There it was, in the third paragraph of a very brief article about the final flight of Shuttle Endeavour, one sentence that sent my mind into a tailspin and my imagination on an out-of-control binge.

“Its mission: to determine the make-up of the invisible dark matter and dark energy that theoretically constitutes 90 percent of the universe.”

Whoa! Ninety percent of everything out there somewhere is dark matter and dark energy? (“Theoretically,” that is.) What, exactly, is “dark matter,” and if it’s invisible, how do we know it’s there. Guesswork? Or is it a mysterious “something” made up by scientists who will do anything to avoid the emptiness of a void.

What if, in fact, 90 percent of the universe is just plain empty; there is nothing, zero, zilch, out there? Impossible, say those who know a lot more about matter and energy than I do.

I took a couple of astronomy courses in college, and learned just enough to keep me entranced for life with our stars and planets, and I’ve been moonstruck ever since I was a young child.

But when I try intellectually to grasp the concept of outer space stretching to infinity, to visualize a never-ending universe 90 percent filled with “unknown,” I am defeated by my own imagination. I can’t help filling that limitless void with bizarre other worlds, weird ephemeral beings and creatures made of “dark matter.”

The apparatus that is going to try to “determine the makeup of the invisible dark matter, etc.” is a one-and-a-half billion dollar piece of equipment called an Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, which will be attached to the outside of the international space station when Endeavour makes its final visit there on April 19, barring delays due to weather or last-minute problems.

According to the article that started all this, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is a cosmic ray detector that will “probe fundamental mysteries about the origin of the universe and has the potential to prove or disprove the Big Bang theory of the birth of the universe.”

Now, that’s quite a burden even for a $1.5 billion piece of equipment and if, by chance, it does what is expected of it and somehow disproves the Big Bang theory, what then? I can imagine all the scientific minds out there thrown into chaos, lifetimes of work tossed aside as they grapple once again with the question of how it all got started.

Worse yet, what if that expensive piece of equipment, the AMS, is gobbled up by the dark matter or dark energy it meets when it starts poking its rays into the makeup of the unknown 90 percent, and we never see or hear from it again? Hey, in my mind, it could happen.

RECIPES

The next time there’s a full moon and you’re in that moonstruck mode having a conversation with the man in the moon, you might want to have some of these on hand for a moonlight munch. As it happens, I have two recipes, slightly different, for Moon Pies; I’ll share both, and you can decide which you prefer.

SOUTHERN MOON PIES

For the cookie crusts:

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup evaporated milk

1 t. vanilla

2 cups flour

½ t. salt

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1½ t. baking soda

½ t. baking powder

For the marshmallow filling: ½ cup butter softened

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

½ t. vanilla

1 cup marshmallow creme

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add egg, evaporated milk and vanilla. Mix well. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder. Add flour mixture slowly to sugar mixture while stirring. Mix just until ingredients are combined.

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet, leaving at least 3 inches between each one; dough will spread as it bakes.

Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for 6-8 min., until firm when pressed lightly with finger. Allow to cool at least one hour before filling.

To make filling: In a med. mixing bowl, blend together the butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and marshmallow creme. Mix until smooth.

Assemble pies by spreading 1-2 T. of marshmallow filling on the flat side of a cookie crust, cover filling with the flat side of another cookie crust.

Makes 24 moon pies.

DARK OF THE MOON PIES

For the dough: 12 T. butter

¾ cup powdered sugar

2 t. vanilla

¼ cup cocoa powder

2 T. cornstarch

1 cup flour

For the marshmallows:

¼ cup water

¼ cup light corn syrup

¾ cup sugar

2 egg whites

1 T. gelatin (confectioners’ gelatin, or powdered dry gelatin)

2 T. cold water

¼ t. vanilla

For the chocolate coating: 12 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 oz. cocoa butter or use

¼ cup vegetable oil if you don’t have cocoa butter on hand

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until soft and smooth. Add sugar and continue mixing until well blended. Add vanilla; mix until light and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, stir together the cocoa powder, cornstarch and flour. With mixer on low, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, blending just until well combined. Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hrs. or overnight.

On a lightly floured work surface, with a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to ¹/8-inch thick, or as thin as you can roll it. Use a

1½-inch round cookie cutter dipped in flour to cut out circles. Place them on an ungreased sheet pan, leaving 1 inch between cookies. Re-roll the scraps. To make the cookies look more like the “real” thing (store bought), prick the cookie circles with a fork just a little. Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven until crisp, 12-14 min. Let cool on the pan.

Make the marshmallows: Combine the ¼ cup water, corn syrup and sugar in a saucepan with a candy thermometer attached. Bring to a boil and cook to soft-ball or 235 degrees.

Meanwhile, in a mixer fitted with a whisk, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Sprinkle the gelatin over the 2 T. cold water and let dissolve. When the syrup reaches 235 degrees, remove from heat, add gelatin and mix. Pour the syrup into the whipped egg whites. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.

Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a round tip. Pipe a marshmallow “kiss” onto half of the cookies and top with the rest of the cookies to make sandwiches. Let set at room temp. for 2 hrs.

Make the chocolate coating: Melt the chocolate and cocoa butter or oil together in the top of a double boiler or over a bowl set over barely simmering water, stirring occasionally. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking mat.

One at a time, gently drop the filled cookies into the hot chocolate. Lift out with a fork, allowing excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl.

Place cookies on the sheet and let set at room temp. until the coating is firm, 1-2 hrs.

Makes 5-6 dozen small Dark of the Moon Pies; great for kids parties.

If you’ve ever eaten at Denny’s, then you’re familiar with this next dish, a favorite on their menu that’s easy for you to make in your own kitchen.

MOONS OVER MY HAMMY

For each serving:

Butter, softened (enough to coat two skillets and butter some bread slices)

2 eggs, beaten

Salt, to taste

2 oz. deli sliced ham

2 slices sourdough bread (get a quality loaf with big slices)

2 slices processed Swiss cheese

1-2 slices American cheese

Put 2 med. size skillets over med. heat. In one skillet add a little butter and scramble the eggs, salting to taste. In the other skillet in a bit of butter, brown the stack of ham slices without separating the slices.

When the stack of ham has browned a bit on both sides, remove it from the pan. Butter one side of each slice of bread and put one slice into the skillet, buttered side down. Immediately put the Swiss cheese onto the face-up unbuttered side of the slice that is grilling in the pan.

Stack the ham slices on the Swiss cheese. Scoop the eggs out of the other skillet and place them on the ham, then put the American cheese on the eggs. Top the sandwich with the remaining slice of bread, making sure the unbuttered side faces the cheese.

By this time the first slice of bread should be grilled to golden brown. Carefully flip the sandwich over and grill the other side about 2-3 min., or until golden brown.

Slice the sandwich diagonally through the middle and serve, with hash browns or French fries (if you really want it to be like Denny’s; I’d prefer some fruit on the side, personally).

Serves 1, or 2, if you’re light eaters.

falwalcal@msn.com