Ms Chef in Seattle

I’ve got an appointment tomorrow afternoon so I made some gratitude brownies in advance for the shuttle driver and the heart institute staff. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that the word has got out that I bring goodies to the various doctors and labs in my life these days. The shuttle drivers — with the exception of one who doesn’t accept goodies for her own reasons — anticipate what treat I’ll be handing them in a box when I get on the mini bus. They know it’s gratitude and they love it.

Today I’d planned to make brownies with tart cherries but as I reached for the eggs for the cookies, I saw the last jar of Trader Joe’s Amarena Cherries on the back of the shelf and that little light went off in my baker’s brain. I don’t mind using the cherries for a mere batch of brownies because the store will be getting in a new shipment near the end of the month and I’ll stock up for the next year.

And so, fudgy brownies were made with chocolate chips, tart dried cherries and quarters of the gorgeous Amarena cherries. The fudge frosting was a necessity because it was part of the brownie dream: the syrup from the cherries was used to flavor the divine creamy chocolate spread on warm brownies. Can you imagine how hard it was not to sample them tonight? (No chocolate at night for people like me who prefer sleeping instead of staring at the ceiling.)

These will end up in a few Christmas goody boxes, I think. Maybe. We’ll see.