The Jericholaan Brownie Disaster
The day before we left Moldova, we ate lunch with an American family. For dessert, she served - goose bumps still form at this thought - brownies!! As I was gulping down my third one, I realized that it had been a LONG time since I had eaten any (American-style) baked goodies. They were fantastic!
So, as I was buying supplies at the local Wal-Mart the day I left America, I decided I would buy a few boxes of brownie mix to satisfy my - er, our - hankerings over the next few months. Buying the mix would alleviate any uncertainty as to what "baking soda" in Dutch is (do brownies call for baking soda???) - the mix called only for eggs, water, and oil. The convenience was well worth the weight in my suitcase. Perfect!
Well, of course, the hankering for brownies started as soon as walked out of Wal-Mart on Thursday. Saturday, I set out to make brownies! I had all the supplies - even a baking pan! And, I had a willing taster in Dan, who was working non-stop on his MBA paper.
I knew things wouldn't go well when I opened the bag only to have the mix go "poof" all over the kitchen. Almost a week later, I'm still finding brownie mix on the floor, on the stove, in the dish drainer. The majority ended up in the clean bowl and baking pan, however, so I continued on my merry brownie-making way.
Maybe it was the jet lag, or maybe it was the pure excitement at the thought of baking again that made me go too fast, but here is a quick recap of how my brownies turned out:
-Eggshell ala brownie.
-The lost mix was more than I originally thought - I should have put in less water, oil and egg. Chewy doesn't necessarily mean gooey.
-My oven is slanted. I promise! One half of the pan was over-baked, thin, and not chewy. The other half was extra-thick and extra-gooey.
-When the brownies were still warm, and before I realized the thin, crusty side of the pan was a lost cause, I was attempting to slice a couple servings. Well, the servings ended up in the dishwater.
What was left of the pan (and still edible), we ate happily, however.
So, as I was buying supplies at the local Wal-Mart the day I left America, I decided I would buy a few boxes of brownie mix to satisfy my - er, our - hankerings over the next few months. Buying the mix would alleviate any uncertainty as to what "baking soda" in Dutch is (do brownies call for baking soda???) - the mix called only for eggs, water, and oil. The convenience was well worth the weight in my suitcase. Perfect!
Well, of course, the hankering for brownies started as soon as walked out of Wal-Mart on Thursday. Saturday, I set out to make brownies! I had all the supplies - even a baking pan! And, I had a willing taster in Dan, who was working non-stop on his MBA paper.
I knew things wouldn't go well when I opened the bag only to have the mix go "poof" all over the kitchen. Almost a week later, I'm still finding brownie mix on the floor, on the stove, in the dish drainer. The majority ended up in the clean bowl and baking pan, however, so I continued on my merry brownie-making way.
Maybe it was the jet lag, or maybe it was the pure excitement at the thought of baking again that made me go too fast, but here is a quick recap of how my brownies turned out:
-Eggshell ala brownie.
-The lost mix was more than I originally thought - I should have put in less water, oil and egg. Chewy doesn't necessarily mean gooey.
-My oven is slanted. I promise! One half of the pan was over-baked, thin, and not chewy. The other half was extra-thick and extra-gooey.
-When the brownies were still warm, and before I realized the thin, crusty side of the pan was a lost cause, I was attempting to slice a couple servings. Well, the servings ended up in the dishwater.
What was left of the pan (and still edible), we ate happily, however.
posted by Beth at 11:39 PM
1 Comments:
Ha ha ha, such a sad yet funny story.
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