Of course, any chocolate baked good is the better for a shot of creme de cacao or chocolate liquer. And a dash of rum, in my opinion. Rum heightens chocolate flavor when added to baked goods and the heat removes the alcohol.

Don’t grate the carrots, chop them into generous bits slightly larger than walnut bits. This works for everyone who is not allergic to carrots. I love nuts in my brownies but I’m allergic to walnuts and my brother was allergic to peanuts and carrots. Thank goodness for pecans.

Of course, after that we have to go after all the people who want to put nuts in fudge. Or brownies.

(Reminds me of story I heard on “This American Life” this afternoon, where the guy was describing life on a commune in upstate New York in the ’70s where food, like it or not, was religion. The cooks had to fix all these different kinds of food every meal. At mealtime, people separated into their groups: the vegans, vegetarians, etc., all the way to the meat-eaters. There were disagreements and conflict, of course, but nothing open. That’s because everyone figured it would be the meat-eaters who would be the most aggressive, when in fact it was the raw-foodies you had to watch out for.)

Snicker. “He said naked.” Giggle.

Not a good thing to visualize at my age.

Sweet City Woman by The Stampeders c. 1971

Macaroons and snickerdoodles can engender good feelings. Blake is far wiser than Vachel gives him credit for being.

Of course, if there are not enough macaroons to go around things can erupt into naked warfare.