OPINION: Brownies for the win

When I asked my sister how her weekend was a few weeks ago, all she could say was “too many brownies,” as she patted her girth regretfully.

It was this comment that suddenly opened my eyes to the astonishing quantity of brownies that show up all over Whitworth. Or maybe it’s all over Spokane as a whole, because we just had brownies at a church small group gathering as well.

Sodexo usually has brownies in the dining hall, small groups might choose to have brownies as a snack, people make brownies for no reason, just to hand out to people or leave on the table with a sign saying “take one.” And, since we just can’t get enough brownies, people also buy huge brownies in the coffee shop. Sometimes we even make brownies for someone to say thank you to them.

I wonder, why brownies, anyway? Why not ginger spice cake, or something more sophisticated? The answer is the same as the answer to “Why Top Ramen?” Because it’s easy. You just buy a box, add water and bake. Maybe you add other things, I don’t know, I’m not one of those brownie fiends.

Ease is the same reason I almost never make brownies. When you have to labor for something, or become aware of the different components, you enjoy the complexity of each bite. Eating brownies is about as sophisticated as eating frosting out of a can, which is sometimes what we do while we eat our brownies.

My roommate, sophomore Aileen Moore, had another potential explanation for the extreme prevalence of brownies:

“I think its something about the northwest that we just want our ooey-gooey chocolate; it’s like our mud puddles,” she said.

That might be it ... but let’s just stick with easy.

At least some of us get creative with our brownies. A guy in Mac sometimes makes brownies for the Ballard babes, but he bakes them with peanut butter swirled in, which is delicious.

Let’s change up the routine a bit; make brownies classy, like the originals. The first brownies were served with an apricot glaze. I bet they weren’t made from a box.

In general, Whitworth is lacking in the savory. Our meals, while they are decent and we appreciate them, usually don’t have the kind of flavor that one wants to sit, contemplate and delight in. And our sweets are usually about as simple as sugar can get. Even fruity desserts taste more like syrup. In this context, it is no wonder that brownies get so much of our attention.

Anyway, we all love us some brownies, so what’s wrong with that? Nothing. Although I’m not the biggest fan, I still love to eat the edges because they are chewy. The only problem I see is when we have visitors not yet accustomed to the typical Whitworth brownie intake and they leave with a tummy-ache, because it’s the only thing that we equate with “refreshments.” Even if you like brownies, they certainly aren’t refreshing.

Even though I don’t like how many we have, it’s still fine that we have them. As long as we still like them, we can all keep making them and eating them until our skin turns gooey and brown. What we need to be careful of, though, is letting that be the only thing we repetitively offer our guests. We need to show them that we can be a little more sophisticated than that. But then again, who likes false advertising?

Wheeler is a sophomore majoring in English. Comments can be sent to jacquelyn.wheeler@whitworthian.com.

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