Considering that a half a glass of wine puts me to sleep (in other words, i can't hold my liquor so i don't even try), i won't be sharing any such libations. However, if you love chocolate, these fudgie buddy cookies, as we call them, will fill the bill.
These are the cookies i take any time i am asked at holiday time to provide something for a shared meal, and i give them as gifts. No one ever refuses them. They are very similar to the flourless cakes that were so popular at one time.
Melt one cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, two squares of unsweetened baking chocolate, and two tablespoons of butter on low on the stove or very carefully in a glass bowl in the microwave.
While that is melting, mix 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, and a dash of salt together.
When the chocolate is fully melted, remove from the heat or pull the bowl out of the microwave and let it cool for just a moment. Then add 2 eggs, 2/3 cup of sugar, and a teaspoon of vanilla, and mix well.
Add the flour mixture and beat well.
Pour in another cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, by now the mixture should be cook enough not to melt them totally. At this point you can add a cup of chopped nuts or raisins or both if you like (and we like, especially pecans). The recipe is very forgiving as far as what you add in or don't add in. Mix well.
Drop spoonfuls on a greased baking sheet and bake at 350° for about 8-10 minutes until the edges are firm and the surface is no longer shiny. They should look like brownies, but still be gooey on the inside. After about a minute, remove them from the cookie sheet and let them cool, if you can resist eating them for that long.
Today is:
Akibasan Gongen Hibuse Matsuri -- Odawara, Japan (ritual giving thanks for fire and water)
Day of Quito -- Ecuador (founding of the city in 1534)
Days of Reckoning Begin -- Fairy Calendar (no, they will not tell us what they reckon)
Dia de la Constitucion Espanola -- Spain (Constitution Day)
Give a Secret Gift Day -- obviously in honor of the original St. Nicholas
Independence Day -- Aland Islands(1917); Finland(1917)
Microwave Oven Day -- patented this day in 1945
Mitten Tree Day -- remembering when mittens, along with maybe a knit cap or scarf, were the big gift to find hanging from the Christmas tree
National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women -- Canada
National Gazpacho Day
National Miner's Day -- US
Pawnbrokers' Day -- on St. Nicholas' Day, in his role as Patron Saint of pawnbrokers
Sindhi Topi and Ajrak Day -- Sindh, Pakistan
St. Nicholas of Myra's Day (Patron of apothecaries/druggists/pharmacists, archers, bakers, barrel makers, boatmen, bootblacks/shoe shiners, boys, brewers, brides, captives, children, coopers, dock workers/longshoremen, fishermen, grooms, judges, lawsuits lost unjustly, maidens, mariners/sailors, merchants, penitent murderers, newlyweds, old maids, parish clerks, paupers/poor people, pawnbrokers, perfumers, pilgrims, prisoners, scholars, schoolchildren, spinsters, students, penitent thieves, travelers, unmarried girls; Greek Catholic Church in America; Greek Catholic Union; University of Paris; Varangian Guard; Greece; Russia; also dozens of cities around the world; against imprisonment, robberies, robbers)
Christkind -- Central and Southern Europe (the traditional gift giving day, instead of Christmas)
Birthdays Today:
Andrew J. Howard, 1969
Macy Gray, 1969
Janine Turner, 1962
Andrew Cuomo, 1957
Peter Buck, 1956
Randy Rhoads, 1956
Steven Wright, 1955
Tom Hulce, 1953
JoBeth Williams, 1953
Craig Newmark, 1952
James Naughton, 1945
David Ossman, 1936
Wally Cox, 1924
Dave Brubeck, 1920
Agnes Moorehead, 1906
Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1898
Ira Gershwin, 1896
Lynn Fontanne, 1887
Joyce Kilmer, 1886
William S. Hard, 1870
John Singleton Mosby, 1833
Debuting/Premiering Today:
Star Trek VI- The Undiscovered Country(Film), 1991
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"(TV special), 1964
"Talent Scouts"(TV), 1948
"Du Barry Was a Lady"(Porter musical), 1939
"La damnation de Faust"(Berlioz opera, Op, 24), 1846
Today in History:
The Mongols under Batu Khan occupy and destroy Kiev, 1240
Don Alfonso V of Aragon grants Barcelona the right to exclude Jews, 1424
The first edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica is published, in Scotland, 1768
Harriet Tubman escapes slavery, 1849
The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution is ratified, abolishing slavery, 1865
The first crematorium in the Us begins operation, in Washington, Pennsylvania, 1876
London becomes the first city to license taxicabs, 1897
One year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State comes into existence, 1922
U.S. federal judge John M. Woolsey rules that the James Joyce's novel Ulysses is not obscene, 1933
The Vanguard rocket, the first US attempt to launch a satellite, fails, 1957
The Canadian province of Newfoundland is renamed Newfoundland and Labrador, 2001
NASA reveals photographs taken by Mars Global Surveyor suggesting the presence of liquid water on Mars, 2006
Belgium's new federal government is sworn in after 541 days of negotiations, 2011
Posts
