Fattening Up

My in-laws got me this Brownie Mix Bliss cookbook for Christmas, and it is the devil! Man do they know me well, or what! We had invited another couple over for New Years Eve and were planning to go to another couple's house for New Years Day. I decided that since we'd be around so many people in the coming days that it would be a great time for me to try out a few recipes from the cookbook. Four boxes of brownie mix and a few hours later, we were surrounded by a pan each of Rum Brownies, Cookies & Cream Brownies, Gingerbread Brownies, and 3.5 dozen Triple Chocolate Oatmeal Brownies. This book is to a Chocoholic what drive-in liquor stores are to an Alcoholic...they just make it too darn easy to get your fix! All of the recipes in this book start with a prepackaged box of brownie mix. Add to that a few pantry and refrigerator staples (eggs, butter/oil, vanilla, etc.) and you end up with desserts that can be made at a moment's notice.

Sounds good, right? Ughh...no! It turns out that the guests who were coming over on NYE decided not to come for dinner and really didn't eat much while they were here. Then on New Year's Day, we ended up being the only couple at the party besides the hosts. Fortunately, we were sneaky and took a whole bunch to the party and managed to leave it there (Hi Cortney and Larry!). Unfortunately, we've still got about a pan and a half of random brownies and a dozen or so cookies sitting around. So much for New Year's Resolutions! I should have left the cookbook in St. Louis and brought my sewing machine back instead leaving me 10 pounds lighter and snuggled under a new quilt!