flower pictures and chocolate heroin sauce recipe

Still figuring out this whole aperture thing.

Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

And again, fiddling with where to focus the shot. I’m not entirely satisfied with how the macro (super-close-up) works, but I’ll figure it out…

Trippy!

Oh – that reminds me – the similar trippy flower from the other day?

This would appear to be a globe thistle. I think it’s lovely all by itself, but imagine if you had a whole bunch to contemplate, as these folks in Iowa do:

[Source]

OK, back to my pictures now…

Black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia hirta). I always want to call them brown-eyed susans, though – like the Van Morrison song (my brown-eyed girl…do you remember when…we used to sing – SHA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LALA DI DAH!!) – because the centers are, in fact, brown.

This is all on the World Learning/School for International Training campus today, where I went to join Kevin for a few hours at an every-once-in-a-while event that draws academic directors from study abroad programs all over the world. I met loads o’ people. A good time was had by all. Barbecue was involved.

I can see already that the more experienced I am with the camera, the higher my standards with rise. I aim to enjoy it, and not be too chronically dissatisfied with what I am able to achieve.

Changing the subject, but not really, I used to do a fair amount of pottery in the late 90’s. All my immediate family, plus anyone I worked with during that era probably has (or used to have, if they haven’t quietly dumped it in a tag sale or worse) one of my mugs.

Here at the house, nearly all our mugs and bowls were made by yours truly.

I tend to be pretty critical about my own work, but I do love this bowl. It has a very satisfying rim. More satisfying than the fruit slurry that until recently, it was filled with.

And now, for the chocolate heroin recipe (apropos of nothing):

Melt 7 tablespoons - (just under a stick) butter, 2.5 oz of unsweetened baking chocolate (pre-chopped up is helpful), and a half cup of milk in a double boiler. As soon as the chocolate is just-about-all-the-way melted, for heaven’s sake, turn the heat off, or you’ll risk chocolate separation disaster, from which there is no recovery.

Add a bunch of sugar. The original recipe calls for something like 1.25 cups. You can easily get by with only half that. Add the sugar slowly, stirring constantly while it dissolves. You may need to jack up the heat a little if you’re taking your sweet time. Once the sugar’s dissolved, add a half cup of cocoa powder. Whisk away. If you have electric beaters, go to town on it.

Put this over whatever strikes your fancy – coffee or vanilla ice cream, what have you – or, if you can somehow get it into a syringe, you could just mainline it. Or remove brain from skull, baste with sauce, and re-insert. Whatever works.

No, I’m not making this stuff right now. It would wack my system and I don’t need that right now. But feel free to try some, and let me know how it goes.