bestest brownies ever

Before I got married, I had this great roommate here in Virginia Beach. One of the best gifts she ever gave me (besides affordable rent and a stable living situation) was her recipe for the most amazing brownies I have ever had. And that is what I am sharing with you today, Pioneer Woman-style with pictures and all!

Ingredients:

• 4 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
• 1 cup butter or margarine (2 sticks)
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 12oz (regular-sized bag) chocolate chips
• 2 cups mini marshmallows (best if fresh, so you don't have to pull them apart -- learned from experience on that one)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°
Melt chocolate squares and butter over medium heat on stove.

Eventually, it'll start to look like this:

Once it is all melted (including the butter, unlike in that picture above), remove from heat.
Add sugar and then each egg.  Stir after each egg.  (Sorry, I don't have a picture of that step because I was too busy fishing an egg shell out of the batter.  Maybe I'll just stick to Egg Beaters from now on.)

Add vanilla and flour:

Fold in the chocolate chips, then the marshmallows.  (The marshmallows will mostly melt in the oven, so you won't be eating chunks of them, I promise!)  If it looks like a dirty diaper, you're doing it right:

Drop that beautiful mixture into a greased 9x13 pan and bake it at 350° for 30-35 minutes.

Don't forget the most important step--I call this 'Clean Up Part One':

Test with a cake tester/toothpick.  Yes, your brownies will look like they have some type of skin disease when they're done and ready.

Mine came out slightly undercooked, so they didn't cut as easily.  They were still delightfully delicious, and the brownie crumbs make a good ice cream topping so I'm not complaining!

 Enjoy!  And let me know how your attempts come out!

the best part of navy livin'

Sometimes I wonder how I lived the first 22 years of my life in a city that was more than a half-hour drive from this:

Chicks Beach, VA, 5 July 2010

"At the beach, life is different. Time doesn't move hour to hour but mood to moment.  We live by the currents, plan by the tides and follow the sun."  - Sandy Gingras

i am not celebrating the 4th of july . . .

I am celebrating America's Independence Day! Which happens to fall on July 4, since that is the date on the Declaration of Independence.

No, we're not the only culture that does this. B's boat was actually in Norway for their Constitution Day, which Norwegians like to refer to as "Syttende mai," or 17th May.  As for the U.S., John Adams actually wrote a letter to his wife Abigail on 3 July 1776, predicting that we would be celebrating the 2nd of July.  Why?  During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June.  Adams' prediction of our fanfare was mostly accurate, minus that whole date fiasco:

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."

Alright, Mr. Adams, let's see how we're doing:

Pomp and parade?  Head on up to our nation's capital for their annual one

Shows?  I hear there's a jazz ensemble playing down at Town Point Park

Games and sports?  An American competitive eating tradition, of course:  Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest    American Joey Chestnut FTW!

Guns, bells, bonfires, illuminations?  Let's be American and blow crap up!  Scared of drunken injuries?  We can even do it digitally!

Happy Birthday, America!  You hardly look a day over two hundred and thirty-three.