Scribal Terror

Prune-y cocoa brownies

It sounds nasty, and the batter doesn't even taste very good, but the finished product is excellent and cardio friendly:

Mix together 4 T prune butter with 4T Bertolli's Light Olive Oil

Add to the mixture:

1/2 cup Eggbeaters

1 and 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Blend thoroughly and spoon into parchment-lined 8-inch square baking pan.

Bake for about 1/2 hour at 325. It should be done when the top is no longer shiny and a knife comes out mostly clean.

Spicy eggplant soup

This is a real mood-elevator. Laura says it's Thai-Indian fusion soup, which  describes it pretty well, maybe with a touch of Japanese or Korean:

Ingredients:

2 thin “Thai” eggplants, salted, drained and cubed
1 medium sized yellow onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, mashed
1 ½ inch thick slice of fresh ginger, mashed (comes to about a tablespoon)
1 ½ quarts of chicken stock (more if needed)
10  cooked fish balls, disks should work fine as well -- you can find these at any asian food store with a freezer section. Squid rings would work too.
salt to taste
handful of chopped cilantro
½ tsp coriander
2 ground cloves
T ground cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp turmeric

Directions:

Sauté garlic and onion until translucent
Add spices, sauté until covered uniformly
Add chicken stock, simmer for ½ hour
Add eggplant, cooked fish balls, and cilantro
Cook until hot, about 15 minutes
Serve over rice noodles

This is heavenly the next day, but don't try to save it with the noodles -- they'll dissolve.

Busy beavers

They've been working at Meadowbrook Park (Urbana IL). That stream was just a little trickle not so long ago.

Deeply chocolate bourbon cake

Recipe (adapted from NYT):

Ingredients

2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups all-purpose flour
5 oz. unsweetened chocolate
¼ cup cocoa
1/2 cup bourbon
2 T half and half
½ tsp. salt
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 T. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda
Confectioners’ sugar, for garnish
Fresh raspberries and mint leaves, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 325
1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler
2. Put the cocoa in a 2-cup measuring cup. Add enough boiling water to come up to the 1 cup measuring line. Stir until the powder dissolves. Add the whiskey, salt, and half and half. Let cool.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until fluffy. Add the sugar, and beat until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract, baking soda and melted chocolate.
4. With the mixer on low speed, beat in a third of the whiskey mixture. When liquid is absorbed, beat in 1 cup flour. Repeat additions, ending with the whiskey mixture. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top.
5. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour.
6. Transfer the cake, still in its pan, to a rack. Unmold when the pan is cool to the touch. and sprinkle warm cake with more whiskey (At this stage I had to do some reconstructive Cool completely before serving, garnished with confectioners’ sugar, raspberries and mint leaves.

Beautiful soup

Chicken noodle, made by my husband.

Eggplant and ground lamb in white wine sauce

I sauteed onions, garlic, eggplant, and lamb and then cooked them covered in white wine (Barefoot Sauvignon blanc), lemon juice, tomato sauce, oregano, salt, pepper, a few peas for color, and a dash of curry powder (to offset the bitterness of the eggplant -- you can't taste it.) It's delicious with the little red potatoes and I'm sure it would also work well with rice.

If you're cooking eggplant for something like this, be sure to peel it, cube it, salt it liberally, and let it drain for about a half hour in a colander, then rinse off the salt and dry it in a dish towel. This USUALLY gets rid of the bitterness. If there's just a little bitterness left, you can add a touch of curry or brown sugar, but if there's too much then you just have to throw away the damn eggplant and buy another. Our grocery stores have had a run of bad eggplants, so we were really happy when this one (grown by a local farmer) turned out perfect.

Summer haikus

Summer time is here
Girls half naked, guys speechless
I just want a book.

-- Shane

Summer in these peaks
Mean hairy armpits and legs
I don't want to look.

-- JWebb

Their pasty white thighs
Lobster red, they now blister
Some vacation, eh?

-- Scott P.

The pine beadle scourge
is ravishing our hilltops
Smokey Bear is scared.

--JWebb

Old men in speedos
flock to the beaches to play
such a ghastly sight.

--Shane

willowy tan one
unaware of Jabba's gaze
and mom grinds her teeth

--Ana

yellow jacket sting
distinct possibility
the figs are bursting

--Ana

Rain, rain, go away
Come again some other day
The effing roof leaks

--Gail

Patty O'Toad

Enjoying a swarm of flying ants on the Patty-O.

Happy Grad!

Paperclip's movin on up

She's been accepted to the University of Illinois! YAYAYAYAYAYYY!