Let's Start Again

My apologies for the blog silence for the past few weeks. You may be wondering... Did she forget about the blog? Did she give up? Did she lose her desire to write? No, no, and no. It was just a major life/family change that interrupted more than just my blogging. Thank you for your patience.

One thing you'll learn is that I love graphic design as much as photography, when I have the right tools. I become a bit obsessive about making things look "perfect". I am really lightening up on myself, but perfectionism seems to be hanging around and that isn't all bad. What it does do is force me to delay my next installment of chia information. You see, I'm crating a visual showing some of the benefits of eating chia. It isn't something that can be thrown together in a few minutes, but I hope you'll like it when I'm done.

In the meantime, let's talk chocolate! When it comes to chocolate, I'm on the dark side... the darker the better! However, as a diabetic, I need to watch my daily carb intake. Inventing recipes is one way to tailor "bad" foods into something somewhat healthier, but still tasty.

My well-loved and well-used book. When I ran the printshop at Oregon School for the Deaf,
I was able to add a comb binding to hold it together. 

Today I had a hankering for brownies. I love them dark, moist, and chewy, especially those little brownie bites baked in the small muffin tins. I pulled out the Better Homes and Gardens Cookies and Candies cookbook I've had since junior high (late 1960s - I baked so many Chocolate Chippers that I had the recipe memorized and could recite it when others asked for the recipe; friends and teachers loved when I practiced). Back to the brownies. I decided to make the Fudge Brownies and wondered how I could modify them.

My altered brownie bites. Quite yummy.

I'm going to post some comparisons first, then explain what I did to modify the brownie bites.

The altered recipe has the best numbers, with the original recipe doing nearly as well. My first conclusion is what I've always believed: home made is best. It is great to control what goes into what we eat. Now for my changes...

The recipe called for 1/2 cup of margarine. I use butter, but opted to just use 3 of the 8 tablespoons. I added a bit more fat though using 2 tablespoons of coconut oil. This doesn't save on total fat, but this reduces cholesterol in the batter. It gave a light coconut flavor and made the cake-like texture more tolerable for me because it reminded me of a Mounds bar. The recipe called for 1 cup of sugar. Yikes! I did use 1/2 cup of sugar, but supplemented with 2 tablespoons of Stevia powder. I was satisfied with the sweetness. Overall, they are good. I wish they were more fudgey. I haven't done research to see which ingredients will make a brownie more dense/moist, but I fear it may be that fat I cut out. I'll have to keep experimenting.

Salvia Columbariae

Ah, Chia. This seed seems to have risen to popularity in recent years and the health benefits can read like the old snake oil - cures anything. While not exactly true, the chia is an amazing seed. My introduction to the plant came in the early 1980's from the book Early Uses of California Plants by Edward K. Balls. The book appealed to my outdoorsy, Native American, and cooking sides. I was a fan of the Sierra Club and Euell Gibbons, the famous outdoors-man who introduced the masses to wild edibles. Foraging for food in nature. Sounded good to me.

Powerful tiny seeds of Salvia Columbariae

Until reading Balls' book the only thing I knew about chia were those “Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia Pet” commercials back in the day. Of course, I succumbed to its fascinating growing hair/fur. At least a Chia Pet was partly alive, not like the other popular item, a Pet Rock! We'll delve into Chia Pets and their history in an upcoming post.

Imagine my surprise when I read that chia seeds were not just for spreading on terra cotta figures. Californian (and other) Native Americans harvested the seeds of the Salvia Columbariae, a member of the mint family. Prepared various ways, they were not only delicious, but also deemeed to give strength and health. The Aztecs and Maya used them extensively. In fact, "chia" is the Mayan word for "strength". I just had to get some.

The name caught my attention. "Nature's Wild Grown."
However, these are not the same seeds I gathered in California.
Stay tuned to find out more about the different chia.

What a great excuse to head out into the dry valleys and grasslands out toward the desert. I took a paper grocery bag (that’s all we had back then, people) and drove on the side roads until I found the chia plants. It was the perfect time of year for harvest. I shook the plants in my bag and collected the seeds. I felt connected to those who had done this very thing for centuries.

Now all I needed was to figure out what to do with them. 

Technical Difficulties...

Sadly I have been battling technical difficulties for a while, but I think all will be well on Thursday, June 2, 2016..

Please stay tuned for upcoming posts on the excellence of salvia columbariae and hispanica, a prize-winning summer slaw, a tropical salsa and a delightful no-sugar-added chilly dessert. And of course, the backstories to these topics.

Thanks for your patience!

Deborah