Although this is probably a common trait that all teenagers share, I'm ashamed to say that I never cook. I would say "rarely," but I don't think boiling instant ramen or stirring a packet of cheese into macaroni counts as "cooking." I do, however, really like to bake. I bake all sorts of sweet things(taken out of a recipe book, of course). Cookies, cakes, pastries...basically whatever I feel like eating at the moment. But the thing I crave most often would have to be brownies -- the dense and chewy, but not too fudgy kind. I've made lots and lots of batches, trying to achieve this perfect taste. I've gone through countless recipe books, hoping to find the one recipe that would completely satisfy me. But for some reason, the taste was never spot-on, and I was often left sad with a tray full of so-so brownies.
One day, when I entered my Ceramics class, someone brought in brownies and set them on the table. Out of curiosity, I took a bite of one. It was amazing. I think I ate five in total, not even bothering to be polite about it. After recovering from taste shock, I asked the girl for the recipe. She laughed, gave me the weirdest look, and said, "It's from the box."
And so began my love of pre-made brownie mix and Betty Crocker.
Ever since I discovered this little box, I've been a strong supporter of brownie mix(and probably other boxed desserts that I have yet to try). It's kind of funny, because I've always thought that homemade goods were better than pre-made ones. Obviously, I had no idea what I was talking about. Not even a baking snob can say that pre-made desserts are not amazingly delicious. It's impossible!
To test this theory, and to convert one homemade brownie supporter, I made a batch of Betty Crocker's(in only a half an hour!) as a taste test. Of course, the taste-tester was speechless at first. But when I prodded him for a direct quote that I could include in this blog post, he said, "Fine. Brownies made from the box taste better than brownies made from scratch."
I told him that was too dry of a quote, and that I needed a more interesting one. So here was his revised opinion:
"I once insisted staunchly that brownies made from scratch were tastier than those made from the box. However, since then I have seen the error in my ways. No amount of traditional home-made goodness can match the sheer gastronomical assault of high fructose corn syrup and saturated fat."
As you can see, he is no longer a homemade brownie supporter. Because at the end of the day, pre-made mixes have something that homemade goods can never compare to. I honestly believe that if you go with the pre-made mixes, you'll always be satisfied. So long as you don't look at the nutrition facts.
