Life's What You Bake It

I have not always been a woman obsessed with baking cookies. 

There was a time when I was a child merely fascinated by it.  This was back when it was still okay to give your kid St. Joseph's children's asprin and long enough ago that my parents' kitchen appears "vintage" and my mother's apron decidedly retro:

Mom and me

I spent happy days in our square eat-in kitchen while the double oven pre-heated, the Mixmaster whirred, and I helped Mom sift flour and open packages of chocolate chips.  Over the years, I've learned a few things:

1.  Why wait for someone to bake for you when you can do it yourself?  I was in kindergarten when I got my Easy Bake Oven.  I immediately made myself a birthday cake:

Impatient?  Maybe.  I prefer the term self starter.  I would rather have Mom bake me a birthday cake (her chocolate birthday cake with chocolate icing makes everything right in the world), but sometimes we all just need to do things for ourselves.  Even when we are in kindergarten.  Even when we are not in the kitchen.  All of us need reminding about Lesson 1 from time to time. 

2.  There are no mistakes. Only revelations (some of which should not be repeated).  By kindergarten I had tired of the packets of pre-measured cake mix that came with my beloved Easy Bake Oven. 

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 I started experimenting with my own creations.  Unaware of the difference between halving and doubling, some recipes were more successful than others.  (Mom let me figure it out on my own.)  I remember one "cake" I made with my bestie, Holly.  (Holly had the best dress up clothes and best dollhouse in the whole world.)  One recipe we tried tasted like gingerbread, but what fascinated me was that there was no ginger in it.  At all.  By the next day it had turned green.  Luckily, we did not.  A little adventure is a good thing;  get too far outside your comfort zone, though, and you risk turning yourself or something else green.  Don't say I didn't warn you. (Willy Wonka and Violet Beauregard would agree.)

3.  Electrical fires are put out with flour.  Some lessons are practical.  By elementary school I decided to try my hand at baking.  Alone.  (See Lesson 1.) It was Saturday morning, and I was supposed to be watching cartoons while my parents were out.  Instead, I saw an ad for cookies (damn Keebler elves), and realized I wanted cookies, not cartoons.  To this day, I believe it would all have been fine if only Mom had not left greasy paper towels in the bottom of the oven (who does that!?).  It was not my fault the paper towels caught fire while the oven preheated.  Not at all.  Those paper towels should not have been there in the first place.  And yes, it would have been better if I put out the fire in the electric oven with flour rather than water.  But I did put it out! 

4.  Start with the basics.  Here is the the world's greatest chocolate chip cookie recipe (my mom's).  Mom claims that she "just uses the old Toll House recipe," but I beg to differ. (If you are having trouble reading the recipe cards, you can scroll to the end of this post for the typed version.)

She wrote the recipe out for me in 1992, which (I am willing to confess) is the year I graduated from college. Generally speaking, I recommend we all set out with the basics (please, thank you, clean underwear, a new toothbrush, and a good cookie recipe) whenever starting something new, whether graduating from college or sending your child off to college.

5. Life's what you bake it.  You can follow the best recipe,  use the best ingredients, and bake the best cookies, but it's no good if you don't share the love.  Make the time; bake the cookies.  Make a mess, leave it there.  Set the timer, go outside for 10 minutes while they bake.  When you walk back in, the smell of baking cookies will wrap around you like your mother's arms on a cold winter day.  You'll feel like a kid again.  Pour a glass of cold milk.  Take those cookies out; let them cool.  Have two.  Save two for each member of your family.  Then, wrap up the rest and share.  Take them to your neighbor. The firehouse.  The homeless shelter two towns over or your child's teacher.  Make your corner of the world a happier place.  Share the love, because that's why we're here.  Besides, everyone wants just one more cookie.

World's Greatest Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cream:

1 stick unsalted butter

1/2 c. brown sugar (packed)

1/2 c. white sugar

Add:

2 eggs

Combine:

2 3/4 c. flour

1 tea. baking soda

1 tea. salt

1 ½ tea. vanilla

1 c. semi-sweet choc. chips

1 c. dark chocolate chips

½-3/4 c. milk chocolate chips

Drop cookies by the teaspoonful onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12-13 min.  or less, depending on your oven.  Makes about 1 1/2 doz. to 2 doz., depending on how big you make the cookies.  I strongly suggest that you have milk on hand before you eat any.