Baking love into brownies Remembering Uncle Randy

By Jamie Thornton @ jamiee_elizabethh

While February is the season of romantic love, familial love is another important thing to remember as Valentine’s Day rolls around. Valentine’s Day treats can make an excellent gift for not just a significant other, but family members as well.

Homemade brownies can be tricky to get right, but my uncle Randy’s recipe is simple enough to make, even in a communal dorm kitchen. While I may not be the best baker, my boyfriend and I made Uncle Randy’s brownies together and still had fun. However, the final result tasted a bit like chocolate bread.

Upon conferring with my mom, I’ve changed the recipe a bit, as I’m convinced my uncle just made brownies based off vibes. This improved recipe should produce normal brownies, not chocolate bread. Baking with anyone, whether that be family or a significant other, can create wonderful memories in addition to a (hopefully) delicious treat. Brownies and baked goods in general are great heartfelt and costeffective gifts.

This recipe being written by my uncle is special because I was very close to him and my cousins as a kid. Music and food is a source of love in my family, as we have both at every gathering. Baked goods are exchanged often, and the love can be felt through and through. Although my uncle passed when I was around 10 years old, seeing this brownie recipe and baking them myself will always remind me of the love and laughter he brought to our family.

Recipe

1 cup flour

½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

½ cup cocoa

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 ½ cup

Preheatsugar oven to 350 degrees.

Combine sugar, oil, vanilla. and eggs in one bowl.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl, then add cocoa. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix.

Bake for 25-30 minutes

Serve with love

By Sakeenah Raji @ sakeenahr

“Forgiveyourself for the way you treated yourself in the past, for the way you vilified the way your mind works, for the way you did not show up for yourself, for settling for less because you didn’t think you deserved it”.

These are the words I saw on my tiktok fyp from the Thought Catalog account, and it made me think about how easy it is to show empathy and compassion for others. But for most people, showing compassion to themselves can be seen as childish, foolish, selfish and even a sign of weakness.

I personally think the reason we find it hard to be kinder to ourselves is we see ourselves as better than others, and hold ourselves to an unhealthy self esteem without allowing any room for empathy, kindness or care. That’s why we can call ourselves derogatory terms we would not say to someone we cared about or even someone we disliked.

There are numerous resources for one to practice self compassion from. Turn towards yourself with kindness instead of always criticizing yourself. Motivate yourself with love and kindness while boosting confidence. Recognize and acknowledge your achievements, no matter how little you deem them. Know what good support looks like, and implement that within yourself and others. There are also self compassion exercises on selfcompassion.org and great TED talks with Kristin Neff.

Self compassion is not a linear journey. It is a journey with zigzags and ups-and- downs. Your feelings may not always be logical, but they are valid. In order to fulfill self-compassion, you have to give yourself permission to feel what you feel. Your feelings are yours, not your friends, family’s or partner’s. Do not let anyone diminish them, not even you.