Cuppa pharmakon (aka 5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake)

While Ab cuddles up with articles that educate and books that make her say Boo! to big fellas who wanna carry her bookbag, I'm getting into deep trouble in my kitchen.

Here's why:

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE (courtesy of Linda Cisco by way of my cousin Tammy).

Here's what you need if you want to simultaneously ruin and make your day:

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
dash of cinnamon (optional)
1 large coffee mug

Before I give you the directions, I'll just tell you, from start to finish, the process really does take five minutes. This is a dangerous thing, obviously.

Five minutes.

It's enough time to get me out of one mess and into another. You see, I was writing today. And writing to me (as it is to nearly every writer I know) is pharmakon, which, to grossly and irresponsibly simplify it's meaning, is both poison and cure. And if you want more on this, see Plato's Dialogues. (Or, for the lazy and/or time-crunched, you might check this out to start.)

And while writing keeps me (and nearly every writer I know) from feeling crazy, it also, according to David Gessner--in that article Abby's reading (courtesy of Tina and Abby's colleague Matt)--causes us to be crazy.

"After all," writes Gessner, "there’s something basically insane about sitting at a desk and talking to yourself all day, and there’s a reason that writers are second only to medical students in instances of hypochondria. In isolation, our minds turn on us pretty quickly."

This is where the 5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE comes in.

Right before my mind could "turn on" me (4:30p), I ducked and dodged my way into the kitchen. I figured five minutes...clearly the perfect amount of break time to save my sanity.

Trouble is, this 5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE is just another pharmakon, the bastard.

So what we have here is me, standing in my kitchen, after five minutes of prep and two minutes of cooling, with a fork in my mouth, wondering when did my life become so filled with danger and philosophical (and medical) intrigue? And just who in the hell came up with this marvel, this, this, dream cake that's nearly as easy as opening the (microwave)oven or refridger door and wishing it there.

Anyway, all in a day's work, I guess. And here are the directions for that 5 MINUTE pharmakon. Beware. It's dangerous stuff.

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a dash of cinnamon (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips and cinnamon (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT!

(This can serve two--in case some poor creature lives with you and has to put up with your mental challenges...or if you need another break before the insanity sets upon you, again, which it will).