Bacon Brownies?

Yes, I got an email advertisement recently, for bacon brownies.  


And I figured, instead of buying them, they would be very easy to make.


I would just take my usual boxed brownie mix, and throw bacon bits in it!


At my husband's request, I divided the brownie mix, so I would have one batch with bacon bits, and one without.  


I find the brownies with bacon bits, to be quite good!


My only regret is that I didn't put enough bacon bits.  Next time I'll add more.

Yes, there is an app for dutch oven cooking!

In my last post, I mentioned using a phone app to calculate the number of coals I needed.

Yes, there is an app for that!

For Android phones, there are two, called "dutch oven calculator" or "dutch oven gourmet."

Either app will help you calculate the number of coals, based on the size of your pot and what temperature you want.

I'm pretty sure there's one for the iphone too, but, I don't have an iphone.

There are as many different opinions on "the best apps to have" and "apps you can't do without", as there are people with phones.

And I realize this blog is "ramblings on cast iron" and not "ramblings on android apps", but for what it's worth, here is my opinion of really good apps to have.

Besides the dutch oven calculator, of course!

1. AM/FM find radio stations. This app will find the local radio stations, wherever you happen to be. It's handy when traveling, or just moving to a new place. Note it doesn't PLAY the radio, just tells you what the local stations are.

2. Flixster. If you like to go to the movies, then you need this app. It lists the local theaters and tells you what is currently playing, showtimes and all.

3. GD Mate. It opens and closes your garage door. Of course it requires a device to attach to your overhead garage door opener, which costs around $50.

4. Note everything. I use this all the time to make lists and notes to myself.

5. Ringdroid. Take a clip out of any stored mp3 file and make a ringtone out of it.

6. Soundhound. It tells you the name and artist of the song you're currently hearing.

7. Google maps, with navigator. Your phone should already have this.

8. Mr. Number. It is a free caller ID app, and you can block calls from specific numbers.

9. App2SD. This transfers some of your apps to your SD card to make more room on your internal memory.

10. Wifi File Explorer. It allows you to transfer files between your computer and your phone, over your wifi network.

11. Fresh Network. It refreshes your network connection if your data is stuck.

12. Spare Phone. This requires a google voice account, and allows you to make free calls to any number, over wifi. Why would you need this? If you're in a place with no reception, but you have a wifi connection, you can still make a call! Also handy for saving your minutes. This app does NOT require the other caller to also have the app, as many others do.

13. TextPlus. This allows you to send and receive free texts to any number, whether they have the app or not. You can also use it for calls over wifi, but you have to buy the minutes. The app assigns you a separate phone number for free texting.

14. Gas Buddy. It locates the cheapest gas near you.

15. Road Ninja. It tells you what services are available at each exit on whatever interstate you're traveling on.

16. Any Yellow Pages type app. There are too many to list here. Yellow Pages type apps help you find services near you. Other similar apps are called "Places", "Where", and "Poynt."

17. Latitude, Now, and Life360. I have all three, but they all do the same thing. You can find your spouse or children on a map, and know where they are. Since my husband works in the oil field, he could be anywhere within a 200 mile radius; These apps give me peace of mind, since I can know where he is, and whether or not he's headed home yet.

18. PDANet: This allows you to use your phone's internet connection to access the internet on your laptop. Requires the PDANet software installed on your computer, and a USB cable.

19.  Weatherbug.  It shows the current local weather, wherever you are, at your fingertips.

20.  Cam Scanner.  It basically turns your phone into a scanner / photocopier.  You take a picture of a document, which you can save either as a JPG or a PDF file.  Then you can email it, or transfer to your computer and print.

21.  WavPlayer.  My phone was not able to play WAV files, and if you get your home phone voice mail messages emailed to you, well, you need something to play WAV files so you can play the messages on your phone.  So, there you go.

Of course there are many other very useful apps. These are just my "top picks", my favorites.