Every family has certain myths and legends attached to food. For instance, I grew up believing that iceberg lettuce stays in your stomach for seven years, that ketchup is a normal accent to tacos, that pectin (a firming agent similar gelatin) was made from chicken’s beaks (that’s why it was called PECKtin) and that brownies are really hard to make.

Okay, so maybe some of those are more messed up than others. But to convince someone that brownies only come from a box is just cruel.

While the sight of iceberg lettuce and pectin on ingredients lists still gives me chills, the prospect of making brownies from scratch no longer scares me. And by the way, ketchup is delicious on tacos. And so is ranch dressing on pizza, but that’s another story.

If you have any weird food things that come from your family, write to me about them and I’ll publish some.

My e-mail address is [email protected].

1 stick of butter
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped up
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
½ cup flour
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 8 x 8 x 2 inch metal baking pan.

2. Stir butter and chocolate in a saucepan over low heat until combined and smooth and set aside.

3. Beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer for five minutes, until light and fluffy.

4. Add chocolate-butter mixture, flour, vanilla extract and salt to egg-sugar mixture and stir until blended.

5. Pour batter into pan and bake for about 25 minutes.