Food: My First Ever Attempt at Baking

I am happy to say i was successfully able to bake my first ever batch of brownies! Well ok, so i had a little help from Betty Crocker but 90% of the effort was really all me. haha. 

Everybody knows i looove to cook. Hubby thinks i make the meanest adobo, spicy prawns, lasagna and kaldereta. I cook more by taste than by measurement. This is why if you ask me for recipes, i would most probably only give you a rundown of the different ingredients used, without the measurements. It is because of this inability to follow accurate measurements that I DON'T, and am not able to bake. 

It is that time of the month again when i get all hormonal and start craving for sweets, to the point where i even dream about it. Just yesterday, during my afternoon nap, I dreamt i was being chased by cupcakes. So today, when the cravings started kicking in again, i was frantically looking for something sweet to eat or cook all over the house. I was really craving for cupcakes (from the dream i had last night), but this was something i could not have immediately, and i wanted something, anything, sweet ASAP. 

I was already bent on making Caramelized Plantains with Vanilla, or more locally known as Minatamis na Saging... I just wanted to give the name of the dish a bit more flair (an after effect of watching too much Master Chef). So again, i was already bent on making minatamis na saging and as i was scouring our pantry for vanilla essence, there it was, in all its glory, a box of Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie mix. 

I don't recall me or hubby buying this so just to make it sure it wasn't bought 4 years ago and is probably already expired, i made sure to double check on the expiration date. Thankfully, the mix won't expire until December 2011. Perfect! Except that i don't bake.... The instruction at the back of the box was pretty straight forward and seemed easy to do though: 

I figured, if i am able to successfully make lasagna, this would be a breeze to do. Besides, the instruction simply said, Heat, Stir and Bake! Because i am terrible at following exact measurements, i did not even attempt to do so with these brownies, this is apart from the fact that i do not own any piece of measuring tool in my kitchen. Unbelievable? Believe it. So again, i went with gut feel and just estimated how 1/4 or 2/3 of a cup would look like. I know this is a cardinal sin in baking but who would mind really? My stomach sure wont. I was not able to take a picture of the brownie mixture after i stirred all the ingredients together because i just got so psyched with the possibility of my first baking attempt being a success. Was it? You be the judge... 

Betty Crocker is a miracle from heaven! The brownies came out really chewy and very very chocolaty! Yum! A definite sweet fix for my cravings. A box of this mix is really cheap, only about P150++ And it's SUPER easy to do, i can probably make this again blindfolded!

Will i repurchase? Definitely YES! Will this make me reconsider baking? Definitely NO. I'll stick to pre-packaged mixes, thank you. This is only what my very limited skills at baking would allow me to do. 


So my first attempt at baking? A definite success! I sure deserve brownie points for this....


Enjoy the rest of your Sunday evening loves!