EtsyBloggers Blog Carnival #1 for Aug. 28, 2009

I have this amazing ability to procrastinate on projects until the very last minute or, in this case, until days after the deadline. Better late than never, right? I promise this recipe is worth the wait!

Is it really possible for anyone to pick a favorite food? I'm a notoriously picky eater, and yet there are so many foods that I love! Every restaurant I go to, I always have the same thing on the menu: Il Fornaio's Mushroom Risotto, Yasuko's Pork Teriyaki, Zaika's Butter Chicken, Spiro's Pepperoni Sub Sandwich, Family Pancake House's Eggs Benedict, Andaluca's Hot Chocolate Lava Cake... you get the idea. Desserts are my weakness however, especially since quite often I get a craving for "pastry" - cake or pie just won't do, doughnuts are acceptable only if nothing else is available, but I'm really not happy unless puff pastry is involved. This is how I stumbled onto the fact that I absolutely love almond flavoring: searching for Pastry (capital "P"!) at Whole Foods, the only thing that looked acceptable was an almond croissant. I think I will remember the ensuing food-orgasm for the rest of my life.

Of course, the quickest and easiest way to my heart is through chocolate - but only the sweet white or milk chocolates. Semi-sweet chips are the quickest way to ruin a chocolate chip cookie, and dark chocolate I find absolutely disgusting. Dessert should be sweet, should it not? So I think this is where my decision lies: my old standby favorite food are thick, gooey chocolate brownies. If you like your brownies cakey, and/or with frosting, then head on over to the cake aisle and pick up a mix for chocolate cake, ok? What's the point of brownies if they're not impossibly moist and gooey?! It was a delicious day in our home when my mother found a brownie recipe by Hershey's that we all loved, and since I moved out I try to make a batch at least once a year. Here is the recipe, which we always double to make sure the brownies are really thick!

Hershey's Deep Dish Brownies
3/4 C. melted margarine or butter
1 & 1/2 C. sugar
1 & 1/2 teaspoons (tsp.) vanilla
3 eggs
3/4 C. unsifted, all-purpose flour
1 & 1/2 C. Hershey's Cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking powerder
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350F.
Blend melted margarine with sugar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, beat well with a spoon. In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add this to your egg mixture until well blended. Spread into a greased 8" square pan (a 10" x 14" pan works great when doubling the recipe). Bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes, or until brownie begins to pull away from the edges of the pan. A toothpick inserted into the center should come away clean when they are done. Let brownies cool most of the way, cut into squares, and serve while still slightly warm.