Does anyone around you, inspire less than the best in you? Make you doubt your self worth? Make you believe you’re not smart and beautiful inside and out? Perhaps a high school coach told you at 117 pounds you should lose 5 pounds, afflicting a life long battle with your self image. Or maybe an old flame once said you looked plain (and yes we blonde haired, blue eyed mennonites are far from exotic… but plain?). It could be that you just haven’t received a heart felt compliment in a very long while.

So here’s to you…

The broad shouldered, fat kneed, monkey armed, small breasted, wide hipped, saggy assed….

Short legged, knock kneed, pigeon toed, stocky or skinny, long waisted, high foreheaded, and yes… even the perfectly proportioned.

Remember blisters heal, muscles eventually recover, and friendships last a lifetime. High heels definitely have their place, but runners are more important. If you can run a mile you can run a marathon. Your sports bra needs replacing and only one person wins. Everyone else should have a kick ass time.

May you live long and enjoy dessert. You can never have enough chocolate or red wine. Never stop laughing or reading. Love and breathe deeply. Travel. Sing loudly and always dance.

Be kind to others. Be good yourself. Be true to yourself.

Be your true beautiful self.

Double Chocolate Stout Brownies

• 1 C all purpose flour
• 2/3 C good quality cocoa powder
• 1 Tbsp BLACK cocoa powder (if you don’t have any, just omit)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
• 3/4 C chocolate chips ( I used 1/4 C white chocolate and 1/2 C dark chocolate. I would suggest NOT using milk chocolate.)
• 1 rounded tsp instant espresso powder
• 4 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 C white sugar
• 1 1/4 C Double Chocolate Stout Beer (I’m sure and Guinness will do)

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 9″x13″ baking pan with parchment paper. Make sure two of the sides are sticking out over the pan so you can easily remove your brownies later.
• Mix together the flour, cocoa powders and salt.
• Melt the butter, bittersweet chocolate, chocolate chips and espresso powder over very low heat, stirring constantly. Use a double boiler if you have one. Remove from the heat.
• In another bowl (Sorry for the amount of dishes!), beet the eggs and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, at least 3 minutes. Add in the melted chocolate mixture and beat until combined.
• Fold in the flour mixture. Once it’s just combined, whisk in the stout beer, by hand. Your batter might seem a bit runny for a brownie but don’t worry. It bakes up perfectly.
• Pour into your parchment lined pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. When inserting a toothpick it should still have a few crumbs when removed from the brownies. If it doesn’t – you’ve overbaked your brownies and they won’t be fudgy; they will be more like cake. It’s best to underbake these slightly so they are more moist.
• Let the brownies cool to room temperature on a wire cooling rack then lift out of the pan.

Notes:

• If you like beer, you’ll be happy to know this recipe does not call for an entire bottle. Enjoy the remainder while your brownies bake up! Make sure not to include the foam in your measurement of 1-1/4 cups. Either spoon off the foam or let the beer rest until the foam subsides.
• And always remember: you can never have to much chocolate!