chocklit

1. See's Candies really has dethroned all other chocolate from my top favs lists these days...it's so good. Enough to make a girl want to move to upper left-hand quadrant of the United Snates. Their Nut & Chew Bars are like good thickly covered adult versions of what Goldberg Peanut Chews outta be.

2. My favorite one-bowl brownie recipe is my friend Xandria's. She gave it to me in college and at that point 20 years ago could make it with her eyes closed. I like the size pan of brownies it produces (more like 8x8/9x9 than 9x13) and how super-easy it is--like all of them, I guess. I have been making these brownies a lot recently because I kept buying unsweetened chocolate on deep discount, thinking I didn't have any, until I suddenly had too much. Anyhow, I note the recipe here, along with the fact that it differs from X's version a little because I started adding the salt, which I think adds a lot:

2 squares unsweetened chocolate • 1 stick butter
• 1 c. sugar • 2 eggs • 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 c. flour • 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Melt chocolate and butter together carefully in microwave, stirring until more or less warm/ cool. Beat in sugar, eggs one at a time, vanilla, then salt and flour. Should all come together quite fast in a fairly viscous mass. I wouldn't overbeat. I usually bake it in a round cake pan (I think it's 8") and throw in a handful of chocolate chips from the freezer. Bake at 350 for less time than you think...closer to 30 min than 40. Let set in pan before cutting. Yum! Fast. One-bowl. Oh, and I usually grease the pan a little.

3. Guiltiest pleasure--financially: Woodstock Farms Organic Dark Chocolate Almonds with Evaporated Cane Juice. Price averages out to about $12/lb. Really gud! (of course) But criminy.

4. Another strange but successful little dessert concocted from a fairly lactose-intolerant kitchen:
- 1 big scoop Ciao Bella blood orange sorbet topped with:
- chocolate sauce made with handful of Ghirardelli 60% cocoa chocolate chips and a splash of Boost Chocolate Flavor High Protein (lactose-free) Nutritional Energy drink: microwave the two together and stir until it's a nice chocklit sauce. Not bad!