Diabetes, I has it.

Well this was not fun, I have known that I was pre-diabetic for 5 years or so. I have been taking metformin and having a fasting lab test every 3 months or so for the past few years. This morning I had a Dr's appointment and my ac1 level (glycated hemoglobin test, this shows the average blood sugar over the past 3 months) was over 6; this was not good. This was the highest it has ever been. The problem is that I am on meds and this should be lower.

So I am on a different med, need to excise more, have to check my blood sugar at least 3 times a day and need to change what I eat. Foods high in carbs are not a good idea. Only in very small amounts will they be allowed. Well Tuesday's with Dorie is out, so in Daring Bakers. I need to get this under control. I do not want to have to take insulin. It does not help that there is diabetes on both sides of my family.

Taste from Home Goodie Swap

This was hosted by Megan of Meganscooking and April of Abbysweets. This was fun on both sides. I got to look around for local items that you will most likely not going to find many other places and I got a really cool box of stuff from Sleeping Bear in the Kitchen.

It took a while to find everything in the box. There is some many things to go Wow about. John sent Ice Wine, I am taking it on a quilt retreat that I am going to next month. Mustard from a microbrewery, Mrs Jones all purpose sauce, a very good conserve ( my brother and I have eaten half of it already), a vinaigrette, bistro sauce, pumpkin butter (I love pumpkin butter.), wine jelly that he made and some candy from his store. I am told that the mint fudge that John made was fabulous. It did not last more than 2 days. Thank you Megan and April for hosting this event and a large thanks to John for send this great box.

Tuesday With Dorie: Black and White Banana Loaf

This week Ashlee of A Year in the Kitchen picked Black and White Banana Loaf. I liked the concept of a marbled banana bread but this will not become my banana bread recipe. Problems is not the right work, I have a few complaints:

How much banana is 1 and a half bananas? (I tend to switch out the bananas with pumpkin or apple depending on who I make it for. At work there are a few people that are allergic to bananas.)

Do we really need that much butter? It came out very most but the top was very brown.

How full should I have filled the loaf pans? I was worried about spill over and did not fill them as much as I could have.

I doubled the recipe, I was using frozen bananas and it was easier to use 3 than 1 1/2. This made 2 loafs and 7 muffins. It was fun playing with the marbling. I even made one of the muffins half and half. I think that I use this technique next time I make banana bread, just with one of my other recipes.

No Daring Baking this month

I just did not have the time. I was out of town for a few weeks and then I had some very busy on call weeks.

Click here for the Daring Bakers blogroll to see how the other the other cakes came out.

Tuesday with Dorie, Summer Fruit Galette

Thank you Laurie of quirky cupcake for setting up Tuesday with Dorie. This has been fun and I have made many delicious things that I have never made before. Anyway this weeks recipe I chose this recipe because I like fruit deserts, this is the height of fruit season and this recipe did not have a picture. I went to the Farmers market a few blocks away and got some Apricots. For color I added some blueberries for color. This was an easy recipe, at the rate things are going I will be keeping extra pie crust in the freezer for this. Just defrost and add what fruit you have on hand.

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Just to note chilled pie crust is not a suggestion, you need to have it cold or a cold area to work with. Otherwise it gets very soft and is hard to move to the cooking service. That is what happened to the large one I made. Leaking and tearing happened, Ohh but is tasted very good and did not last the night. My quilt group ate it all. This was not a dessert for looks but the taste more than makes up for it.

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I added the rest of the custard mixture into some fruit and cooked it right beside the galette. It was good. When cooking the custard with fruit the fruit should be one that is not to juicy. I did this with berries, a little liquidy, and peaches, not bad. Depending on the fruit extra sugar maybe a good idea.

