just a bit of the flour mixture is visible.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Let the brownies cool completely, then lift them out of the pan using the parchment paper. Cut into squares and serve.

7. Store at room temperature in an airtight container or wrap with plastic wrap for up to 3 days.

YUMS!! They were so good!!!! We ate them all. Yes. We. Did.