How to Make Chocolate-Chunk Blondies

Blondies are small, baked bars made with brown sugar, kind of like blonde brownies. They are very rich and delicious, and not so very difficult to make. The brown sugar is what gives them their blonde color. This recipe yields 16-20 blondies.

First, you have to gather your ingredients. You�ll need to have the following: ½ cup,(113 grams) of softened butter, 1 cup (220 grams) of light brown or medium brown sugar, 1 egg, 1 cup (125 grams) of flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder (4.5 grams), 1/3 cup (152 grams) of chopped walnuts, and 4 ounces (113 grams) of semi-sweet chocolate, chopped. I like to use chocolate chips instead of chopped chocolate. Chocolate chunks also work, but they have to be the large sized ones. To bake it, you will need: an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan, which means each side is 8-9 inches (20-22.5 cm) long. You�ll also need some extra butter, some extra flour, some wax paper, a large bowl and a small bowl, an elected mixer, a wooden spoon, and toothpick.

Before you do anything else, you should pre-heat your oven to 350�F (180�C). In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with the electric mixer on high speed until the mixture is smooth. Then break in the egg, and beat it until the batter is creamy and fluffy. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and the baking powder. Add that to the large bowl and, with the mixer on medium speed, beat until it is well combined. Stir in the chopped walnuts and the semi-sweet chocolate. Mix together with a wooden spoon. You should have a thick, tan-colored, pasty substance. Butter and flour your baking pan. This means you spread butter on the bottom and sides of the pan and then sprinkle flour over the butter to coat it. Tap out any extra flour after you sprinkle it in. Next, scoop your batter into the pan and even it out. I like to use wax paper to spread it evenly because it doesn�t stick, and it�s more convenient than using a spoon. Put it in the center rack of the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.To see if it�s ready, insert a toothpick into the center of the pan and if it comes out clean, then it�s done. If a few crumbs stick to the toothpick, bake it for a few more minutes.
When it�s ready, take it out and let it cool. When it�s cooled completely, cut it up into 16 large squares or 20 medium squares. Blondies go very well with a glass of cold milk or a cup of hot coffee.

How to Make Water in the Desert

It is very easy to get dehydrated in the desert. If you are stuck or stranded in the desert, you can use the sun to generate a sufficient amount of water for yourself. This method helps to collect water from soil in any climate if given enough sunlight and existent soil moisture. This construction provides water not by some magic or supernatural power, but it has a scietific reason behind it. The two processes: evaporation and condensation, both play a big and major role in this.
In order to begin, you need to dig a curved hole about two feet deep so that the moist subsoil is clearly visible. The more moist soil you explore, the better. It is very important that the hole is dug in the place where there is enough direct sunlight. Next, place an open coffee can, mug, cup, or glass (anything that has an open mouth at the top) in the center of the hole. If you have a length of plastic tubing, you can run it from the bottom of the coffee can out the edge of the hole. This tubing will be used as a straw later.
Then, lay a taut piece of clear plastic wrap across the top of the hole. To create a seal, pour the sand in a circle around the hole along the outside of the plastic wrap about an inch or two from the edge of the plastic. Make sure that the plastic wrap seals the hole shut; if it is punctured the water will not condense. Ensure that the tubing runs underneath the plastic, and that there are no gaps that are not sealed by the sand. Place a small to medium sized rock in the center of the plastic wrap so that the plastic wrap dips to a point above the center of the can, but it shouldn’t touch the can otherwise the entire process will not work. The lowest spot in the platic must be just above the can where the wrap comes to a point.
Now, the easiest and the most important step comes. What one has to do is sit back and wait for the sun to evaporate water out of the moist soil. Evaporation is a state of change from liquid to gas or vapor, which occurs only with the presence of heat. The water will condense on the plastic wrap because it cannot escape the hole. Condensation is the change in matter of a substance to a denser phase, such as a gas (or vapor) to a liquid. It usually occurs when a vapor is cooled.
Then slowly, the water will drip into the can. That is why it is important to keep the plastic wrap from touching the can or else the water will not drip into the can. Given the right soil moisture, this technique can generate an abundance of water! You can use the tubing to suck the water from the can without dismantling the construction. So, you can have a drink while your contraption continues to work.
Once the sun dries the subsoil in that hole, start the process all over again by digging another hole. If you have more than one plastic wrap and cup, then it can be used to construct another one simultaneously and it will not waste a lot of time. This technique is very healthy to purify the water because after evaporation the water becomes free from contaminants, germs, and dirt. One of the tips to increase the concentration of water is by urinating in the hole; this provides extra moisture and it will produce more water because it contains ammonia, which evaporates more readily than water. The urine will also be purified and be clean drinking water once it reaches the can. This process is very convenient when one doesn’t have any other choice, but this doesn’t mean that you don’t need to carry water when you go out into the wilderness.

