March 31, 2017

Puzzles for grandmothers and others: Sudoku & Crossword puzzles on Grandma's Briefs

March 31, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

Sometimes grandmothers and others need to take a break from playing games with the grands and play a few on their own. Games for grownups. Games such as sudoku and crosswords.

Now you can right here, right now, right on Grandma's Briefs. Without installing an app, creating an account, or selling your soul personal information to advertisers.

sudoku and crossword puzzles

Grandma's Briefs now has a Puzzles page featuring regularly updated sudoku and crossword puzzles for you to play on your computer, your phone, your device of most any sort. For free. For fun.

The Puzzles tab is at...

March 30, 2017

Now in the Recipe Box: Best Basic Brownies

March 30, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

basic brownies from scratch

Over the past three decades or so, I've tried and tweaked more brownie recipes than I can count. They never turn out the way I want. Too dry. Too mushy. Too hard around the edges. Too much trouble. Then along came a recipe that was close and after a few tweaks resulted in just what I hoped for: the best basic brownies. This is my tweaked recipe. It's... Continue reading in the Recipe Box.

March 27, 2017

Black Forest Cake Day

March 27, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

Tuesday is, believe it or not, Black Forest Cake Day. Which makes me chuckle. Not because I find the chocolate-cherry-whipped cream confection funny but because of the place of honor said dessert has in the history of my family.

March 25, 2017

Saturday movie brief: Spring 2017 must-see wish list

March 25, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

Spring is not my favorite season for film releases. My favorite time for such is late fall and beyond, when studios focus on films for the holiday — and award — seasons.

That said, there are a few films coming out this spring that I can't wait to see. One I have already seen — GIFTED — thanks to a recent screening, but I'm including it on the list because it's one I definitely think you should see, too (watch for my movie review of it scheduled for next Saturday).

My spring 2017 movies-to-see wish list

The Zookeeper's Wife

THE ZOOKEEPER'S WIFE March 31, 2017

March 24, 2017

Ah-choo: Grandson under attack

March 24, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

When my girls were little — even when they were big — they never experienced allergy issues of any sort. Never. So I don't know what it's like to have a child with allergies. I don't ever really even consider allergies and such.

Well, I didn't consider allergies and such... until my bonus grandson Bud entered our world. Bud is allergic to gluten, nuts, animals, and all sorts of other stuff. So I am a bit more cognizant of the issue than pre-Bud.

Bud is not a blood relative, though, so perhaps allergies run in his family.

Bubby, on the other hand, is a blood relative, and allergies do not run in our family. So getting a text from Megan with the following photo — noting "allergy attack" as the explanation for my eldest grandson's miserable condition — floored me:

boy with allergies