Inspired, or maybe subdued, by another current thread and not wanting to hijack and also concurrently being tied down to the telephone for a considerable period and finally being quite willing to go for records in run-on sentences...

Me and Duncan Hines do brownies quite well, although I add chocolate chips to mine and he prefers nuts in his. I might have used "Big Nutz" for a handle on the forum but rethought that after realizing that it sounded like bragging. "More Nutz" was available but clearly wasn't my preference. "More Chips" fit my tastes, but clashed with my experience of having been raised on a cattle ranch.

Oh, yeah -- I remember now! My point was going to be about any perceived conflict between aging and the consumption of chocolate.

Many chocolate lovers will claim that one of the best delivery vehicles -- either two- or four-wheeled -- for chocolate is the chocolate chip cookie, AKA "Toll House" cookies. I won't argue except to say you have to eliminate all of the languages used by the Belgian, Dutch, French, German and Swiss peoples to make that statement stand.

Duncan Hines won't really help with chocolate chip cookies. If Chips Ahoy and Pillsbury, et al, packaged cookie dough in the refrigerated sections of the supermarket aren't what you had in mind, then cookies "from scratch" are in order.

As you age, the words "dietary fiber" will become more and more important. You will reach for products, both prepared and for preparation, labeled "Whole Grain" and Whole Wheat".

When baking chocolate chip cookies, regular "whole wheat" flour produces a cookie tasting like ... whole wheat -- and not like a carrier for chocolate chips. More like something you'd put mayonnaise on...

If you find the fairly-unusual product called "white whole wheat flour" in a bag in the supermarket you may think "Problem solved!" Not! Mix up the cookie batter in the usual way and you will get a batch of cookies stuck to the cookie sheet -- that have to be chiseled off in crumbs. It may take a whole day to dispose of a whole batch of chocolate chip cookies in crumbs.

Then you have to go to the grocery store and get some regular enriched white flour and try again. Of course, this recipe will work well, but two days later you are left with a pitiful stack of chocolate chip cookies like this:



Advancing age presents all kinds of problems!

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DL1000K6 Red I believe in ... gravity!
"Everyone brings something to the party."
- Snoopy

don't worry about dietary fibers..THINK JALEPENAS!!! (followed by icecream)

semi sweet chocolate rules...so does tequilla.

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2012 wee ADVENTURE, 2012 GOLDWING WITH TRAILER (TRADED FOR WEE STROM), 07 BANDIT 1250 (TRADED FOR 2012 GOLDWING), BANDIT 1200, NINJA 500, Z1000, ZX9R, MARAUDER 800, 650 SAVAGE, 750 KATANA, NINJA 900, '78 YAMAHA 750 SPECIAL, YAMAHA RD400

Not crazy about tequila, but chocolate covered espresso beans are a long-time favorite:



And for chocolate straight up, gotta love the high cacao content types. Quick search turned this up: 5-best-dark-chocolate-bars-in-the-world/

Time to visit my local Whole Foods (also called Whole Paycheck in some quarters).

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-Tom (DL650AL2) (KA1TOX) (E-I-E-I-O)

This message and images are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. http://creativecommons.org

This may sound weird but chocolate chip cookies and cold beer go together real well.

I was worried for a minute that you were going to claim good chocolate is made by the likes of Hershey. Whew!

But wasting good chocolate in a cookie? Sacrilege!

To get pack to your aging thing. I wasn't a great fan of chocolate until after I married my wife who is Swiss and who introduced me to Lindt some 40+ years ago. At that time, Lindt was not readily available in Australia and we only saw it in chocolate parcels sent to her from relatives in Switzerland. Now, of course, it's available in any supermarket.

So, as I've got older, I become more enamoured with good chocolate - but I'm not an eater of choc chip cookies. Now Tim Tams (Aussie delicacy) Tim Tams .....

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2007 Suzuki DL650 K7 (With a few farkles)

RIP Bucko - Riding on forever

Okay, I will share.

