Botched Attempt at Brownies

September 8th, 2009

I’ve been craving sweets something serious lately. Although there are some sweets such as ice cream, candy, and simple cakes available in my town, I still haven’t been able to find the types of sweets to satisfy the sweet tooth I’ve developed recently. Anyone that knows me from the states can attest to the fact that I usually don’t eat a ton of sweets, but for some reason here, I’ve been craving them lately.

I acquired a few recipes from Nurse Mary who is infamous for good sweets and set about making some brownies. My host sister, Tati, and I followed the instructions and made the brownies. The recipe called for a 9 X 13 inch pan. I measured a few of the pans available and picked the closest one. It seemed a bit small but since I had measured it, I didn’t think anything about it. Somehow I read the 9 X 13 part wrong and instead measured for a 7 X 9 or so pan. Don’t ask me how that happened. It just did. As the pan was deep and not long or wide enough, the top burned and the middle didn’t cook. So Tati and I improvised. We removed the top part and poured the remainder in a bigger, shallower pan, and re-cooked the brownies. They didn’t come out thick, soft and fluffy as I had hoped for, but regardless were pretty good in the end.

Carlos came over and inquired what they were. I told him they were called “brownies,” or “marroncitos,” and told him to try them. I ensured him he would like them. Paraguayans in general are pretty resistant to change and to trying new things. He resisted at first, saying, “No! No! I don’t know what that is.” “No, I don’t want to try it.” He kept resisting and I kept insisting. I told him they were sweet and just to try one, and pretty much forced him into it.

It was like watching a crack addict take his first hit. He had one taste and subsequently nearly ate the whole pan.

Here is a picture of Carlos for reference of why I knew he was prone to liking the brownies and how he was capable of nearly finishing off the pan singlehandedly.