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Dorie Greenspan's Summer Fruit Galette
from Baking From My Home to Yours

Good For Almost Everything Pie Dough for a single crust, chilled
2-3 tablespoons jam or marmalade
about 2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs
Fresh summer fruit: about 10 apricots, 8-10 nectarines, 8 ripe but firm peaches, 8-10 firm plums or 2 stalks rhubarb
Decorating (coarse) or granulated sugar, for dusting

For the Custard
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Getting Ready
Center rack in the oven and preheat to oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment (see below) or a silicone mat.
To make it easier to move the pie dough onto the baking sheet, roll the dough between sheets of parchment paper ( in which case, you can use one of the rolling sheets to line the baking sheet) or wax paper or plastic wrap. Alternatively work on a well-floured surface, taking care to keep the dough moving by turning it and flouring the surface often.
Roll the dough into a large 1/8 inch thick circle. Using a pastry wheel or a paring knife, time the dough to a 13 inch diameter. Using a cake pan or a pot lid as a template and the tip of a bunt kitchen knife as a marker, lightly trace a 9 inch circle in the center of the dough- this is the area for the filling.
With the back of a spoon or a small offset spatula, spread some of the jam over the circle- how much will depend of the jam flavor you want. Sprinkle over the crumbs, adding a little more than 2 tablespoons if you think you’ve got particularly juicy fruit. Put a piece of plastic wrap or wax paper over the dough and refrigerate it while you prepare the fruit.
Wipe the apricots, nectarines or plums clean with a damp towel and cut in half; discard the pits. Blanch peaches for 10 seconds in a pot of boiling water, transfer them to a bowl of ice water to cool, then slip off the skins. Halve and pit the peaches or peel rhubarb to remove the strings, and cut into 1 to 2 inch pieces.
Arrange the fruit on the dough, cut side down if using stone fruits, then gently lift the unfilled border of dough up and onto the filling. As you lift the dough and place it on the filling, it will pleat. If you’re not in a rush, freeze the galette for 15 minutes to give the crust a rest.
Brush the dough very lightly with a little water, then sprinkle it with a teaspoon or two of sugar. Bake galette for 25 minutes, or until the crust is brown and the fruit is soft.

Meanwhile, make the custard
Whisk together the melted butter, sugar, egg and vanilla in a bowl; set aside until needed.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven (leave the oven on), and carefully pour the custard around the fruit. Depending one how much juice has accumulated and how much space you have between the fruit, you may not be able to pour all the custard into the galette, but even 2 tablespoons can give the right effect. Pour in as much custard as you can, then carefully return the pan to the oven.
Bake for another 12 to 15 minutes, or until the custard is set- it shouldn’t jiggle when you gently shake the pan. Cool the galette on the baking sheet on a rack for 10 minutes.
Very carefully slide a small baking sheet or cake lifter under the galette and slip the galette onto a rack to cool. The galette can be served when it is just warm or- my preference- when it has reached room temperature. Dust with confectioners; sugar just before serving.

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Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough

For a 9 inch Single Crust

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 sticks very cold unsalted butter, cut into tbsp size pieces

2 1/2 tablespoons very cold vegetable shortening, cut into 2 pieces

About 1/4 cup ice water

Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and pulse only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don’t overdo the mixing- what you’re aiming for is to have some pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley. Pulsing the machine on and off, gradually add about 6 tbsps of the water- add a little water and pulse once, add some more water, pulse again and keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour. If, after a dozen or so pulses, the dough doesn’t look evenly moistened or form soft curds, pulse in as much of the remaining water as necessary, or even a few drops more, to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. Big pieces of butter are fine. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a work surface. Shape the dough into a disk and wrap it. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour before rolling (if your ingredients were very cold and you worked quickly, though, you might be able to roll the dough immediately: the dough should be as cold as if it had just come out of the fridge).

Tuesday With Dorie - Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler

This week on my adventures with Dorie Amanda from Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake selected Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler. In Many ways this was an interesting cobbler recipe. It is like most cobblers but the mix is different. I would not thought of Cherry and Rhubarb together and putting ginger in the topping would have never occurred to me. I only wish that she had cups of fruit listed instead of pounds. I do not have a kitchen scale so I had to guess on how much fruit to use. I have a feeling that I was off.

This cherry pitter that I got a few years ago at Goodwill was a life saver. It only took 10 minutes to pit 3 cups of cherries. I only use it maybe once a year but for only $2 it was a good buy. Rhubarb season is over for now here but I had dehydrated some when they where in season. I rehydrated around a cups worth.

