Manners

Yes, there were brownies, and burgers, and Red Sox, and candles on Colin's birthday.  It was a great evening.  And as I took this photo on this particular plate, it reminded me of the plate's history, which I think is worth sharing.

Way back in, I don't know, I'm guessing 2001 but it could have been 2002 or even 2003 (it's immaterial), I had toddlers.  And my friends had toddlers.  We pretty much all toddled after our toddlers for a few years there, and some of our toddlers did things like wack other toddlers over the heads with sticks or steal their bouncy balls or grab their hot wheels, heaven forbid, and chuck them across the room.  Lamps were felled, feelings hurt, diapers soiled, and messes made.  Everywhere.  Honestly, now that my kids unload the dishwasher and put away their own laundry it feels like a parallel universe when they were entertaining their little friends with sippy cups and sharing pacifier germs, but it was really only 5 or 6 years ago.

Anyway, I was hosting our weekly playgroup at my house in Massachusetts, and one very cute little girl named Hannah reached for a cookie, or a muffin, or, I don't remember (this, too, is immaterial), something, from one of my nondescript serving plates and managed to topple the plate to the wooden floor, where it splintered into several pieces.  No big deal; into the trash, sweep, vacuum, done.  Who cares, right?  When you've got toddlers toddling, things pretty much break at 4-minute intervals.

The next day my doorbell rang and there was a beautifully wrapped box on my front stoop.  In it, I discovered the lovely plate you see above with a note of apology from Hannah's mom.  Now, this replacement plate was so much nicer, prettier, and sturdier than the crappy plate Hannah had broken that I was quite in awe of the gesture.  It showed a level of good breeding and fine manners that still impresses me to this day.

Plus, I still really love the plate. 

p.s. I was tempted to invite Hannah over the next day and to leave all my junky dishware, old jewelry, and cheap knick-knacks perched precariously on table ledges throughout the house.  The more she broke, I figured, the better off I'd be.

...

Recipe for Birthday Brownies

This is my go-to brownie recipe, adapted from the one-pot wonder in Nigella Lawson's cookbook, How to Be a Domestic Goddess. The texture is very moist, as the chocolate chips melt right in during baking.

Makes 16 good-sized brownies, or 20 smaller ones

13 tablespoons butter

6.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, rough-chopped

3 eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup + 1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup white whole wheat flour

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a large, heavy saucepan, stirring gently with a heatproof spatula.  Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm.

In a 4-cup glass measure or small bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and two extracts.  Add this mixture to the chocolate, and beat well with your spatula or a wooden spoon in the pot.  Dump in the two flours and the salt, and continue stirring/beating.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Scrape the batter into your prepared baking pan.  Bake in the center of the oven for about 20 minutes, or until puffed, the top loses its sheen, and a skewer inserted in the center emerges with a few moist crumbs attached. Cool completely in the pan (on a wire rack) before cutting into squares.

printable pdf

Comments

[Charmian Christie]

Colourful plate, colourful story. So much better than, "I bought it on sale at The Pottery Barn."

Hope Colin enjoyed his birthday brownies. They look delicious. Now I'm craving chocolate when I should be making a healthy dinner.

[Lisa Hoffman]

I would like to order 2 brownies and a large glass of ice cold milk. Oh, and 1 plate. A wonderful tale and a new brownie recipe to try. I'm always looking for the perfect brownie recipe.

[Brenda Campbell]

This brownie recipes looks fantastic, I am going to try these. Thanks for having such a cool blog, I added it to my favorite blogs section on my own site.

[heather walker]

Being the mom of one of those toddlers who, instead of accidentally shattering a plate, smacked the beloved Rule boys over the head AND chucked toys across the room (sorry - there were no gifts from me. That also speaks to breeding and manners in a way I don't want to discuss right now.), I loved reading this trip back to another time.

And the fact that I'm eating brownies while reading it makes the timing particularly excellent.

Oh - and the Sox are taking it tonight.

[Runaround Sous]

Well dip me in food dye and call me Red Velvet! This looks like a great recipe...

And you used butter, darlin'!

(I know... I can't do Paula Deen... Tryin' too hard.)

[diana p.]

I don't know if this recipe can tear me away from the outrageous chocolate brownies from the first Barefoot Contessa cookbook (though I do worry about the cardiology implications of Ina Garten's 5 sticks of butter makes everything taste better food philosophy).

We should have a 5secondrule brownie bakeoff! We each bake a pan of our favorite brownies, send them to our fab blogger and have her rate them. Nothing is worth more than a good brownie recipe (and the folks at work are REALLY going to hate you for this one, since I will test it out some day and they will be my guinea pigs! There's no pretending this is healthy... unlike the almond banana bread in the oven as we speak.)

[Teresa]

If I break one of your plates and replace it, can I have a brownie? They look yummy. Aren't kids wonderful? I truly do believe that a child will grow up with whatever values a parent(s) instills in them at a very young age. Great post Cheryl.

[Cheryl]

Charmian, aw thanks. Healthy dinner + birthday brownies = happy belly.

Lisa, look no further. These pretty much go from conception to completion in 30 minutes.

Brenda, thanks for visiting, and for the compliment. Come back often.

Heather, ah, I didn't name names. I was mature. Let's just say I remember the smacking of heads, but your little darling wasn't the only one. I could tell colorful stories about all those kids, my own very much included. p.s. Colin shed tears of joy with last night's Sox win. Su-weeeet.

Runaround, nice channeling of Deen there! But I would have had to include 4 pounds of butter, 2 cups of cream, and a tub and a half of sour cream to have approached the fat content of one of her recipes. Oh, and something canned. I know -- Crisco!

Diana, challenge accepted. I'll await my first shipment. I suggest FedEx, people, so they're not stale when they arrive. I have a pet peeve about baked goods sent slow-mo (see:
http://5secondrule.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/08/key-lime-pie.html)

Teresa, yes, yes, and thanks. As for values, my kids value chocolate, and curly hair. We instill those values most important to us, I suppose.