High Times

The local civic club of which I am a member sponsored an event Friday night for which I was required to bake a massive amount of dessert. I chose my go-to favorite: Brownie Bites. You take a box of brownie mix (I used four boxes, for a total of 80 Bites), follow the directions for "cake-like brownies," (usually means add one more egg), and pour the mix into mini-muffin tins.

So this time, I bought a different brand (store brands both times. They work great, as long as you don't overcook them.) But it was after a long day at work on Thursday, and I guess I was anxious to get it done. So I didn't read the box too carefully. I thought it was a little weird when it said to add three tablespoons of flour to the mix to make cake-like brownies. But hey, I figured, it all works out pretty good because I don't have enough eggs if I'm supposed to add three eggs to each box. It's a different brand, right, so maybe that's why?

My big genius move is to mix each box of mix up separately, then pour the mix into a big Ziploc bag till I have all four mixed up and ready to go. Then I cut a hole in the corner of the bag and use it like a pastry bag to fill up the muffins. It saves time on transferring the mix to the tiny tins and on cleanup, too -- works out great.

Once I'm done mixing the brownies and put the first batch in the oven (with the Ziploc bag securely in a bowl in the fridge, hole-side up, so it doesn't all leak out), I set about licking the bowl (and the extra that I didn't scrape out so I could eat it.) Mmm, tasty ... and thicker, more fudgey and delicious than usual.

Now, I like to read as I eat. The nearest thing to me is -- what else? -- the brownie mix box. And then I see it: "High-altitude directions (3,500-6,500 feet) ..."

Whoops. I think they ended up coming out none the worse for wear. They were definitely better than the ones I overcooked for this same event last year. These brownies actually looked really nice, with crackley tops. Fortunately the event on Friday was such a success that there were no brownies left over for me to try. But the mix in the bowl tasted awesome.

Attention baristas:

Attention Starbucks baristas:

It is NOT COOL to replace the regular cold-beverage lids with the wussy whipped-cream lids with the giant hole whenever you run out of regular lids.

Pay attention and order an ample supply of regular lids BEFORE you need them. Or have someone drive the 2.1 miles to the nearest other Starbucks and take a bunch of theirs.