The cobbler came out a little on the tart side. I like it that way but if I was making it for a potluck I think that I would add just a little more sugar and decease the amount of ginger in the topping. The fruit to topping was a little to much on the topping side. It needed more fruit. I made the biscuits as drop biscuits so after it was all together I just dropped the biscuits onto the fruit by the spoonful. I think that I will use this topping for the next cobbler that I make except I might use cinnamon instead of ginger or maybe cardamon.

For more cherry cobbler goodness visit Tuesday With Dorie. Next week I got to chose and I picked the Summer Fruit Galette on pages 366 - 367. So I will see you then.

Tuesdays with Dorie, Mint Chocolate Pudding non dairy

This week Melissa from Its Melissas Kitchen has picked Chocolate Pudding. Well this was the first pudding that I have ever made from scratch. I have always used instant. It was a good pudding. It does need to set in the fridge for the full 4 hours though. I will most likely make this again but in the winter. It was hot to make and made my kitchen even hotter. The skin forms very fast.

Changes made to recipe : I used vanilla soy milk instead of milk, earth balance instead of butter and a non dairy chocolate. When you heat up the milk I added 20 crushed mint leaves and then strained them out when you add the milk to the egg mixture. It gave the pudding a mild mint flavor.

They soy substitutes worked well, you could not tell the difference between this and a dairy version. What is very important though is to use good chocolate. I used Safeway's Organic chocolate chips. It is the to easiest non dairy chocolate to find and they taste pretty good.

For more takes on chocolate pudding check out Tuesday's with Dorie. Some people made it into Ice Cream and there were also some chocolate pies happening.

Tuesdays with Dorie, Double Crusted Blueberry Pie

This week on Tuesdays with Dorie Amy of South in Your Mouth selected Double Crusted Blueberry Pie. This was an interesting recipe because I was debating on whether or not to make this. Blueberries are expensive here and I do not care for blueberry pie. What made me try it was the pie crust, I have not made many and this one was different from the ones I have made in the past. The crust came out flaky and buttery. I liked it. I did have some trouble rolling out the crust. I think that I may have added just a little to much water, it kept sticking to everything. That and it was warm.

I made three small hand pies. for the filling I used rhubarb, I have lots right now, some frozen blueberries and a little bit of sugar. Instead of bread crumbs I used some gram crackers. It soaked up the juice nicely.

For more pies check out Tuesdays with Dorie, some people went and did the coolest things with pie.

Tuesdays with Dorie, Apple Cheddar Scones

Thank you Karina of The Floured Apron, she chose Apple Cheddar Scones for the recipe this week. It came out well and I got to use my scone pan for the first time. I did the butter part the same way I do biscuits. Melt the butter and then add in the other wet ingredients cold. This makes the butter clump up a little bit. Then you add in the dry stuff and plop into the pan and cook as the recipe says. The cheese flavor was very faint put I liked the texture of the apples.

For more scone just visit Tuesdays with Dorie.

Bookmarked recipe Egg Salad with Dill

This week for my Bookmarked recipe is a new one but was very good. Wow, I found an egg salad recipe that I like. Thank you Pages, Pucks and Pantry. I have been trying for a few years. Now I just need a pesto recipe I like. The only thing that I changed was to use less mustard and cut out the onions. This recipe is going into my recipe book.

Tuesday with dorie will be a little late

I went to make it this morning and the only cheese that I had was very moldy. So this will happen after work today.

Bookmarked reicpe for the week- Strawberry Lemonade Bars

This week I made Strawberry Lemonade Bars, these are from Baking Bites. This was a very easy fast recipe. I love my food processor. It look longer to cook than anything else. I did make one change. I used earth balance instead of butter. I was taking it to knitting and there are some people there who can not have milk products.

Daring Bakers June - Danish Pastery

This month Kelly of Sass and Veracity and Ben of What’s Cooking’ chose this Danish Braid. I really like the recipe and look forward to making it again. For more versions of this recipe visit the Daring Baker’s blog roll, here.

This is a recipe that needs rest time so that needs to be planed for. I forgot the 5 hour rest time so this was a little late. I used a peach rhubarb mix for the filling. It came out great. I forgot how nice an egg wash looks. Doing the bit with the butter makes me want to try making croissants. It is close to the same process. I might make this dough every once in a while and keep in the freezer.

