On being a college swimmer, or the best and worst brownies I ever ate

In college, I had the great privilege of being a member of the varsity swim team for four years.  Life as a swimmer was slightly different from that of the average undergrad.  With teammates who would become lifelong friends, I endured 20 hours of practice each week.  While our friends and classmates slept, we bundled up and stumbled groggily across the dark, blustery, deserted campus for 6:00 am practice where we might swim four miles or hit the weight room and “kill some abs” doing endless lemon squeezers with our overly-energetic but amicable trainer.  We were done by 8:00, just in time to go to class or get some studying in before starting all over again at afternoon practice.

But all that working out had its perks – swimmers can eat.  On Saturday mornings, we commandeered long tables in the dining hall for post-practice brunches, our plates piled high with omelets and bagels and buttermilk pancakes drenched in syrup.  Back at our apartment, my roommate Kate and I stirred up batches of peanut butter cookie dough that never got baked, living in a bowl in the fridge for a day or two before being finished off raw.  It was alimentary heaven.

In December and February, the team tapered (that is, rested by swimming less) to get ready for big meets.  These were grueling competitions, with three days of morning preliminaries and evening finals sessions.  For each taper meet, my parents traveled from Michigan to Ohio or North Carolina to watch me swim, and my mom always brought trays of homemade Ghirardelli box-mix brownies for the team.  Those brownies were incredible – dense chocolatey bliss.  There is nothing – Nothing! – like a brownie at the end of a hard practice or after a long day of racing to soothe your aching muscles.  In my hotel room in the evening, I would plow through a tray, sometimes eating three or four brownies before I could stop myself and put them away for a while.  I might eat six or seven in a day – and what a glorious day that would be!  Though I know rationally that an ideal brownie would be made from scratch and served piping hot and fresh, I don't think I'll ever be able to top my pure gluttonous joy in those taper meet brownies.

I'm the gourmand (coughpigcough) holding the tray, of course.

But not all exercise-induced brownie needs work out so well, as Kate could tell you.  Kate and I met our first day on campus as incoming freshmen on the team, but our friendship wasn't truly solidified until four months later when we discovered our mutual love of musicals.  We lived together our sophomore through senior years, during which time I learned of Kate's dislike of pork and of her affinity for cooked carrots.  But most of all, I discovered her love of brownie batter.  When making brownies together, Kate would reserve a good quarter of the batter for us to eat raw.  Being so very obliging, how could I say no to that?

The first week of January meant training trip, when we would pack our bags and head to North Palm Beach, Florida for a week of double practices, afternoon beach lazing, and team pizza dinners.  One year, I had the brilliant idea that we should make brownie batter on training trip.  So when stocking up on milk and bread and peanut butter at the local Publix, we also picked up eggs, oil, and a cheap box mix.  A couple days later, we mixed up our brownie batter in the hotel ice bucket and proceeded to gorge ourselves silly for the rest of the afternoon.  I bet Kate and I ate at least three-quarters of the batter.  And it was a brilliant idea indeed, or at least it was until a couple hours later at evening practice, which started on the deck with an invigorating round of mountain climbers.  Suddenly my stomach was less than pleased with me for causing it to be full of brownie batter while bouncing around upside-down.  I'll spare you the gruesome details, but let's just say that practice wasn't the most enjoyable two hours I've had in the pool.

These days I train with a Master's team, swimming 90 minutes, two to three times a week.  It's a good work out, but it's no college 20-hour-per-week regimen, and my brownie consumption has fallen dramatically.  But in honor of my former teammates, off to compete in their conference championship meet starting tomorrow (smoke 'em lady jays!), I baked a batch of brownies last night.  Sadly, I'm not the magnanimous soul my mom was – these ones are staying right here with me.

Intense Almond Brownies

I combined the best parts of a few other brownie recipes to develop this one.  These are lovely hot, but I think I prefer them after they've cooled, when the flavors have had some time to meld together.  They are deeply, intensely chocolatey, so proceed with caution and small pieces!

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter (4 oz, or one stick)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Grease an 8"x8" pan and preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sift together the flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt, then toss in the chocolate chips.
In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and the butter.  Once completely smooth, remove from the heat.
Slowly add the sugar, whisking to combine.  Next, whisk in the eggs one at a time, and finally add the vanilla.  When smooth and homogeneous, add the chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients, folding with a rubber spatula to combine.  When just mixed together, pour the batter into the greased pan.  Bake 20-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Pour yourself a tall glass of milk and dig in.  (Unless you want to cut perfect, pretty brownies.  Then you should wait until they're completely cool first, but what's the fun in that?)