I forgot: the same day that I made the stew, Rose and I also made brownies. I have two favorite brownie recipes: the quick one, and the industrial strength one which makes a huge batch of brownies (and which I insist on letting cool overnight before even cutting).

We made the quick ones: get yourself some Ghirardelli's "Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa". This comes in a sort of cardboard can, 5" high and 3 1/2" in diameter. Follow the recipe for Ghirardelli Award Winning Chocolate Brownies, except that their baking time of 20-30 minutes is way too short. I keep them in the oven until a toothpick comes out almost clean. (I also would have hyphenated "Award Winning"...)

The slow ones: Maida Heatter's Palm Beach Brownies. One of her variants: spread out half of the batter in the pan, then put a layer of York peppermint patties, then put the other half of the batter. I've also done this with Reese's peanut butter cups. I'm too lazy to type the recipe in right now, but it's in at least two of her books: check your local library. Or try searching the internet for "Maida Heatter palm beach brownies" and you'll probably come up with something helpful.