Mugging Brownies on a Sunday

Before I get yipping about home made microwave brownies, previews of a new movie coming out and eating lunch at a local grocery story, I want to give a shout out to the new next door neighbor dog....who is 20 years old.

That's right: a dog that's TWENTY years old.   How many is that in dog years??? According to several websites, 20 years in a dogs like translates to "only" 93 human years.  I thought it would be longer.  What do I know?

I've never known a 20 year old dog, so I was pretty skeptical.  I've heard the record is 26 years old, but I personally have never known a dog over the age of 17, so I couldn't even imagine what a 20 year old dog would look like. I figured it'd have to be blind, deaf and in a dog walker. Well Ol' Salty is 20 and looking mighty spry.  He even jumps up on the door when he wants to get in to the house.  And, I do mean jump.  The age of the dog has been confirmed by many a source, so I know it to be true.  It's a cocker spaniel, in case you are wondering.  I'll try and sneak a photo for the blog. 


Twenty!  Do you hear that Freckles?  You've got some potential mileage ahead of you. 


Enough about the dog. I want to talk about homemade microwave mug brownies.  I was dying for something chocolate yesterday and was too lazy to drag my sorry you-know-what out of the house.  As I had spent most of the day on Book de la Face (a great time killer for when I'm on call and can't do much of anything, anyways), I was already seated in front of the computer.  I typed in "microwave mug cake," as I lost my previous recipe (how lame is this: it is posted in one of blog postings, but I was too lazy to even try and find it).  When I went to one of the food sites, I ran into Microwave Mug Brownies.  Oh my!  I like brownies a whole lot more than I like cake, so I was all excited about this.  I perused the ingredients and was uber-glad to see we actually had all the simple things needed.  Didn't even need eggs, which is awesome because we don't have any eggs and I'm trying to avoid eggs (vegan-esque reasons, no other reason). The wife didn't look too thrilled about me making anything, but I assured her it looked really, really simple.  Besides, it didn't involve the oven and I promised to share with her.


This recipe happens to be from Food.com. The link is Microwave Chocolate Mug Brownie Recipe - Food.com - 349246 I cannot take any credit besides making my own batch and having huge success.  I profess my love for the person who invented this tasty tidbit. 

All you need is: one mug (needs to be 12 oz size or I guess bigger, just not smaller); 2 TB butter (melted); 2 TB water; 1/4 tsp vanilla; 4 TB granulated sugar (thankfully, the sugar box used those exact words because I wasn't too sure about the whole granulated thing); 2 TB cocoa powder; 4 TB flour.  As I thought the mix in the mug looked a teeny, weeny bit dry, I put a drop or two (and I do mean only a drop) of EVOO (do I sound like Rachel when I say it that way?).  You mix the butter, water and vanilla first (right in the mug--don't you dare be making dirty dishes) and then keep mixing in the dry ingredients in the order listed here.  Pop that mug into the microwave for 60 seconds (or like 10 seconds more if you have a wimpy microwave) and wa-la--Brownies!!!!!

Seriously!  Brownies in a mug.  Even the wife had to admit they were very, very good.  The blop of frozen yogurt next to it made it even better. I will make one tonight and then post a few photos. 

My suggestions for your mug brownies? (1) Do not overcook it, or you'll be eating rubber.  (2) Eat it right away or you'll be eating rubber later on.  (3) Eat ice cream along with it--oh my, takes it to a whole 'nother level.  (4) Put a Dove Dark Chocolate right in the middle immediately upon taking it out of the microwave and push it down into that brownie.  To.die.for.  I suppose you could nuke the mug brownie with the chocolate in it, but I didn't try that so I am not recommending it.  You try it and get back to me. (5) It's over 500 calories--and, that is without the ice cream--so, you might want to share (but, I did NOT want to share with anyone because that's how much I liked it).

Speaking of food, the wife and I have discovered a favorite new place to go out for lunch: the local grocery store.  (We are so lame!) Now, if you live near a Foods Whole store, you are not going to be surprised by this, as Foods Whole have all sorts of salad bars, sushi bars, even olive bars and they are designed to give you a place to get some wholesome food from a bar.  Around here, not so much.  We have to drive over an hour to get to a Foods Whole, which is pretty far to go to eat lunch in a grocery store. We've got nothing unless you count the local buffet places and those don't count for anything healthy. Imagine our surprise when we stopped in to grab a salad and found a mighty tasty place to grab a bite to eat.  Delish, vegetarian friendly, hot, quick, well-made.  We went there two days in a row, we liked it so much the first time. 

The only complaint I had was I didn't notice any desserts....but, that's why they invented mug brownies.  Who needs dessert when mug brownies can be found at home?

As for the movie, tonight the MTV music video awards will feature the first official clip from the upcoming movie "The Hunger Games."  (Hate to put the real title into my blog post, as I'm never sure I want people looking for a specific topic accidentally finding the blog and confusing them to the point they need therapy...but, this movie needs the real title included or you won't know what the hell I am talking about.)  Read the books, loved 'em, can't wait for the movie.  They are supposed to be books for "young adults," which means they are in the same genre as Harry Potter books.  Very dark story, but don't let that stop you.  Well, if you don't like the idea of teens murdering each other, you might want to think twice....but, the murders are part of a game and there is no way around them, so read at your own risk.  Well written,  I think.  I read each book twice and will probably read them again before movie comes out next spring. I can't imagine translating the books into a movie, but here's hoping they can capture at least most of the story in an acceptable manner.  Thanks to Argo Warrior Princess and Three Hawk for introducing me to Katniss...and, may the odds be ever in your favor.

Bet Peeta woulda made Katniss a microwave mug brownie once the games were over.....