I've been trying to make brownies for the past hour. Not from scratch or anything. And yet every time I do the toothpick test (if you don't know what that is, you are even worse off than I and I can't help you), the brownies are still liquid. I was puzzling over this, and Duke said, "Oh! You only have the oven set to 325. Maybe it should be higher."

So, I dug the box out from beneath the coffee grounds (yes, still not composting. it's on the list.) and mused, "No...it says 325 for a dark coated pan."

To which Duke explained I was not using a dark-coated pan. Just a metal pan. Who knew there was a difference? Okay, probably everyone but me.

And what brought on this little fit of domesticity? Well, Mort had a dentist appointment this afternoon and instead of returning him to school, he and I went out to lunch. Because he missed lunch anyway. And then instead of returning him to school, we went to the playground. Because he missed recess anyway. And then we made brownies. Because it was a great day. And Mort may be the only child in the world to utter the phrase, "Going to the dentist is fun!"