Brownies-Shmownies...

I should be packing right now for our trip to Ohio. Pack-schmack. It can wait (until the night before we leave and then I'll be up all night packing and then re-packing.) Nope. I'd rather make Ghiradelli brownies (thanks Melissa) with Bryce.

Having more than 12" of counter space (old house) makes baking or doing any kind of project in the kitchen so much easier. Bryce pulled up a chair, I put a towel down (lesson learned from making the Mother's Day cake) and we were crackin' eggs!

Of course Bryce is ready to dig in to the mix and wants to start stirring the ingredients in the bowl. I had to keep him occupied with his own spoon and the measuring cup with a little bit of brownie mix and water in it. That kept him entertained for about point zero seconds. He just wanted to stir the real brownie mix. So he stirred while I tried to keep him from falling off the chair.

(in your best vampire voice): "I vant to lick your spoon"

He had to sneak in a lick or three, but so did I. Brownie and cake mix is almost better than the final product! So we stirred, licked, and greased the pan and then poured the batter into the pan (which was the wrong size but I thought I would take a chance and use what we had.) Worked out just fine.

Mike wanted to pitch in too. Actually, he just wanted to be in a picture with the little man so he hoisted Bryce up in his arms and they both put the brownies in the oven (don't worry, put the phone down...no need to call child services. Mike put the pan in the oven letting Bryce know that it was hot and that they had to be careful.)

We licked the spoon some more and I worked on the leftovers in the bowl while Mike warned me that I would get worms because of the raw ingredients. He's been telling me I would get worms for over 10 years. No worries, worm free. :)

Bryce was exhausted, fussy, covered in batter and probably had a little chocolate buzz by the time the timer went off (we set it for 30 minutes but I checked them at 24 minutes and they were done.)

All I can say is "PURE HEAVEN." If you have never eaten hot, Ghiradelli brownies, you haven't lived and I will be more than happy to bake some for you (One rule though- I get to lick the bowl!)

Enough rambling on about delicious brownies (eaten at 9:45 p.m. at night...which is fine if you are not a 17 month old whose parents are trying to get you to calm down and go "night night.")

Thanks Melissa for the "inspiration" (basically you suck for bringing in a bite for me to get my craving level up to a "must have or will die." 'Preciate it.

As a thank you, I am bringing the brownies in that survived the attack. Hopefully brownies are in the "Can eats" column of your diet. Diet-Shmiet.