Browniescapades

I will now offer the soundest advice for deciding between two brownie recipes: Make both.

That’s what I did this weekend.

Recipe 1: Moosewood Fudge Brownies, from Mollie Katzen’s Moosewood Cookbook

Recipe 2: Amazing Black Bean Brownies

And the adventure begins!

Cast of characters for Recipe 1. Please note the strong coffee on the right.

Decidedly more disheveled cast of characters for Recipe 2.

Recipe 1 has come out of the oven!

Recipe 2 comes out of the oven and compounds the mess that has already exploded all over the kitchen.

Behold! A cleaned kitchen!

Marbley Recipe 2 brownies ready to cut.

Proof that these brownies were crafted by myself.

Brownie Recipes 1 (front) and 2 (back), in all their supremely edible glory. A unbiased panel of five taste-testers was selected precisely because of the convenience of their availability. Their judgments are as follows:

Corinne: Recipe 1 was not typical; a fluffy texture but a dense flavor. Although the flavor was amazing, this recipe makes a better cake than a brownie. When Recipe 2 was warm (and not cooked long enough), the beans were too noticeable. Overall, however, the dark chocolate meshed well with the coffee flavor, and as far as brownies go, this one was the best. “I like that a lot. They really are quite marvelous.”

Becca: Recipe 1 is not quite like a brownie, and a bit dry. However, the cinnamon gives the dessert a rounded, full-bodied flavor. The smooth coffee flavor of Recipe 2 is excellent; the chocolatey goodness went down smoothly and, although intense, was not overwhelming. Recipe 2 improves much after baking a bit longer and refrigerating.

Hannah: Recipe 1 has amazing flavor, but an odd texture; somehow fluffy and dense at the same time. Before baking, the batter was the most heavenly substance. Recipe 2 is intense and decadent, rather amazing after baking longer.

Jaime: Both brownies tasted excellent, but Recipe 2 won out because of its fudginess and the intensity of the chocolate and coffee.

Jessie: Recipe 1 had a sub-excellent texture. Recipe 2 was quite good, and similar to an Italian espresso chocolate. It was “better than one would have expected from a brownie,” more like a bar of chocolate.

Recipe 1 Verdict: Good flavor, but lacking in browniness. I’d like to play around with the recipe to either make an excellent chocolate mousse or a more fudgy brownie.

Recipe 2 Verdict: Pretty amazing (and gluten free!). The only con to this recipe was the effort involved; for a brownie it’s a pretty complicated recipe. But for a result of over 40 excellent brownies? I’d say it’s worth it.

Some overall comments:

“I like how they are both decadent, but not cloyingly so.” - Corinne

“One is quite small and the other is rather large.” - Jessie

“It’s like no cheese I’ve ever tasted!” - Wallace

Hanging Heavy

a full moon rises tonight
but all evidence is lost
open, dilated brightness
obscured by clouds
conquered by mere wisps of moisture

grabbing a fistful of this stained night
I am overcome
the trees discard their silhouettes
fade into the faceless sky

with houses, churches
stand their sentinels of faith
bastions of hope
against the encroaching dark of nothing
the inkblot trespass of the  night

and I on my road alone
have my own standard to bear
the road I travel offers me no light of solace
my light is my own
and if I falter I fail myself
and all is loss.

On a Contrary Note

I really don’t want to be doing this.

I don’t want to be studying for two more years so I can get a higher paying job.

It’s one of these moments again where I remember that all I want to do is open a haven of good coffee, used books, and local art, and/or start it all over again and become a potter or a linguist.

I don’t care about those high-power jobs lurking in the future. I don’t mind being broke. I just want to revel in the simple things.

And right now, I am, honestly, perfectly, happy.

I like living in my tiny apartment with three other women, with light switches and outlets and thermostats all hung at crooked angles, cranking the heat down in the winter to save electricity and walking around wrapped in my blanket toga.

I’ve got a kettle for my tea, a press for my coffee, and loads of British TV on youtube. I’m unsure what else I could need.

I’m worried that my aspirations for the future will be far below my pay grade, and I’m worried that I’ll mind.

It might just be one of those cold days where drinking tea seems like the world’s best occupation, and the 2×4 of reality will hit me upside the head tomorrow.

In other news, I have just burned a second batch of rice.

The Reichenbach Fall

I may or may not be slightly convinced that there’s a phoenix on this seal. Thoughts?

From the As-Yet Unpublished Archives

This post is dedicated to two excellent individuals. First, to Mr. Nathan Biberdorf, who actually reads my blog. Second, to Mr. Fenton McKnight, who composed this excellent piece with me over four years ago. Something reminded me of it, so I thought I’d post it, mostly for no good reason.

A Ten-Second-Long Discourse on Peas
by Fenton McKnight and Sylvia Daire

Ew peas.
Ew texture.
Ew taste.
Too sweet.
Yes.
Texture mushy.
Yes.

And now that you’ve been sufficiently enlightened and bestowed with knowledge, good night!

El Fin

This, my friends, is the end. Here, at the end of all things … well, just two. My twitter account and this blog. And honestly, it’s not forever. If I am in dire straits and posting “SOS” on hashamayim.wordpress.com will save my life, I will have no qualms whatsoever.

The intent of this discontinuation is the re-evaluation of my public vs. private life. Why do I have a twitter? Why blog at all? Primarily, it has been a good venue for expressing my thoughts, but when it comes down to it, I have to wonder–to whom? So, I leave these public arenas for more private reflections, for several reasons.

First, for security concerns. I’m not sure that broadcasting such varied information about myself so openly is as great an idea as I thought.

Second, for humility reasons. It’s so easy for me to hope that someday I’ll be a well-known blogger, or even that my friends who do read this blog will be impressed with what I write. I don’t need any more pitfalls in my life where pride can easily lurk.

Third, for lifestyle reasons. All in all, I desire that my trajectory in life would be one of more simplicity than the norm. For this purpose I purge my closets, hang my laundry to dry, and recycle, recycle, recycle. And I’m learning to sew. Technology is not, in and of itself, an evil, but I have found that for me it can become a dangerous distraction. Thus, the less I entangle myself the better. Besides, I’ve been woefully neglecting my own personal journal, which is really what has benefited me most in the past.

I will now be spending any social networking time on facebook. This is ironic, because the next blog post I had planned was to explain why I liked twitter better than facebook. (It’s true–facebook is hypocritical and calls the people you stalk and who stalk you “friends,” while twitter is much more straightforward and calls them “followers.” Etc.)

However, for my intents and purposes (maintaining friendships), facebook is much more useful, seeing as I know more people on facebook than on twitter, and communicate with them more there than on this blog. Maybe someday I will return, when I have more maturity to deal with technological clutter, but for now it’s goodbye.

Pondering.

“…but I don’t need her love to love her all I can.”

Andrew Peterson, “The Coral Castle”

But is that emotional expense even worth it?

Bad Idea #473

….Considering using the clothesline as a zip line.

And, to counter this bad idea (which I didn’t actually carry out, by the way), a good idea, some gratitudinal thinking:

#37 – Evidence of the Spirit working in my heart.

#38 – Knowledgeable doctors