This winter I introduced the idea of a Brownie Recipe Contest, the winner receiving a copy of a Chronicle Books recipe book I was reviewing, Luscious Chocolate Desserts. Many thanks to those of you who submitted recipes, which were far more varied than I could have imagined. A cousin sent one in with cayenne in the listed ingredients, and I subsequently learned it’s not an uncommon pairing, chocolate and cayenne, relished by some! So I learned some things! For example, I’ve honestly never let a recipe dictate that the size indicated is the size I must have, priding myself on finding alternatives if necessary, but apparently with brownies it does make a difference. Fussy things afterall, in spite of seeming to “easy.” I also learned that the doubleboiler is apparently becoming a thing of the past. Who knew? I actually drove an hour to Macy’s to get a proper one, and they “don’t sell them anymore.” (How could this be?)

Toward the end of the clarion call for recipes, a local amazing artist named Linda at the highly creative blog Vulture Peak Muse squeezed in with the following endearing comment:

ok ok ok, this is THE story of my life-being late! but if you are still looking and baking and testing and gaining weight, here you go with another one and this one will beat all of the rest! Just try it and see if you don’t agree and it’s as easy as can be…

So I added her recipe to the growing number. And today, day after Valentine’s Day I am happy to announce Linda as the WINNER of the Best Brownie Recipe Contest! Congratulations, Linda! Here is her recipe:

I changed this recipe over so many years of making them, I have no idea of it’s origination nor it’s many trials, errors, additions nor alterations. I don’t know where it originally came from but possibly many recipes rolled into one. You probably know what I mean!

This is the easiest and quickest, as well as the most delicious brownie recipe you will ever try. Trust me. Try it and see if I am not telling you the absolute truth about brownies! My recipe card’s well worn appearance is evidence of how much we have made our brownies over the years. I taught my oldest son, Brian, to make them by himself and wrote it so he could read my writing, thus the black Sharpie pen that would NEVER go away!!! 🙂

This recipe was published in the Tomales Kindergarten Cookbook of 1981, along with Great Grandma’s Apple Cake and Mom’s Lemon Bars~

~Brian’s Brownies~

4 oz. Scharffenberger or other sinfully delicious AND healthy {and expensive} semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate
1 whole cube and one half more cube of unsalted butter ~
plus generous amount to grease the 9×13 glass {pyrex} baking dish

Melt slowly in large heavy pot.
Remove from heat and add to pot:

2c sugar
4 well beaten eggs
1T very very very good vanilla {Ina impersonation}
Mix this well by hand, beating a few minutes.

Add:
1 1/4c flour
1t baking powder
1t salt

Stir well and pour into prepared pan.
Bake @ 350degrees for 23 minutes
{ toothpick will be wet but with some bits of crumb beginning to form~
the hardest part of brownie baking is knowing when to remove the pan.}
~~~~~

What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of chocolate.
~Katherine Hepburn~

Editor’s notes (that would be me!): I tweaked this recipe in a couple of minor places: My brownies needed a bit more time than 23 min. And I made a point of whisking the flour, salt and baking powder prior to adding to chocolate mix; and some little part of me said to sift the flour as I was adding, so I did.

Thank you, and many blessings, Linda! Absolutely delicious recipe! And I loved the simplicity of making in one heavy pan. I will get a copy of Luscious Chocolate Desserts to you soon!

Valentine’s hugs and kisses,
Kathryn xoxoo

Posted on February 15th, 2010 by Kathryn
Filed under: People at Life | 12 Comments »

In winter the gardener’s eye is scanning the landscape for anything and everything that will fill our enormous desire for the beauty to which we are treated all summer. And thus one is inclined to see what might otherwise have been lost in the splendor of roses and hydrangea, of trumpet vine and forsythia. Attention now focuses here on the lowly wild violet. I cherish this time of year as there is a large section of the front lawn that bursts with these tiny purple treasures and I delight in their beauty, fortitude, and resilience. But until this week I have to admit to having taken them for granted. Indeed, the only moment they really had placed themselves squarely on my inner radar was when I was researching butterfly habitat last summer, and made a mental note that the wild violet was hospitable to the eggs of the fritillary butterfly. I was glad to make note of their pragmatic presence.

In the many years I have been on this property I have let the violets spread where they will. I actually welcomed them into the crevices between the flagstone pavers I’d put down in front of the rose arbor. I thanked them, and they obligingly spread about.

Charmingly, they kept a pinkish lavender violet company which I’d purchased at a local nursery.

How did one end up in a pot for which I paid money, and one become part of the natural landscape? You tell me! Of course I assume the pink one is a hybrid. But the wild violet? How did it end up here? I have no idea. I know it’s tenacious. That answers many questions.

When I began to research the wild violet I was shocked and appalled and saddened to see how many references were regarding how to get rid of it. How to Remove Wild Violets from Your Lawn. Enter poisons, though even poisons apparently are not that effective. More aggressive than even I anticipated. But so not where I wanted to go with this post. My intention is to praise its beauty and express my gratitude that it has chosen to live here and delight my senses. And be a host to the lovely fritillary butterfly. Yes, I like that much better. Thank you.

For violets suit when home birds build and sing,
Not when the outbound bird a passage cleaves;
Not with dry stubble of mown harvest sheaves,
But when the green world buds to blossoming.

~Christina Georgina Rossetti

Probably one reason violets so appeal to me is that I am completely enchanted by small bouquets. Violets lend themselves perfectly to this passion of mine.

How very dear, indeed.

Love and winter gardening blessings,
Kathryn xoxoo

Footnote: Many thanks to Pomona Belvedere for teaching me this wild violet is formally known as viola odorata. Very helpful!

Posted on January 26th, 2010 by Kathryn
Filed under: Plants | 104 Comments »