Brownie S’mores

It’s for kids– of all ages.  We’re all kids in grown up bodies, inside this adulthood that we call independence and responsibility; a working environment of care and provision… 

 Some kids never stop being mean; some still like life’s little treasures simply for the sweet side of life, the happy moments that take us back to home when we were growing up discovering the world around us. 

 And it’s a crazy, mad world…  revolutions continually pop up in various parts of the globe, political platforms bombarded; terrorism, closer to our doorsteps than it was ten years ago when 9/11 shook our Nation, shook our world, shocked and rattled us all…

  Earthquakes and current events make us want to turn off the TV more than it ever did, before, to shield the innocence of our own children’s eyes, and to just let there be some goodness in the day– To think–our parents thought the news on TV was bad way back then— It’s “show all” kind of days that we now are in– right before our children’s eyes.  It’s violence like we’ve never seen it before, not having been in war zones on fields of battle, protected and shielded by those guarding our borders for us…  It’s on youtube, all over the school campus, on the streets– It’s kids losing their innocence too soon, parents still being the mean bullies on the blocks, world leaders being the works of the evil one of time that we were always warned about.  It lurks about.  It is still a hungry lion, searching all the inward parts of the earth to seek whom it may devour…  and it’s taking our youth.  It’s stealing the innocence of youth; it is stealing the innocence of our culture, the way that childhood was to be, was to last; the way that adults were to remain with a certain kind of innocence left.

Take time out to still be loyal, to be loving, to truly be one’s neighbor in good times and in hard times; be a brother to the down-hearted, the down-trodded.  We each face life’s obstacles, life’s uncertainties, life’s realities of life and death…  It is a cancer within each one of us if we let it be. 

Go back to the way tradition was, to Norman Rockwell days when seated on a wrap-around porch barefoot on a warm spring/summer afternoon watching children play, pass by on their bicycles with lemonade in your hand…  when people truly were friendly, waving a smile, a kind gesture of “hello” — They were the days of good. 

 Having some innocence still in me, and not having been born to live in the Norman Rockwell era, but living it through and by my elders and parents, I still believe that there are still neighborhoods, though few there now be, that could still set you back to the days of a Norman Rockwell time; that there is still goodness in people who have not lost that innocence.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 13×9-inch pan with aluminum foil, letting foil hang over sides of pan; set aside…

In the work bowl of a food processor, pulse together cookies, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until mixture is fine.  With processor running, slowly add 5 tablespoons melted butter, and continue blending until mixture is well combined.  Press crumb mixture firmly into the bottom of prepared pan.

In a large bowel, whisk together remaining 1 cup melted butter and melted chocolate until mixture is well combined.  Whisk in remaining 2 cups sugar and vanilla.  Add eggs one at a time, whisking constantly, until mixture is smooth and glossy.  Whisk in flour and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Pour batter into pan, smoothing top.

Bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with just crumbs, 30 to 35 minutes.  Let cool slightly.

Preheat oven to broil.  Place marshmallow halves on top of brownies, in rows, as close as possible.  Broil until tops of marshmallow are golden brown and puffed (or burnt), approximately 5 minutes but keep your eyes closely on broiling time if you just want them golden brown… 

Let cool slightly before cutting brownies into squares.  Serve warm.  (When warming up for later or the next day, warm slightly in the microwave or oven just to set the marshmallows, to soften them again, and making sure brownies are warm.)