June 13, 2011

Oreo Brownies and Apartment Hunting

The search for a new place to live is a pain no matter when you have to do it or what you’re looking for.  This process is made especially difficult by people who lack basic communication skills.  I am currently in the unfortunate position of having to look for a shared apartment with roommates and the interactions I’ve had with some people during my search is enough to make me want to live in a cardboard box under a bridge.  At least then I’d have the place all to myself.

I have spent the past weekend trekking all over the city from place to place, checking out apartments and having interviews with potential roommates.  It’s not enough for me to like a place, the roommates have to like me back.  So far the stars have not aligned for both of those things to happen.  Many of my encounters with potential housemates could have been avoided altogether if people would simply learn to write a proper roommate wanted ad.  For example:

-If you’re a vegetarian, or worse, a vegan and you don’t want animal products cooked in your kitchen, you should probably mention this upfront.  It saves us both a lot of time and energy. 
-If your basement apartment has low ceilings and can only accommodate people who are 5’5 or shorter, this is an important point to note!  But furthermore, when I tell you I’m 6’2, and inquire as to whether or not this will be a suitable apartment, you should NOT encourage me to come check the place out.  I will be angry when I walk in and bash my head. 
-If your apartment is directly beside a college bar that is notorious for it’s massive crowds of underage students who puke on the street at 3am and cause a general ruckus, you can’t hide that.  I will in fact notice that this is the case when I come to see the apartment, even if you’ve planned our meeting for 2pm on a Monday. 
-If you have animals in the apartment and do not care for them properly, you should probably only try to rent to someone without a sense of smell as there is not enough febreeze in the world to cover up that odour.  Once again, this is something I will notice. 

If we actually get to the point where we’re having a little chat to see if we’re compatible on some small level, please choose your interview questions with a smidgen of thought.  I don’t think you’ll ever have someone admit to bringing home randos at three in the morning or being kicked out of their last apartment or skipping rent payments, but thanks for asking, (for the record, the answer to all three questions is no).

If someone would just gift me with an awesome 1 bedroom apartment to myself, that would be great.  Until then, I’ll be eating these oreo brownies.  They’re pretty fantastic and fudgy and filled with oreos and I could easily have eaten the whole pan after a day of hiking around to look at apartments.

Cookies n’ Cream Brownies (from Baking Bites)
1 cup butter
6 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups oreo-type cookies, coarsely chopped (approx 20-24)
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, and grease lightly.
In a medium-large saucepan over low heat, melt together butter and chocolate, stirring occasionally. Whisk in sugar, salt and vanilla, then turn off heat. Whisk in eggs one at a time, waiting until each is fully incorporated before adding the next.
Stir in flour and cocoa powder until mixture is uniform. Fold in chopped oreo cookies and pour batter into prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Crush 3-4 additional cookies finely and sprinkle on top of batter, if desired.
Bake for about 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs, but not coated with batter.
Cool brownies in pan for about 20 minutes, then carefully lift brownies out of the pan using the aluminum foil as a handle and place on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Makes 36 brownies (or 48 bite-sized brownies).

10 comments:

Tara said...

Those brownies look amazing! I feel your pain - I've been on both sides of the apartment hunt and it isn't much fun either way... Hope you find somewhere soon :) *fingers crossed*

K and S said...

gosh what a traumatization looking for an apartment, I'm glad you have these brownies to keep you sane...take care!

Beth said...

Ouch! That sounds painful. Good luck finding an apartment. In the meantime, the brownies are quite a consolation prize.

Redpath Sugar said...

These look so delicious! We've posted them on our Facebook page! :)

- Anna

https://www.facebook.com/redpathsugar

Amanda said...

Oh, I don't envy you trekking around looking for a home. Now wonder you had to make these brownies - I'll bet they helped in some small way.

Maggie said...

The Oreo Brownies look fabulous and I couldn't possibly stop at eating just one piece.

Paola Westbeek said...

Oh my! This looks sinfully delicious! A must-try!

la empanada lover said...

Awesomely good brownies with a touch of oreo! Looking for an comfortable apartment is not an easy thing to do. :)

Culinary Collage said...

These brownies looks delicious. I'm always looking for new brownie recipes.....thanks!

Tina said...

Hello! I came across your blog while looking for tips on apartment searching! I was looking through one of these sites and took a little break to read a few blogs. I just wanted to say, thanks for the laugh. You make a great point about important things to include in your roomate ad. :) I just might be hooked on your blog now, lol. Thanks!