Brownies.

This is going to be a super-fluff piece all about my love of brownies.  Sorry if it's too frivolous, but I felt the need to sing the praises of the best dessert - EVER.

I have always loved brownies.  After about the age of 10 or so, they became my birthday cake.  When my dad retired, he'd make these Rocky Road brownies that were TO DIE FOR.  He even omitted the nuts - because (and I know I face opposition on this opinion) no dessert should ever contain nuts.  Not in ice cream, not in cookies, not in cake and certainly not in brownies.  Why mess with a beautiful thing?  Mixed nuts are fine on their own - just not in my chocolate.

About ten years ago or so, at the height of my laziness, I would just make a batch of brownie dough and eat it in front of the TV.  Thankfully, I've seen the error of my ways (and my waistline!) and ended that practice.  But there's a reason that Hunt's pudding makes a "Brownie Dough" flavor - because, aside from cookie dough, brownie dough is as close to Nirvana as we're ever going to get here on Earth.  Yeah, yeah, spare me your lectures about salmonella - for brownie dough, I will gladly ingest raw eggs.

Since I've been working from home, I've made a few batches of cookies, pies, and breads.  But the hit of the family seems to be these brownies!  If I can make Brian and my friends and family happy with a mere pan of brownies, I'm happy to do it.  Aside from the dirty dishes (which Brian happily takes care of in the trade-off), they're no problem whatsoever.

According to Wikipedia, the first brownie was served at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.  Get this - it was served with an apricot glaze and walnuts.  Say what?  Now why would they go and ruin a perfectly good brownie with walnuts?!  Apricot glaze I can see on a pound cake, but a brownie?  Not so much.  Of course, Wiki also has a link to hash brownies.  I've never had them myself, but that may take the brownie experience to a whole new level.  And I can imagine that they just may be the best @*!(^%* brownies you'll ever have in your life.

If there is an afterlife, there will be brownies there (at least in my version of it).  And The Big Cheese will ask me for my recipe in exchange for his/her recipe for Nanaimo bars.  Because, little-known fact, God is Canadian.  :D