Ahhhhhh, Brownies

I like brownies. No, I love brownies. I love everything about brownies: the marriage of chocolate and cake, the dichotomy of the crispy top and gooey center, the aroma that wafts through the house, the feeling of comfort and home when you take your first bite. Through it all, my absolute favorite thing about brownies is actually making them from scratch. Yeah, sure, it's a lot of ingredients and measuring and mixing, but I love making brownies from scratch for this silly, simple reason. There's this magical moment towards the end where you've been mixing and stirring and mixing and stirring...with each pass of the spatula, flour and cocoa spontaneously burst from the bowl in little puffs of smoke. You stir some more and more flour and cocoa end up on your counter top than in the bowl. You've almost reached the point of throwing up your hands and driving to the local bakery for your brownie fix--it seems like the dry and wet ingredients will never mix; they're just not meant to amalgamate.
Just as you decide to throw in the towel, magic happens. All ingredients meld together in an enchanting glistening concoction of goo...and in 18-25 minutes you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor.