Humble Pie... er, Brownies

Do not, under ANY circumstances, add lemon juice to packaged brownie mix.

I happen to think that lemon ZEST adds a nice fresh-tasting subtle something to gooey, fudgy brownies (thanks Mel and Dave for introducing me to the unusual flavor combo). Lemon JUICE on the other hand -- and yes, I should have known better -- just makes the brownies sour and also wreaks havoc with their texture.

Maybe the real lesson is: Don't get creative with your baked goods when you're tired.

The worst part is that we served these brownies to company. *sigh*

The whole truth is, this company was a Chinese student Paul often discusses Chinese food with, and we had she and her roommate over for dinner because they had offered to share some of the dumplings they had made. It was sort of a last-minute arrangement, and I was exhausted Sunday when I threw together tacos and these pariah-brownies. It turns out they had never had tacos or brownies before. I'm not sure I take solace from their ignorance of brownie quality.

(We made their dumplings for dinner last night, by the way -- DELICIOUS! I hope they'll make good on their offer to teach us how to make them ourselves.)

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