Nothing But Chocolate!

That's all I got - 2 chocolate recipes! Plenty of other posts "in the oven," so to speak. But God and I have this little agreement that nothing gets posted until he says it's "done."

Anyways, sometimes you just need chocolate. Me - I've never really been a chocolate person. I can pass on Reese's cups, M&M's and the like. A box of Valentine candy lasts me two months and that's the 8oz size. Just not a fan of milk chocolate. When I want chocolate, I want it dark and rich. And you only need a little of the good stuff. Give me a piece of Dove dark in the middle of a bad day at work and . . . okay, I admit, I have a piece almost every day -it's my antioxidant! Anyways here are 2 Seriously Good Chocolate recipes:

Starbuck's Chocolate Cinnamon Bread

Chocolate Batter
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1¼ cups Dutch-processed cocoa (I used Hershey's Special Dark, of course!)
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cocoa-Spice Sugar Crust
¼ cup granulated sugar
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon Dutch-processed
cocoa powder
Pinch ground ginger
Pinch ground cloves
¼ cup decorating or sparkle sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pans and line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper. Make the Chocolate Batter: In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment on medium speed, until light and creamy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating until each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next and scraping down the sides of the bowl several times.
Meanwhile in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, water and vanilla. With mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to butter, beginning and ending with the flour and beating just until blended. Divide the batter between the two pans, shake the pans to even the tops and set aside.

Make the Cocoa-Spice Sugar Crust: In another small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, cocoa, ginger and cloves. Sprinkle the surfaces of both batters with the decorating sugar. Sprinkle with the cocoa sugar mixture, dividing evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely, run a thin knife around the sides to release the breads and remove from pans. From the kitchen of Marcus Samuelsson

Ultimate Chocolate Brownies

3/4 cup baking cocoa
1/2 t. baking soda
2/3 cup butter, melted. (1 stick plus 2-2/3 T)
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1-1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 t. vanilla
1/4 t. salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks (I sometimes use 1/2 peanut butter chips)

In large bowl, combine cocoa and baking soda; blend in 1/3 cup melted butter. Add boiling water; stir until well-blended. stir in sugar, eggs and remaining butter. Add flour, vanilla and salt. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Pour into greased 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or just until brownies begin to pull away from side of pan (do not overbake). Cool and cut into squares.

Word of the Week: Healthy

You may have heard it said about someone, "She's the picture of health." But what does that mean?

Both the words health and healing have at their root the idea of wholeness. Perhaps at times you've been the picture of health, fit and feeling great, while other times you struggled through an illness or injury to return to a place of healing. You might see two apparently healthy women at church; one may be enjoying her health due to a proactive lifestyle of eating right and exercising, while the other may be grateful for her health due to restoration and healing.

I think as Christians, we also can experience both types of health. There's the healthy kind of Christian living that evolves as we practice spiritual disciplines such as scripture reading, prayer and community. As we seek to integrate all our parts - emotional, spiritual, physical and mental - we grow into the whole person God intends us to become. But at times in our spiritual lives, the health we enjoy is a result of God restoring a broken relationship, healing past hurts or freeing us from some besetting sin.

Wholeness. It's a beautiful thing. And it's ours in Christ, no matter how we come by it.

Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind,
had settled on us as the focus of his love,
to be made whole and holy by his love. Ephesians 1:4 (MSG)

The Middle Years

I thought about titling this post "A Middle-aged Woman." After all, I'll turn forty-three next month. And yet, I hardly feel middle-aged. I feel like I'm just beginning, in so many ways. Even though I am coming to accept the reality that at least half of my life is probably behind me, I am confident that "the best is yet to come." The following prayer spoke to my heart this morning and I wanted to share it here:

A Prayer in 'The Middle Years' of Opportunity

Lord, help me now to unclutter my life,
to organize myself in the direction of simplicity.
Lord, teach me to listen to my heart;
teach me to welcome change, instead of fearing it.
Lord, I give You these stirrings inside me,
I give you my discontent,
I give you my restlessness,
I give you my doubt,
I give you my despair,
I give you all the longings I hold inside.
Help me to listen to these signs of change, of growth;
to listen seriously and follow where they lead
through the breathtaking empty space of an open door.

from A Celtic Daily Prayer