3 cups almond flour (if substituting for regular flour, use 2 cups)

4oz butter (or one stick)

1 cup cocoa powder (The quality of your cocoa powder makes the difference in how tasty your brownies are. I haven’t found a cocoa powder as good as this one yet… https://amzn.to/3gYL6a9

3 whole eggs (2 if using regular flour. Almond flour needs an extra egg in the recipe to have the same consistency)

1 cup chocolate chips

1.5 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Pinch cayenne pepper

Equipment needed: A whisk, a spatula, mixing bowls, glass 8×8 pyrex pan, a metal pan if using stove melting method.

A look into America this week…

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As American as….

    I first must acknowledge that I despise the current format for recipes rewarded by google in food blogs, so I’ll leave this entry after the recipe for those interested in reading it. Gimme the damn recipe, not your story about it. Put it after the recipe. So I will, even if I get less views. Be the change you want to see in the world. I apologize for being two days late on this post.

As a white man of privilege on the autistic spectrum, I only know a little bit about being an outsider, to be considered different from society. I’ll never know what it feels like to be a person of color in America. I’ve been absolutely ashamed and disgusted at America since 2016. Growing up, it seemed like things were finally getting better for everyone in this country. I thought the future was finally here in 2008 when our first black president, Barack Obama was elected. That change was finally on the way. Like many progressives on the left, I was disgusted at the outcome of 2016’s election with POTUS 45. I never thought things would be this bad. 

I’m 34, so the first election I could vote in was in 2004 with Bush v Kerry. I didn’t agree with George W Bush’s policies, but at least he cared about America. At Least he considered the voices of everyone, and reached across the aisle when things got tough. POTUS 45 never  has given a fuck about anything other than himself since 2016. Republicans took their masks off, and fell in line treating him like a king. This is a direct attack to the very soul of being American. Our country is built upon protesting the King of England, “No taxation without representation!” Where the hell is the representation? Seems rich old white men continue to rule the world, while everyone else is supposed to beg for scraps with the government. 

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    “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” – Neil Armstrong

This week I have been questioning how I can make an impact. How I can best use my voice to help those that are struggling. It felt like a weight too heavy to bear alone. So, after running into paths that led nowhere, I had to simplify things and recharge from this emotional ride this week. I felt like I had to be there for my family and friends. I didn’t know what to do, thoughts racing, feeling paranoid even going outside at night past curfew to smoke so I could even sleep… When every other self care method I used wasn’t working. I realized that I was overwhelmed by PTSD from this traumatic week. I needed to recharge. Making decisions while angry isn’t productive if you aren’t able to use your anger in a healthy way. 

Sometimes, the answer to what to do is right in front of you. My answer to all this is: Meditation, cooking, music, and anime. All of which are cultural symbols from across the world. I’ve learned from meditation that you can always close your eyes and focus on breathing to calm yourself. To clear your mind of  thoughts. It is our ultimate privilege as the living. Nothing made this more apparent than the murder of George Floyd. Unfortunately kneeing a person on the neck is common practice by police across America, as demonstrated as the protests amped up and police brutality escalated by the worst departments such as the Seattle Police Department.  Maybe all this suffering will finally lead to an overhaul of the American police system. November can’t come soon enough. While dumping the current POTUS will greatly help, even more important is to vote in your local elections. Change starts at the local level, and every vote counts. As broken as voting for president is, it’s still effective in enacting change at the local level. Vote!

Voting info below:

Don’t know how to vote, or where to register to vote? Here is how from the U.S Election Assistance Commission, in 15 languages:

https://www.eac.gov/voters/national-mail-voter-registration-form

 You want to change the world? Win it through the senses. Win hearts and minds through stomachs. Win our ears with music. Win sight through art. Win minds through writing. With the future unknown, days feeling like years, I naturally turned to comfort food: brownies. I made them twice this week, one batch last Sunday, one batch Saturday as a birthday present for a friend.

Chocolate, salt, sugar, vanilla. Once considered a luxury food, the labor done by slaves. Once a rarity only available to the richest 1%. Now anyone can make them at home if you have an oven. Empires built over trade of these foods. Empires powered by inequality and slavery. Despite all the progress and changes in the world, inequality persists. It’s front and center right now with the protests for justice.

Cooking is the great equalizer. With it, you can travel anywhere in the world. Be transported to a different time and place with a single dish. American food culture exists because we are an immigrant country. Pies, burgers, fries? From europe. Pizza? Italy. Barbeque? Nope. All brought in from immigrants from other countries. Some come here by choice to escape inequality, violence, and intolerance in their original countries. Some brought here by force, and forced to become slaves in the name of greed. It’s not enough to simply be accepted as “American”. The sad fact is that if you aren’t white, you are: “______ – American” because of years of racist political agendas. 

Did the political right people forget their conservative values this year? Freedom, Justice, Independence, family values, small government, the right to live, the constitution? This administration has demonstrated none of those. Values are what you show. Not what you say. Protesting, standing up to force, rebelling against authority is as American as free religion, guns, and apple pie. Aka immigrated from other countries across the world. America was made to stand up to injustice and say “No more!”  

The police are making everything worse by acting like soldiers against unarmed citizens. To be fair, there have been hopeful moments in the darkness such as Police officers taking off their gear in Flint Michigan, and other American police forces joining the protests, marching peacefully. But those are outliers. It’s a drop in the bucket. In Seattle it’s a warzone. It’s unarmed marchers against an army in blue. You don’t come into conflict equipped like a soldier. Wielding guns, armor, and shooting gas into crowds. A gun is a weapon. Rubber bullets are still bullets. Those weapons are being pointed at people. I admit I don’t know much about guns, and don’t want to know much about them or ever want to, but I know that they are only pointed at a target with the intent to kill. So when the police show up with guns, in armor, faces covered in gas masks, they’ve already shown that they don’t care about anyone else. Showing up with a gun means you are too stupid to argue with your words, to use your brain to talk. That’s not how you achieve peace. That is war. 

Things are changing in Congress, and the House, but clearly not fast enough. The long scars of slavery remain. Things are only good in America if you are old, white, and rich.  Everyone can vote, but it’s not even close to being fair for everyone between district gerrymandering, the return of poll taxes, and closing of voting stations in minority dominant areas across the nation. It’s baffling to see that so many states are far behind WA states vote by mail system. That voting registration is optional, that vote by mail isn’t everywhere in 2020, when the damn internet exists is baffling. Why this is even an argument in DC is fucking stupid. 

Then 2020 happened, and took everyone’s breath away.  Between the covid-19 outbreak, the police violence, and the protests, all this conflict was avoidable. All this is responsible for the man at the top, whose name I refuse to say. He doesn’t deserve anymore attention. I hope in the future his last name is a new insult. The 45th POTUS. The narcissistic, selfish, racist dinosaur who is considering adding fossil fuel to the fire by sending in the troops to violently squash our 1st Amendment rights… 

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Songs of the week:

Purple Rain by Prince

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

What’s going on by Marvin Gaye

Fuck tha Police by NWA

Pride (In the name of love) by U2

A change gonna come by Sam Cooke

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Please wear a mask outside that covers your mouth and nose, wash your hands, clean your cell phone, and keep your physical distance (6 feet) from others to fight Covid-19! 

© Reilly Anderson. 2020. All rights reserved.