The Outdoor Market

Walking down the street at Shuka, the outdoor market, you can pass some interesting sights: Pig heads. They lay on a table. Cut off. Alone. Like fleshy pink balloons. Covered in dust. Bristly as a toothbrush. Huge hairy heads. Brains spurt out from the back like soft wet clay. Bloody, rubbery, squishy brains. Two gigantic hairy ears stick out like stray leaves in a withered bush. A snout protrudes from the head. Shriveled like a round, decomposing, spongy carrot.
Pig feet. Next to the heads. Like large, dead, stiff eels. Sorry pink twigs gathered in a container. Hooves like worn-out granite.
The air reeks of raw meat. The powerful, potent, repulsive, malodorous, stomach-wrenching smell of raw meat that has been basking in the sun too long.
Nearby are little meat huts. The sidewalks are stained with blood, like someone threw a ton of too-old tomatoes down on them. Mushy tomatoes. Dirty tomatoes. Rotten tomatoes. Soggy tomatoes.
Tubs full of animal parts line the street: Livers. Like colossal, slimy slugs bathing in blood; burgundy as a dark, mysterious sunset.
Hearts. Rose-red, like squelchy balls of soft dough soaked in beet juice.
Cow udders. Charcoaled pink. Massive, wobbly. Wrinkly, inflated balls of gelatin with short, stubby fingers sticking out from them.
Cut meat hangs from the ceiling like laundry left out in the rain. Wretched, pathetic, neglected, soggy laundry. The meat-seller’s apron looks like a starched white dance floor where strawberries were just cutting a rug.
Across the street are tiny shops. You can buy fruit, beverages, spices, canned foods, etc. The fruit stand is bursting with color. Apples. Bright golden apples. Like sunbursts in a dreary world of darkness. Red apples. Radiant crimson lumps of passion. Nuts, rice, beans, grains, dates, and seeds. In cases. Reddish brown gems in the Queen’s jewelry box. Bananas. Tempting yellow flashes of lightning piercing the blinding haze. Pineapples. With tops like angry green cacti; warriors waving their daggers in the air. Pomegranates. Feisty scarlet balls of fire shining through a cloud of gray mist. Persimmons. Smooth, glossy; newly polished. Little amber munchkins wearing silky overcoats. Kiwis. In a heap. Brown, shaggy. Lazy old sloths taking a long afternoon nap. Oranges. Beautiful, delicious. Glistening like happiness on a dull, rainy afternoon. Grapes. In bundles. Bursting at the seams. Pale green. Over-stuffed aphids busily swarming on a leaf. Sausage. Dry, spiced beef sausage. Like a flat yak tongue covered in brick-red sandpaper. And sticky soujukh. Long, lustrous. Garlands of icky brown muck. But looks are deceiving. They taste like a bite of chewy, crunchy satisfaction. Chewy molasses enclosing crunchy walnuts. Precious treasures hidden beneath a sneaky sugariness.
Disturbingly fresh pig heads; bloodstained sidewalks; rose-red hearts; bright, happy fruit; sweet, sticky soujukh. Walking down the street at Shuka, you can pass some very interesting sights.