DANISH DOUGH


Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough





Ingredients


For the dough (Detrempe)


1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast


1/2 cup whole milk


1/3 cup sugar


Zest of 1 orange, finely grated


3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom


1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract


1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped


2 large eggs, chilled


1/4 cup fresh orange juice


3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour


1 teaspoon salt





For the butter block (Beurrage)


1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter


1/4 cup all-purpose flour





DOUGH


Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.





BUTTER BLOCK


1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.


2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.


3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.





APPLE FILLING


Makes enough for two braids





Ingredients


4 Fuji or other apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch pieces


1/2 cup sugar


1 tsp. ground cinnamon


1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped


1/4 cup fresh lemon juice


4 tablespoons unsalted butter


Toss all ingredients except butter in a large bowl. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat until slightly nutty in color, about 6 - 8 minutes. Then add the apple mixture and sauté until apples are softened and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. If you’ve chosen Fujis, the apples will be caramelized, but have still retained their shape. Pour the cooked apples onto a baking sheet to cool completely before forming the braid. (If making ahead, cool to room temperature, seal, and refrigerate.) They will cool faster when spread in a thin layer over the surface of the sheet. After they have cooled, the filling can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Left over filling can be used as an ice cream topping, for muffins, cheesecake, or other pastries.





DANISH BRAID


Makes enough for 2 large braids


Ingredients


1 recipe Danish Dough (see above)


2 cups apple filling, jam, or preserves (I used Peach with a little rhubarb)


(optional)Cream Cheese on the bottom (From another Danish recipe in the same book)- combine ¾ lb. cream cheese, ¾ cup sugar, 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla and beat together until creamy and smooth.


For the egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk1.





Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.


2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.


3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.





Egg Wash


Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.





Proofing and Baking


1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.


2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.


3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

Tuesday with Dorie - Mixed Berry Cobbler

Beth of Our Sweet Life picked Mixed Berry Cobbler for the recipe this week. This was the first cobbler that I have ever made, for this kind of desert I normally make crisps. They go together faster. I made this is some small pot pie tins, this way I can freeze a few to eat later. They make a good size single serving.

Changes: I used 1/4 cup sugar instead of the 3 tablespoons and added in some powered vanilla in the topping. The fruit was some frozen blueberries, a few fresh strawberries and some rhubarb. The fruit layer was only fruit, I forgot to add anything else to it. I was so worried at getting the top right that I forgot until I took it out of the oven. The fruit was sweet enough that it did not need anything.

It was good with some ice cream. The topping absorbed the juice from the fruit fairly well. I am not sure if I will make this again, the crisp is much faster and I like the way the oatmeal is absorbed.

For more versions of this visit Tuesdays with Dorie.

First CSA Box for the year

I got my First CSA Box for the year yesterday. I went with Grant Family Farms, they are all organic and I was able to get an egg share. I have a small share but there was a lot of stuff in it.

4 heads of lettuce, all different kinds
a large bunch of spinach
some garlic scapes, I love garlic scapes, they have a short season here so I was glad to see them
4 radishes, they were not the spicy kind which I liked
celery
onion
3 rhubarb stocks
1 large bunch of Cilantro, I am thinking of making some Cilantro pesto
and a dozen eggs

Bookedmarked recipe - Strawberry Pie

This weeks Bookmarked recipe was an easy choice.

I had some extra strawberries and heavy cream so I made A Year From Oak Cottage's Triple Strawberry Cream Pie. Oh my gosh this was so good and took very little time to make. Instead of cooking the strawberries and then waiting I used some strawberry jam I had on hand. It took only 15 minutes to make. It was gone in just about the same time.

This week on Tuesday with Dorie it is the Peppermint Cream Puff Ring

Caroline of A Consuming Passion has chosen…Peppermint Cream Puff Ring. This is a pâte à choux type of pastry. Because of a Good Eats show that I saw a few years ago I had no trouble making the cream puffs. I put some cocoa powder into the dough trying for a chocolate base. It did not really have a chocolate taste. I made smaller puffs instead of the large ring because I took it to NICU and it is just easier for people to take one small puff than cut a piece.

