| On May 12, forget breakfast in bed (too messy) or a potted plant (too inert). Go straight to a mother’s dark and gooey heart with these ultra-chocolate cookies. They are simple to make, since the chocolate and butter are melt together. The cookies come out of the oven looking plump and glazed and utterly irresistible. Present them to your favorite Mom.
Unconditional Love Chocolate Cookies
two 1-ounce squares unsweetened baking chocolate
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips or 4 ounces semisweet baking chocolate
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
dash of salt
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
In a glass bowl in the microwave or in a small saucepan over low heat, melted the baking chocolate, 2/3 cup chocolate chips (or 4 ounces semisweet baking chocolate), and butter. Stir until smooth; set aside. In a large mixer bowl, beat the eggs until thick and gradually add the sugar until combined. Stir in the melted chocolate and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, and salt and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts by hand. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets, leaving space between cookies. Bake for about 9 minutes, or until cookies have firmed up, but do not overbake. Cool on cookie sheets for a few minutes, then remove to a cooling rack. Makes about 36.
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| If you define "travel" as a way to experience new foods, America’s small towns and agricultural regions offer a boundless smorgasbord of delicious specialty foods. Here are some of the premier food festivals; a search on www.epodunk.com and related sites will yield an even bigger harvest. Most festivals are run by nonprofit organizations and volunteers who plow much of the proceeds right back into their community. See you this summer at the Maine Lobster Festival, or maybe even at Bratwurst Day!
Greek Food Festival, Little Rock, Arkansas, May 17-19, 2002. Sponsored by the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, festival-goers enjoy Greek, Middle Eastern, Russian, and Romanian food, music, and crafts all weekend. Free admission. www.greekfoodfest.com
National Cherry Festival, Traverse City, Michigan, July 6-13, 2002. Traverse City, its climate moderated by Lake Michigan to the west, has weather that’s more like the Pacific Northwest, and both regions are noted for their delicious cherries. More than 75 percent of the Montmorency (tart) cherry crop comes from Michigan. Enjoy Cherries Jubilee, Cherry Bounce, and much more. www.cherryfestival.org
Gilroy (California) Garlic Festival, July 26-28, 2002. In Gourmet Alley, literally tons of garlic are roasted, chopped, pureed, and otherwise incorporated into food ranging from garlic salsa to garlic ice cream. Recipe contests draw people from around the world. Recent winners have included Creamy Cancun Roasted Garlic Soup with Fiery Garlic Shrimp, Grilled Garlic Turkey Sausage with Cranberry Sauce, and Garlic Spring Rolls with Garlicky-Lime Sauce. www.gilroygarlicfestival.com
Maine Lobster Festival, Rockland, Maine, July 31-August 4, 2002. Ten tons of fresh lobster is steamed, boiled, and chowdered for lucky visitors to this fishing town on beautiful Penobscot Bay. Road races, eating contests (don’t forget, it’s blueberry season, too), and other events fill out the weekend. www.mainelobsterfestival.com
Bratwurst Day, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, August 1-3, 2002. Charcoal-grilled "brats" (rhymes with "trots"), served up in crusty hard rolls with "the works" (onions, mustard, and pickles), drip delicious grease down your chin. Have a cold beer to wash it all down. Anyone still standing can run in the Brat Trot (you know it rhymes) on the 3rd. Lots of good music and gemütlichkeit, too. www.sheboygan.org; click on "visitors information."
Hatch (New Mexico) Chile Festival, August 31-September 1, 2002. You can tell you are close to Hatch when you smell roasting chile peppers and see doorways hung with ristras of red peppers. A fiddle contest and barn dance are added attractions, but the chiles are the main show. www.southernnewmexico.com
Barbecue Festival, Lexington, North Carolina, October 26, 2002. Go whole hog at this feast, which includes the state Championship Pork Cook-Off. Whole pork shoulders are cooked slowly (about an hour per pound) over hickory coals, then chopped and sauced with "dip" (vinegar, water, salt, pepper) for a mouth-watering sandwich. Barbecue is a specialty in Lexington, which boasts at least 20 restaurants specializing in the tasty dish. www.barbecuefestival.com
5th International Pickle Festival, Rosendale, New York, November 24, 2002. Pickle judging contests, free samples of pickles (including Japanese, German, and other ethnic specialties), and lots of pickled silliness make this one-day festival memorable. Rosendale is about an hour north of New York City. www.picklefest.com
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 You see a gorgeous rosebush, a blossoming peach tree, a tidy boxwood shrub in a garden center or plant catalog, and you want to buy it. But will it survive the winters in your location? Most plants are sold with a tag that recommends planting within a certain range of hardiness, keyed to the USDA’s Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which covers Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Like politics, all gardening is local, and your particular microclimate may be somewhat warmer or cooler than your neighbor’s. But the USDA map is a good general indication of the average annual minimum temperatures your plants are likely to experience (and, we hope, survive).
For an introduction to the map and an explanation of how to use it, go to http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/index.html. The map appears on the Web site of the National Arboretum, which has other useful gardening information as well. Before you pick out that peach tree or decide on a boxwood border for the herb garden, be sure to know your Zone!
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