Heya! I'm back! I miss sharing about my food escapades with you all.... so it's good to be back. The YISS (Youth in the Spirit Seminar) ended yesterday and it was a great success. I feel so recharged and am glad I decided to be a facilitator once again. I made lots of new friends and I had fun manning my 'cafe booth' during the Chillax segment of the camp.
Okay Chillax is actually a 2 hour 'activity' during the camp that we have specially prepared for all the participants. It's kinda like time for them to rest & relax. There are booths where you can have your nails done, get a good massage, buy stuff from the flea market, play soccer or table tennis etc. And for those who have been reading this foodblog long enough would know that we had this last year too, including a cafe booth! Of which I'm in charge yet again of course.
And so this year, I decided to bake more cookies to sell. The camp started last Thursday and that means I had to bake on Wednesday. Since I wanted to ensure that everyone could get a taste of my cookies, I had to bake ALOT of them. Did I end up baking alot? Indeed I did. I started baking at 1pm on Wednesday and ended only at 9pm! Haha, okay cookies ain't that difficult so why did I take so long? Thanks to my good 'ol small oven of course. I really should get a bigger oven!
But anyway, I had fun baking the cookies because I also got a chance to teach lil timmy some baking tips as well. He was so curious and kept on asking me what I was doing. He's so inspired that he wants to be a baker when he grows up. Awww.... Man, don't you just love kids? I know I do. :)
On another note altogether, let me just say how much I've come to appreciate the concept of 'mise en place'. It's actually a French term referring to having all the ingredients necessary for a dish prepared and ready to combine up to the point of cooking.
Now, I never really used to practise mise en place properly and always ended up being nagged by my mum about the big mess in the kitchen. So this time, I tried to do things systematically and guess what? It worked. Everything went like clockwork. I'm quite proud of myself. It used to be rather daunting to bake or cook a large quantity but I suppose practice makes perfect.
You know how much I love baking! And the thing about it is the more I bake, the more I love it. It's a skill that I've come to love and I'm keen on being a good baker. I know that I have no prior qualifications but if I work hard enough I will fulfill my bakery dream soon enough.
Anyway I've put together a photo essay of sorts with regards to the cookie baking marathon i had! enjoy....
Ligo raisins are my favourite choice for baking. I used these to bake my oatmeal raisin cookies.
Check out the aftermath.
what's that? it's peanut butter cookie dough! it smells so good i tell you. but you gotta be nuts about nuts first. hehe..
my oatmeal raisin cookies getting ready to be baked in a 180 degree celcius oven.
Ta-dah! Freshly baked oatmeal raisin cookies. I seriously think that oats are sexy. hahaa don't ask me why. they just are. :p
selling my cookies at the camp
I just named my peanut butter cookies "Nuts about Nuts". Trying too hard to be creative I guess. Don't laugh.
I named these "Healthy Oatie Delight". Hey they are healthy! The recipe called for 2 cups of sugar (gasp!!) but I used only half the amount. That's because the raisins would already give the cookies some sweetness... 2 cups sugar is just overkill. And hey these cookies contain wheatgerm! beat that!
Last but not least, my chocolate chunk cookies which I just christened "Chunky Chocs". Phew, talk about a great cookie challenge. I think this 'marathon' kinda made up for me not baking so often during school term.
Allrighty, hope you enjoyed the pictures... laterz!
Waow, that must have given you a lot of work!
ReplyDeleteYour cookies are absolutely beautiful! I love the way those Peanut Cokkies look; perfect!
hello! I think only people who really love baking can last that long. there was once my class and I were doing some fundraising. and I had to bake alot. abt 400 cookies? and I started at abt 4 and turned off my oven slightly before midnight. but it's real fun baking, isn't it? =)
ReplyDeleteRosa: it was tiring! i hardly had time to sit down. my legs ached after that. but it was worth it. it's always a great joy to bake for others! do you like peanut butter cookies? you should try out the recipe! :)
ReplyDeleteClaire: hahaa, wow 400 cookies is alot. your oven had better be bigger than mine. but yea, baking is indeed fun. i love it! i can bake in my sleep :p
I would LOVE to taste all those cookies! They look SOOOOO yummy!
ReplyDeletei am not into cookies and peanuts or rasin, etc. Find them heaty and uncomfortable for the throat. Having said that, i still like to say those cookies looks fabulous! Can feel the crispyness in those pictures!
ReplyDeleteThese all look fantastic! My oatmeal raisin cookies tend to spread and get thin and crunchy - yours look like they kept their shape and stayed chewy. Do you think it's because you reduced the amount of sugar?
ReplyDeleteShelly: i could always bake some for you! you don't live that far away.. haha
ReplyDeleteastroboy: you're not into cookies? you're missing out! you should try these :)
Gigi: Hmmm perhaps! Yea, I also prefer my oatmeal cookies chewy. I think it also depends how you shape the dough. If you use lesser dough, it tends to bake faster and spreads thinner depending on consistency of the dough. Why don't you try baking these :) and tell me how it went ya...
I love love peanut butter! Would it be possible to share your peanut butter cookie recipe? THey look sooooo good! Thanks!
ReplyDelete