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.
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24 users responded in this post
Hahaha – live on the wild side indeed! And tastebuds really are funny things, aren’t they? Glad you liked them!
Pineapple cancels out butter and chocolate? Then I obviously need to keep some in my house at all times, considering the amount of butter I’ve been going through lately. =)
Beautiful! I didn’t get the thick crust either, and I couldn’t taste the cinnamon, or the rum. 🙁 But I made up for that by putting some in the whipped cream.
June is a big month for losses in my family too. Baking has always helped me through it a little!
Great looking brownies! Love the pineapple tip! ha!
Mmm, nice-looking brownies!
Love the idea to pair with pineapple!
Beautiful brownies and a beautiful post. We wish you the best, Bri!
Good to know about the pineapple canceling out the butter anda chocolate! I’m glad you liked the recipe, I thought it was delish. Beautiful photos and best wishes for your friend and her family.
Very delicious looking brownies.
Ulrike from Küchenlatein
Wow. You’re an amazing friend to write/help about Bri’s breast cancer fight. I will be thinking good healing thoughts for her.
Clara @ I?food4thought
ps. Nice brownies! I am intrigued by the pineapple now…
Nice brownies. What a sad story.
ooh i have some pineapple in the fridge right now…i had no idea it cancelled out bad stuff! i love your little round brownie…and i couldn’t taste the cinnamon either. taste buds indeed.
I never knew that about pineapple. What a lovely theory. 🙂
Your brownies look delicious! Great job!
Thanks for the information on how to help Bri! Good support systems can make all the difference.
i did not know that pineapple had such powers, but know that i do, i plan to exploit them! that’s a beautiful post…let’s hope everyone going thru something like this has friends like you.
Pineapple and chocolate, sounds like something Pierre Herme would come up with.
Looks good.
You’re doing a great thing putting this message out in the blogosphere, bravo!
Your brownies look delicous, btw.
What a wonderful thing you are doing. Your friend is truly blessed to have someone like you who cares for her. Lovely pictures.
It is truly a wonderful thing you are doing! I certainly will be making a donation. It will be 5 years tomorrow that I lost my best friend of 37 years to breast cancer.
Your brownies look so good. Hmm…I didn’t know about the powers of pineapple.
Pineapples is an intriguing idea. Great post and I have been noodling about Click for Bri. Thanks for encouraging more people and making them aware of this fellow food blogger.
Shari@Whisk: a food blog
my brownies had a much thicker crust – i think i over beat the eggs 🙁
your brownies look great – i’m intrigued by the idea of pineapple 🙂
and my heart goes out to bri. i haven’t ever come across her blog, but reading about what she is going through just breaks my heart. but what amazes me is how wonderful and caring the food blogging community is – she is already over 50% towards reaching that goal! thanks for putting the word out for her
I also lost my father to lung cancer, and as I read Bri’s saga, caught up on Jen’s journey and made my brownies for this week’s challenge I remembered how even at his sickest, brownies fresh from the oven brought a smile to my father’s face. Brownies DO make life a little better.