I used Apple mint that I had growing in my front yard as the mint. It gave the cream a slight green tint. Apple mint is just one of the many kinds of mint out there. It grows better than some of the others here. The candy and chocolate mint did not come back this year.
I forgot to put in the cream fraiche. I looked every where for it and finally found some and then I forget to put it in, oh well. I finally located some cultured sour cream at the King Soopers, a big box grocery. The smaller fancy groceries did not have it. I found that funny. At least it did not cost much. I wonder how it would taste on tacos.

I kept every thing separate until the next day. I took them to work and then put them together. The chocolate did not quite come out the way I wanted it to but it tasted good. I melted semi-dark chocolate, some sugar and just a little water in the microwave. It just was not quite as shinny and smooth as I would have liked.

Tuesday with Dorie : La Palette’s Strawberry Tart

This weeks recipe was chosen by Marie of A Year in Oak Cottage. She went seasonal with La Palette’s Strawberry Tart. This was a very easy recipe. I took some the extra dough that I had in the freezer to make 2 small tartlets. I used some of the jam I made last night for the base and just some strawberries. No sugar needed.

For more Tarty fun check out other Tuesday with Dorie members, some even used other kinds of fruit and tart shells.

Meme

I do not do these often so do not expect much.

What was I doing ten years ago?

I was in Community Collage in Spokane WA. I was in the Respiratory Therapist program, this was right before I figured out that I like working with the equipment more than the patients. The equipment does not tend to spit at you are need to be aspirated. Sometimes but not often. i worked at Boston Market at night and weekends.

What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:

Get allergy shot, I misted last weeks do to the wisdom teeth removal
go to the gym
fix up crock pot for tomorrow
make dinner list for the next week
make grocery list, today is food add day

5 Snacks I enjoy:
Any fresh fruit
pop corn
cucumbers
tomatoes
chocolate

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Travel first class
visit family more often
not worry about bills as much
buy more books

Places I have lived:
San Deigo, CA
Seattle, WA
Bothell, WA
Atsugi Base Japan
Spokane, WA
Colorado Springs, CO

Jobs I have had:

Mini Mart Cashier/Stocker on base
Concession stand worker at an Arena, it was fun the hear the concerts for free and know how the hockey team was doing. Calling home for a ride and waiting smelling the Hostess factory, it was really good if they had just made Ding Dongs, is one of the memories that I have.
Food Service worker at Crater Lake OR.
Preschool Teacher
Biomedical Equipment Tech



And I just do not feel like taging anyone, it has been a long day. I am on call this week.

Tuesdays with Dorie : French Chocolate Brownies

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe is French Chocolate Brownies chosen by Di at Di's Kitchen Notebook.

These at first taste were not something that I would make again but after a while the taste grows on you. I do not think that this will be my brownie recipe of choice. Even though I used a scant 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon you can taste it. Instead of rum raisins I put in some blueberries. I am not a fan of raisins and do not have any rum in the house although at the rate things are going I might need to get some. I did like how the blueberries tasted in the brownies. The brownies where quick to go together but they took over a hour to cook.

French Chocolate Brownies
- makes 16 brownies -Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours.

Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1/3 cup raisins, dark or golden

1 1/2 tablespoons water

1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 12 pieces

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil, place the pan on a baking sheet, and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon, if you're using it.

Put the raisins in a small saucepan with the water, bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until the water almost evaporates. Add the rum, let it warm for about 30 seconds, turn off the heat, stand back and ignite the rum. Allow the flames to die down, and set the raisins aside until needed.

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Slowly and gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring so that it melts. It's important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you've got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them—it's better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole. Set the chocolate aside for the moment.

Working with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Lower the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter, mixing only until it is incorporated—you'll have a thick, creamy batter. Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds—the dry ingredients won't be completely incorporated and that's fine. Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula, then fold in the raisins along with any liquid remaining in the pan.

Scrape the batter into the pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the brownies to cool to warm or room temperature.

Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. With a long-bladed knife, cut the brownies into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil.

Serving: The brownies are good just warm or at room temperature; they're even fine cold. I like these with a little something on top or alongside—good go-alongs are whipped crème fraiche or whipped cream, ice cream or chocolate sauce or even all three!

Storing: Wrapped well, these can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.