Rocky Mountain High-Altitude Brownies

My blog would not be complete without a tribute to the Rocky Mountains and 

John Denver's song, "Rocky Mountain High."

I was curious and looked up the history of John Denver's song, Rocky Mountain High. His song had to do with his sense of  peace he found in the Rocky Mountains.

Here is a little history about the song:

Denver started writing this song during the Perseid Meteor Shower which happens every August. He was camping with friends at the tree line at Williams Lake near Windstar (his foundation in Colorado) and all of a sudden there were many shooting stars and he noticed "The shadow from the starlight"... thus the line from the song. He says that while the inspiration struck quickly, it took him about 9 months to complete the song.

(from songfacts.com)

"Rocky Mountain High" is a folk rock song written by John Denver and Mike Taylor about Colorado, and is one of the two official state songs of Colorado. Recorded by Denver in 1972, it went to #9 on the US Hot 100 in 1973. (The song also made #3 on the Easy Listening chart, and was played by some country music stations.) Denver told concert audiences in the mid-1970s that the song took him an unusually long nine months to write.

Background and writing

"Rocky Mountain High" is primarily inspired by John Denver's move to Aspen, Colorado, United States three years earlier and his love for the state. The seventh stanza makes a reference to destruction of the mountains' beauty by commercial tourism. The song was considered a major piece of 1970s pop culture, and became a well-associated piece of Colorado history.

The song briefly became controversial that year when the U.S. Federal Communications Commission was permitted by a legal ruling to censor music deemed to promote drug abuse. Numerous radio stations cautiously banned the song until Denver publicly explained that the "high" was his innocent description of the sense of peace he found in the Rockies. In 1985, Denver testified before Congress in the Parents Music Resource Center hearings about his experience:

This was obviously done by people who had never seen or been to the Rocky Mountains, and also had never experienced the elation, celebration of life, or the joy in living that one feels when he observes something as wondrous as the Perseid meteor shower on a moonless, cloudless night, when there are so many stars that you have a shadow from the starlight, and you are out camping with your friends, your best friends, and introducing them to one of nature's most spectacular light shows for the first time.

 Rocky Mountain High-Altitude Brownie

So, I thought I would make my version of a Rocky Road Brownie.  I took a brownie mix and added marshmallows, walnuts, and two kinds of chips, chocolate and white chocolate.
You do have to modify recipes when cooking at high altitudes.  This box of brownies had directions for high altitude baking.  

These brownies are rich and gooey with layers of chocolate.

Gather the ingredients: brownie mix, flour, oil, eggs, walnuts, 

white chocolate chips, chocolate chips, and marshmallows.

Pour the brownie mix into a mixing bowl.

Add 3 tablespoons of flour into the dry brownie mix for high altitude baking. 

Add 1/3 cup water.

Add 1/3 cup vegetable oil.

Add 2 eggs.  I used farm fresh eggs
from my niece, Sarah, and her husband, Matt's farm.

,

Mix until well blended.

Add 1/2 cup white chocolate chips.

Add 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Add 1 cup miniature marshmallows.

Add 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts.

Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Spread evenly into pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for  26 to 30 minutes.

With all the added ingredients,
it takes a little longer to bake than the directions on the box.

Let cool.

Frost with chocolate icing.
I used Triple Chocolate Fudge Chip frosting from Betty Crocker.

This is a plate I glazed during craft hour at our resort.

Perfect for serving a plate of brownies!

Enjoy!

Enj
John Denver & the Muppets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dThCBrH9SxU


John Denver and the Muppets : Rocky Mountain Holiday 1983 DVD
John Denver takes the Muppets on a camping trip in the mountains of Colorado. Like all Muppet specials, this one is riddled with comedy and songs. However it's the songs that make a lasting impression as Denver's gentle spirited ballads keep coming one after the other. In fact, they somehow manage to jam pack 16 songs in this 47-minute feature. But this special isn't just an ordinary collection of poetic prose and sketch comedy; it's a message about protecting the environment and enjoying the natural beauties of this planet we call home. The adventure begins with Denver and the Muppets arriving a wooded parking lot that leads to their Rocky Mountain campsite. As soon as Denver steps out of the truck he breaks into the song "Hey Old Pal," and from here on out the songs just keep coming. We follow our group as they hike seven miles to their lakeside destination. Along the way we pass a wood cabin and the hillbilly residents sing the song "Take 'Em Away," a song about picking up your trash when you're done. When they arrive at camp, the crew splits up to perform their individual campsite duties. Denver goes off to catch dinner with Floyd while singing the delightfully mellow "Gone Fishin'." Kermit's young nephew Robin is asked to hang a clothesline, and when Robin fails to hang the line high enough, Denver impatiently snaps at him and feels bad about his outburst. He finds Robin upset in the woods, and expresses his apologies with the beautiful sentimental song "Catch Another Butterfly." Soon nighttime arrives, and our group of fun loving campers find themselves singing around the campfire. Here they sing tons of songs, and the special comes to an end with Denver saying "good night" to all of his Muppet friends.

(from http://www.pandorasvideo.com/rocky-mountain-holiday.html)