Take a look at the photograph below.



From Left to Right: My father, Russell Buchanan; his wife, Shirley; me; Sue VanLeer; then, Ted VanLeer. This photograph was taken, (self timer), on June 27, 2012.

Now, go here: Van Leer - Homepage

This is how, the VanLeer family and the Buchanan family became lifelong friends. In the third grade, (Glenridge, New Jersey), Ted VanLeer scooped up a pile of slush off of the ground, fashioned it into an "ice ball", and threw it at my mother. It hit her in the eye. And, that is it! They were lifelong friends after that! (My mom passed away in 2004)

Growing up, and visiting the VanLeer's summer home, on Alamoosook Lake, (Orland, Maine), Ted would challenge us kids to get up on "two skis". I am referring to, water skis. If we did it, we would receive a TEN POUND VanLeer Chocolate bar! Being successful, we kept the "chocolate bricks" in the refrigerator in the cellar. To break off a piece of chocolate, you had to use a hammer and a screwdriver to chisel a chunk off!

Dancer, you need to know that, you NEVER use ANY KIND of mix when baking!!! Particularly when chocolate is involved!!!

Scratch is MUCH better!

Baker's One Bowl Brownies

- 4 squares Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate.
- 3/4 cup butter.
- 2 cups sugar.
- 3 eggs.
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans, or walnuts.

- Heat oven to 350°F

- Spray a 13"x 9" pan with cooking spray.

- Over low heat, in a large bowl, (I use a large stainless steel salad bowl), melt the chocolate and butter; stirring until completely melted and mixed. Remove from heat.

- Stir in sugar.
- Blend in eggs and vanilla.
- Add flour and nuts, mixing well, (But don't "toughen" the flour!)
- Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Insert a toothpick, or knife into the center and remove. If the knife comes out "clean", ("fudgy crumbs"are okay.), then the brownies are done.
- Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack.
- When cooled, cut into individual pieces.
- Eat!

B.L.

__________________
2007 DL-650 (111,000 + miles)
"A word grows to a thought; a thought to an idea; an idea to an act. All the pieces are put together, and the whole is yours."
1942, Beryl Markham: "West With the Night"
"In most men, there lurks a lesser man, and his presence smells in the the sun."
1961, Ernest K. Gann: "Fate Is The Hunter"

Even better is, chocolate chip cookies and a glass, or two of Merlot. Merlot has some "essence" of chocolate in it.

B.L.

__________________
2007 DL-650 (111,000 + miles)
"A word grows to a thought; a thought to an idea; an idea to an act. All the pieces are put together, and the whole is yours."
1942, Beryl Markham: "West With the Night"
"In most men, there lurks a lesser man, and his presence smells in the the sun."
1961, Ernest K. Gann: "Fate Is The Hunter"

Walter Baker's chocolate was originally made in Massachusetts on the Neponset River in a plant that stradled the river with Dorchester on one shore and Milton on the other. The immediate area is called "Lower Mills" and I grew up about 5 miles to the SW. With a NE wind on a grey day, you could ALWAYS smell the chocolate over that distance. Sweet memories.

Also of interest, FrostyPuck (Chris) is a Stromtrooper and his Dad used to work at Walter Baker Chocolate in Lower Mills. Chris is recovering from a very bad getoff early this spring. It had nothing to do with chocolate.

__________________
-Tom (DL650AL2) (KA1TOX) (E-I-E-I-O)

This message and images are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. http://creativecommons.org

I don't drink much anymore, but when I did I recall that just about everthing went well with a cold beer

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'09 VEE
'07 SE UC
'02 CR 250

I am a brownie-aholic. I have not had the pleasure of trying one of Barry's scratch brownies, but until then I have never found pre-mixed brand better than Ghirardelli. They stand far above the other brands out there.

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2012 XT1200Z Blue, 2012 XT1200Z Black