Inspired by Saturday’s power outage thanks to Hurricane Earl — and the browning bananas camping out in the cupboard — my mind conjured up a culinary mash-up that I’m fondly referring to as the “blackout brownie”: a moist, chewy, cocoalicious brownie mellowed out with a little kick of the irresistible flavor of banana bread.

Well, the wind is really starting to pick up as Hurricane Earl blasts his way towards our sea-bound little province, and while the air is thickly humid and our house is still sweltering in the midst of this tropical anomaly, it is pretty likely that summer will soon come to a close — on the calendar, in the air, and on our plates.

Let go of those Eggo’s. No, really. Throw out the box, and let them go. Once you’ve sunk your teeth into the snappy outer crispness and tasted the tender, creamy inside of a steaming hot homemade waffle, you’ll scoff at those frigid boxed impostors stacked cryogenically in the frozen foods aisle.

Talk about a mouthful. This is a suped up version of my traditional (and somewhat famous) oatmeal raisin cookie recipe. In addition to the loveliest plump organic Thompson raisins, I’ve added  a handful of crushed cashews to boost the crunch factor, and malt-sweetened carob chips to amp up the melt-in-your-mouth quotient.

Yes, it can get expensive feeding your family organic, whole, healthful food, but you don’t have to break the bank in order to do so. Baking and cooking your own meals and snacks is s far more cost-effective way to eat well. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve had it with paying $7.99 for a 500g bag of organic granola.