Angie’s away on a business trip so I am baking for her today. What I have in common with Angie and the rest of the Julias is the extreme sport of breeding boys.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get the German Chocolate cookies (noted by the authors as the easiest recipe in the book) but fortunately I didn’t get the Lemon Meringue Tarts either. Anything with the word meringue is complicated. I know this because my mom could never figure out how to make my grandma’s “puffy cookies” after she passed.
Anyway, Angie emailed the recipe to me at work yesterday. I read it quickly and was relieved to find out I had all the ingredients at home, including a zesting tool. Pretty impressive for a non-baker, huh? But what I did need to buy was some good baking sheets. The ones I have are warped, discolored and only good for heating frozen food. I also figured I needed a little somethin’-somethin’ to impress the Julias. So I used Cote D’Or Orange Noir chocolate from France. I just happened to have some in the house because a friend had brought me some back from her recent vacation in the south of France. I thought the orange flavor would enhance the zest already called for in the recipe. Plus the smoothness of this chocolate would make my cookies way more decadent than if I used baker’s chocolate.
I started mixing ingredients at 9:00pm last night since we had to be at the chess tournament all day today. But because I had to refrigerate the dough after every step I still wasn’t finished at midnight. I decided to go to sleep during a “chill” phase and finish in the morning. It wasn’t until 5:00am that I discovered my brand new, professional grade baking pans don’t fit in my oven!! Bleep! I baked the cookies anyway and delivered my samples to the Julias who were all at the tournament today.
A lot of cursing and not a lot of sleep- this is why I don’t like to bake! However, if I take a step back… I helped a friend out in a jam, supported two women’s dream by getting a cookbook, brought smiles to my husband and kids, brought back memories of my grandmother, blogged for the first time, and got to know each of the Julias a little better through the whole experience. For me, the experience was really not all about the cookies….
Thanks girls for giving me the chance to be part of your story!
Theresa
You are the best. I laughed out loud about the cookie sheet incident. What a bummer! I was even more impressed that you had them done and delivered by 8:30 this am. I would have for sure put it off. I'm so glad your a planner and to even step it up a notch with the Chocolate from France. oh lala!
ReplyDeleteTheresa, It was fun reading your blog. The french chocolate!!! I can't imagine how good that was.
ReplyDeleteI love reading others' experiences in the baking process. Thank you for adding your touch to the on-going joy of this adventure.
L. Sharon
Theresa,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry for all of the snafu's on your baking adventure, I have realized those obstacles usually make the best stories though. You did an awesome job with this cokie!! Yummy.
Thanks for taking over for Angie, maybe when you exchange your cookie sheets you will make some more of the recipe's.
Danielle G.
Your decadent French somethin' somethin' you added to the recipe sounds irrestible! I'll bet they were delicious. For a non-baker you met the challenge in spite of the obstacles and came through with flying colors! From one Theresa to another, congratulations on a funny story and a job well done.
ReplyDeleteTheresa, that was the funniest blog yet! Too bad you didn't get to do the nut balls because I'm sure that blog would have been hilarious! The cookies were delicious and so impressive looking that I may have to try this recipe out at some point in time. I'm glad you had fun with it!
ReplyDeleteTheresa, you are so witty and fun. I too loved reading your blog! You totally caught me off guard, blew me away, and made me speechless when you handed me cookies at 9am! I'm glad you were able to accomplish it all inspite of the obstacles and a very busy day. Thanks for being part of the journey!
ReplyDelete