Tuesdays with Dorie. Have Some Brownies, and Help Out a Fellow Blogger.

Life hands all of us some big challenges, and just when I’m feeling sorry for myself, something snaps me out of it. Brownies help. This past weekend, it was the news that fellow blogger Briana Brownlow’s breast cancer has returned. She is 30.

Today, June 3, is the 10th anniversary of my father’s death to lung cancer. On July 11th, it will be 4 years since I lost my mom to endometrial cancer. I think about them and miss them both every day.

Please consider helping Bri in her battle. For a moving post on the effects of this disease on a patient and her family, please read food blogger Jen Yu’s (of Use Real Butter) post, here. There will be information on how to help Bri at the bottom of this post.

Now, after all that, shall we talk about brownies? This week’s selection was French Chocolate Brownies, courtesy of Di of Di’s Kitchen Notebook. Brownies, like chocolate, I think, are proof that there is a benign force in the universe. They just make you feel good. I approached these with trepidation, because they have both raisins and cinnamon. Now, raisins are not my favorite, and cinnamon is not something I put in my brownies. But there are 12 brownie recipes in Baking: From My Home to Yours, so I thought, go for it! Live on the wild side! FOLLOW THE RECIPE AND PUT RAISINS AND CINNAMON IN YOUR BROWNIES!

So, I did. And it was good. I skipped the water and soaked the raisins in 30 year old rum, then flamed them. I could not taste the rum, but Master Chow could. I could taste the cinnamon, and it was a surprise – it provided a warm depth of flavor that brownies don’t normally have. But Master Chow couldn’t taste the cinnamon. Tastebuds are interesting things, indeed. Some people mentioned getting a thick crust, but that didn’t happen with mine.

Straight out of the oven, the brownies were extremely moist and bordered on fudgy, but were also cake-like. Overnight, they “fudged up,” and the flavors melded. I served them with a dollop of whipped cream and some pineapple, because I like pineapple and because it cancels out all the butter and chocolate. Didn’t you know that? Check out the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll for more!

INFORMATION ON HOW TO HELP BRIANA BROWNLOW, via Jugalbandi:

This is an appeal on behalf of a group of food bloggers who are friends of Briana Brownlow @ Figs With Bri.

Bri was diagnosed with breast cancer two and half years ago. A mastectomy, chemotherapy and two years of relatively good health later, the cancer is back. It has metastasized to other parts of her body. At the age of 15, Bri lost her 41-year old mother to the disease. Now, she’s waging her own war against breast cancer. More about it here.

She is going through intensive chemo and other treatments and needs to focus single-mindedly on healing and finding what treatment works best for her. Her health insurance, unfortunately, does not cover holistic alternatives which she would like to try. Bri and her husband Marc have enough on their plates right now in addition to worrying about her medical bills.

The team organising the JUNE edition of CLICK at Jugalbandi has organised a fundraiser to help Bri and her family meet her out-of-pocket medical costs for ONE YEAR.

CLICK is a monthly theme-based photography contest hosted by Jugalbandi. This month’s theme is: YELLOW for Bri.

Yellow is the colour of hope. Through the work of the LiveStrong Foundation, it has also come to signify the fight against cancer.

The entries can be viewed HERE. The deadline for entries is June 30, 2008. The fundraiser will extend until July 15, 2008.

The target amount is 12,000 U.S. dollars. We appeal to our fellow bloggers and readers to help us achieve this. Bri deserves a chance to explore all options, even if her insurance company thinks otherwise. TO DONATE, CLICK here.

There’s a raffle with exciting prizes on offer. After viewing the list, you may make your donation HERE or at the Chip-In button on any participating site.

Your donation can be made securely through credit card or Pay Pal and goes directly to Bri’s account.

This month’s photo contest also has some prizes. Details HERE.

You can support this campaign by donating to the fundraiser, by participating in CLICK: the photo event, and by publicizing this campaign.