HOW SWEET IT IS......

MOUNDS BROWNIES

1 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup dark chocolate chunks
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
3/4 cup Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate & Cocoa
2/3 cup unsifted flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Stir 1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk into 1 cup of coconut in a small bowl. Combine thoroughly and set aside.
Coarsely chop up the chocolate chunks. I use Valrhona feves, which you can find at Whole Foods, but any high-quality dark chocolate will work.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a spoon, stir eggs with sugar and vanilla; add butter.
Now here's my crazy Kat trick: I save an empty Ghirardelli can to shake all the dry ingredients together because I find sifting to be a chore. So add all dry ingredients together, except for the chocolate chunks, and shake or sift, however you roll!
Stir dry ingredients into the egg mixture. Stir in chocolate chunks. Spread half the batter in a buttered 8-inch square pan.
As evenly as you can, spoon the coconut mixture over the bottom brownie batter layer. You can probably do a neater job of it than I did. Smooth the coconut layer out as evenly as possible.
Now, cover the coconut layer completely with the remaining brownie batter. Take your time. Bake for 35 minutes. Cool completely before cutting and enjoying.

These brownies are a celebration of sweetness on the tongue, and hugs for the soul.

This wonderful recipe that found me, and now belongs in my treasured recipe collection filed under joys to share.......

PEACE IS WHERE YOU FIND IT

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

- Wendell Berry

FRUITPIP SILVERWAND

Just call me Pip!
And I even wear a heather colored dress,  perfect........


My Fairy name is Fruitpip  Silverwand

She protects people from ghosts and demons.

She lives in stony places and tumbling wastes.
She can only be seen when the seer holds a four-leafed clover.
She wears a heather-colored dress and has shimmering translucent wings like a cicada.

Get your own fairy names from The Fairy Name Generator!

WILD GEESE

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting 

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

from Dream Work by Mary Oliver

published by Atlantic Monthly Press

© Mary Oliver

NEXT QUESTION

Next question: Within each of your groups, do you see commonalities?  

The common thread suggests nature offers me great comfort, the colors reflect my love of nature, colors of mountain heather, flowers and the changing colors of the earth as the sun blesses it each day.

All of my choices are inter related in a way I was not really conscious of,  until looking a little deeper into my answers.


I seek comfort,  tranquility, and a connection to the greater Spirit.  My answers reflect this journey.  I guess, it is not such random wander, as I had believed.  Though I still love the synchronicity of it all!

A GAME

Robin at Metanoia has invited her readers to play a multi-part game of some kind.  She has posted the first step, and when at least 10 people have responded, we get to find out the next step.  I have so appreciated Robin's depth, and so I trust her whimsy.  Wanna play?


Robin's game:

Take a minute and write down your responses to the

following.  No context ~ just whatever responses pop 

into your mind.  Be as general or specific as you 

want, using as few words as possible.

1. Five colors: Turquoise, purple, fuschia, yellow, 

orange.

2. Five cities:   Banff,  Jackson Hole,  Edinburgh, 

Dehli,  Katmandu,

3.  Five landscapes:   Mountains, canyons, forests, 

waterfalls, fields of flowers.

4.  Five interiors:    Cottages, conservatories, 

museums,inns, toy shops.

5. Five things you might wear:    Funky hats, 

funky boots, capes, chiffon scarves, 

handkerchief skirts,

When at least  ten people have responded, either in their comments or in their own blogs, I'll tell you the next step.  There are four steps in all.

MOONBOWS

Moonbows at Yosemite National Park..............magic