Friday, March 7, 2014

Sorry Random Brownie recipe


So sometimes I see a recipe and want to try it, but I'm afraid the link will break. Hopefully, one day I'll get to try these. The author said the brownies cook better when you take them out in the middle. I mean that's an easy trick to remember, but I've been dying to get my hands on a home made brownie recipe for a while now. My dad never gave me his (yes, you read that correctly, my DAD not my MOM. My mom can cook desserts, but it's the men that have the big guns when it comes to desserts in my family...) 

FUDGY BROWNIE THINS WITH SEA SALT
Ingredients:
  • 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate (100 percent cacao), chopped
  • 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 6 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt 
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (any type, as long as it’s unsweetened)
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • Maldon sea salt, if desired
  • EQUIPMENT: an 18- by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet (a.k.a. half-sheet pan)
Preparation:
FUDGY BROWNIE THINS WITH SEA SALT
Heat the oven to 325°F with the rack in the middle. Lightly grease or butter the pan and line it with parchment or foil.

Melt the chocolate with the butter in a large metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove the bowl from the pan and whisk in the sugar.

Add the eggs, 1 at a time, whisking well after each addition, and whisk the mixture vigorously until it is smooth and cohesive. Whisk in the vanilla and salt. Sift the cocoa over the batter and stir with a whisk until it is incorporated and the batter is smooth. Sift the flour over the batter and stir with the whisk in the same manner until the batter is smooth.

Spread the batter evenly in the pan and, if desired, sprinkle the top lightly with flakes of Maldon sea salt. Bake 15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and let the brownies rest 15 minutes at room temperature. Return the brownies to the oven and continue to bake them until a wooden pick comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.

Cool the brownies completely in the pan on a rack. Cut the brownies into serving pieces.
Ingredients:
  • 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate (100 percent cacao), chopped
  • 3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 6 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt 
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (any type, as long as it’s unsweetened)
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • Maldon sea salt, if desired
  • EQUIPMENT: an 18- by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet (a.k.a. half-sheet pan)
Preparation:
Heat the oven to 325°F with the rack in the middle. Lightly grease or butter the pan and line it with parchment or foil.

Melt the chocolate with the butter in a large metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove the bowl from the pan and whisk in the sugar.

Add the eggs, 1 at a time, whisking well after each addition, and whisk the mixture vigorously until it is smooth and cohesive. Whisk in the vanilla and salt. Sift the cocoa over the batter and stir with a whisk until it is incorporated and the batter is smooth. Sift the flour over the batter and stir with the whisk in the same manner until the batter is smooth.

Spread the batter evenly in the pan and, if desired, sprinkle the top lightly with flakes of Maldon sea salt. Bake 15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and let the brownies rest 15 minutes at room temperature. Return the brownies to the oven and continue to bake them until a wooden pick comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.

Cool the brownies completely in the pan on a rack. Cut the brownies into serving pieces.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

The Pain He Wouldn't Let Me Feel

So I have a friend who is struggling with a pornography addiction. This friend is literally thousands of miles away from me in Belgium. I figured if he was coming to me under these circumstances, that he didn't really have many people who could come to for help fighting it. That makes me feel like I have a lot of responsibility for helping him. So I decided on the next time I would fast, I would fast specifically for him. I also wanted to make this fast special in that I wanted to show Heavenly Father how much it mattered to me. As part of that, I decided to eat a special meal just before I started it. This meal would blow quickly through my system, despite having enough calories. I wanted to make this fast hurt just to show Heavenly Father how invested I was in getting him to help my friend.

It seemed to work. Two hours after my meal, I already started feeling hungry. But then things got wierd. The closer it got to my dinner time, the more my hunger seemed to fade. Usually when I've tried fasting for a dinner, it just has been unbearable, but this time it worked. Not only that, but I slept fine, which is also weird, because the few times I've done an overnight fast, sleeping hasn't gone too well for me. In terms of hunger pangs, this has been my easiest fast, which is super weird, because everything about the way I set it up should have made it hurt.

Looking back I think that this was Christ trying to show me that he suffered for my friend. And because he did that, he didn't want me to suffer for him too, even if I was trying to. I guess I'm posting this to show the world that I know that Jesus Christ is real and he suffered for us so we don't have to. Because of this experience I've learned that he not only hears prayers, but wants us to be happy. And I'm grateful for that.