It's about that time again!

It's falling leaves weather...so we are all desperately awaiting that one last warm day. Me, so that I can pack in the garden, and the kids so that they can rake leaves and roll in them. Part of the wonder of the season is that I have a million green tomatoes who now have hardly a chance to turn red on the vine, so I take advantage and make my favorite....


Then, of course, I can't stop there. The following is a random recipe from the Internet. I ran out of Cocoa (because Laurel has been baking up a storm lately) but I did have a Lavender Chocolate bar, so I chopped it up and used it to fill out the chocolate requirement. I ended up having about 1/4 c of cocoa powder. (Must bake while the Beatles play in the background, otherwise the brownies will sour.) The lavender is a very subtle flavor, a just detectable earthy addition. I tasted some stray crumbs, and they are so good I'm having a hard time waiting for Jay to get home from work!

Ingredients

• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cold large eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

• Special equipment: An 8-inch square baking pan

Preparation

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the bottom and sides of the baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot.

Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula. Stir in the nuts, if using. Spread evenly in the lined pan.

Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.

Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.