The writing prompt I chose to follow was ‘Write a story in the form of a recipe, menu, grocery list, or product description.’ I hope you enjoy!
Grandma’s Brownies: recipe requested by Linda
This blog is just growing bigger and bigger day by day! And I couldn’t be more thankful for the support. We all know how it is- finding recipe cards and notebooks filled with the recipes of our ancestors, complete with pictures of decadent sweets or mouthwatering appetizers…only to scan the ingredients list and realize how outdated these recipes are. I, and I imagine you as well, have tossed out some truly wonderful-looking recipes. But no longer! I’ve found alternatives that make food just as delicious as the pictures I’ve seen. Please, please feel free to send in recipes of your past, and I will do my best to provide delicious substitutions so we too may enjoy our ancestor’s favorites!
This recipe was sent in by Linda, one of my largest fans. She’s been reading this blog since day 1 and has told me that my substitutions truly work! And so, I was just thrilled when she sent me this recipe, pleading for some substitutions. I was so proud and so excited to get to work that I finished this in almost 2 hours haha! Maybe this is my true calling :D. Anyways, onto the recipe. Thank you, Linda!
As always, the original recipe is written first, followed by my notes and a complete list of substitutions at the end. Hugs and kisses to all of you!
Ingredients:
- ½ cup butter (‘butter’ once came from a creature known as cows…now extinct. use stream water mixed with tree bark)
- 1 cup sugar (coarse dirt works best as a substitute)
- 2 eggs (came from small vicious beasts known as chickens…use geodes- only the insides)
- cocoa powder (used to be a human delicacy. substitute with red soil)
- ½ cup flour (flour is rare if you didn’t manage to buy the last stocks of wheat. if unavailable, i’ve found that the outside of geodes, when ground up, have a similar texture)
- ¼ teaspoon salt (bottled water shall do, i’ve discovered that it’s salty enough to mimic the flavor)
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
Directions:
- preheat the oven to 350 degrees. grease a cooking pan. (in place of grease, one may easily use tap water)
- melt the butter, then stir in the sugar and eggs. beat in cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder. batter should be thick and slightly lumpy. (following all substitutions, batter may be thinner and lumpier. rest assured, you’re doing it right)
- bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. enjoy!
Full Substitution List:
- substitute butter for stream water and tree bark
- substitute sugar for coarse dirt
- substitute eggs for geode guts
- substitute cocoa powder for red soil
- substitute flour for ground up geode outsides
- substitute salt for bottled water
With the limited ingredients available, the brownie may come out a bit differently than the attached pictures. Of course, this is to be expected. Many of the products found in our grandparents’ time have been eradicated, due to the diseases and wars of the past- I’m sure we’ve all learnt about them in history class- haha! Yet, with trial and error, I’ve found that these substitutions truly carry that same earthy, rich flavor through without the need for any synthetic ‘chocolate’ or ‘sugar’. Please leave any pictures below and any feedback! And if you have a recipe of your own that you’d like to see modified, just shoot me a message :).