It's time to talk about birthdays.  If you've been reading any of the drivel that I manage to churn out two or three times a week then you'll know by now that birthdays are important for me.  I can go without any other gift giving holiday without blinking... but not the birthday.  I've always wondered at people who don't celebrate, don't feel like it's a big deal, don't care or (horror of horrors) simply forget.  I've wondered if it's age, if it's nature, if it's nurture (you know I had to go there).  I never took long to wonder about it before moving on to think some more about my own birthday.  Then a funny thing happened...
Last year was really not a great year for us.  Finances were down... way down.  This is not irregular in a house with two musicians.  Might be a little more irregular in a house with two lawyers, right?  Either way, we were kinda crunched.  My last birthday I didn't really have the spirit in me to do anything big. Too much other stuff going on, too tired, too broke and quite frankly, I just didn't need anything.  Then our anniversary rolled around and we didn't remember until we got a card in the mail from my Mom.  It just totally passed us by.  I think that was the point when I realized that I had made a significant paradigm shift around presents and stuff.
So when this birthday came around (almost a month ago - I'm sorry) I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  I didn't want any big jewellery or bags or clothes or shoes or furniture or... I wanted chocolate.  That's all I asked for.  Chocolate.


Chocolate from this place.  I love it but I never get there.  It's not far but just far enough for me not to get there as much as I would like.  So D got me chocolate.  Flourless chocolate cake, chocolate truffles, chocolate with red pepper and salt, old fashioned chocolate and two more bars of amazing, gorgeous dark chocolate.  I'm pretty sure that they had to significantly restock after D left the place.  I was thrilled and determined to do something amazing with some of that chocolate.


Well, here it is... something amazing.  Cookies.  They're gorgeous and I'm happy.  I feel like I've celebrated my birthday all over again.  Rich goes without saying but that's ok because you don't want to eat a lot of these.  You want to savour them lovingly.  I made them with dark chocolate chunks because, well it's my party and I'm into simplicity at the moment.   You can use whatever you would like on the inside of yours.  So long as the quality is top notch 'cause that will make a huge difference with these.


Chocolate Brownie Drops adapted from Alice Mendrich in 'Hello' Magazine
makes about 2 doz med/small cookies

4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into chunks
8 oz dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids), chopped
1/3 + 1 tbsp unbleached all purpose flour
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 cup (less 2 tbsp) sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 lg eggs
3/4 cup dark, milk or white chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350˚ F - make sure that your racks are place in the top and bottom thirds of the oven.
Line a cookie sheet or two with parchment or a silicon liner.
Get a small amount of water barely simmering in a pot that is wide enough to have a bowl set over it.  In a heat proof bowl add the butter and 8 oz of dark chocolate together.  Stir until it's just melted and warm.
Whisk together the flour and baking and set aside.
Once the chocolate/butter is ready whisk in the sugar, salt and vanilla.  Add in the eggs and whisk until completely mixed.  Add the flour and continue stirring (wooden spoon is recommended here) until the batter starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl and is glossy smooth.  Making sure that the batter is completely cooled stir in the last of the chocolate (if the batter is warm then... yeah, it will melt).
Spoon by tbsp's onto the prepared cookie sheet leaving some room to expand between the cookie mounds.
Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until the surface has cracked but it still has some give when you press it gently.
Place on cooling racks and store in air tight containers.