The Chocolate Chip Cookie Mess

Eloise Deacon #7      6.2

ELA- Food Memoir

6/4/2016

As I walked to the kitchen where the walls were as white as pure copy paper, with a table looking like bark on a tree, and water dripping from the sink faucet, my nose detected a sweet, warm, and welcoming smell.

What could it possibly be? What was my mother making this time? Chicken? Pancakes? Croissants? Cupcakes? Waffles? Garlic Bread? Pizza? What in the world was that delightful smell coming from my small, but loved kitchen?

I walked deeper into the tiny kitchen, desperate to find out what the delightful smell was. I went near the oven and turned on the oven light.

Was it real? Was I dreaming? I was brought back to reality when I heard my mother’s voice.

“The first batch of cookies are already baked and are sitting on the window counter, cooling down. The second batch are still in the oven, but you can taste a cookie from the first batch, if you want.”

I sprinted to the window where the cookies waited patiently on the window counter. They sat still in the soothing breeze of the wind, cooling down. I picked one up carefully, afraid to drop it or make it break apart.

Once I took my first bite, I felt like I was in paradise.

“These cookies are so yummy!” I yelled to my mom.

“Unfortunately, I cannot have any because they contain gluten, but can you tell your brother to come downstairs, so he can also try one?” she asked me.

I wondered whether or not I should have told my brother to come downstairs and try a cookie. I mean, they were good, too good in fact. I didn't want him to have one, because he would want more, and he’d end up eating all of them. Then, I wouldn't have any cookies left.

After three minutes of deep thinking, I decided to let my brother taste a cookie.

“Pierre! Mom made cookies! There's chocolate chip cookies and plain cookies! Come downstairs if you want one, but you can only have one because I only had one!” I yelled.

I heard his footsteps as he ran down the stairs. “Where...are...they?” he asked when he reached the bottom of the stairs, trying to catch his breath. I pointed to the window counter in the kitchen and followed behind him as he walked there.

“Hi Pierre, the chocolate chip cookies are still in the oven and the non-chocolate chip cookies are on a tray on the window counter,” our mom said.

“I want a chocolate chip cookie!” Pierre said excitedly.

“Okay, but you have to wait until they are done baking,” she replied.

“I want one now!” Pierre shouted.

“Just take one of the non-chocolate chip cookies for now, sweetie. The chocolate chip cookies will be done baking soon, but I have to get ready for work now.”

“No!” he screamed while jumping up and down, starting to get mad.

I picked up the tray full of flavorless, but delicious cookies and walked over to my brother.

“Here, take one. They're the best cookies ever! I had one before.” He looked like he was about to cry now, so I picked up a cookie and held it out for him to take it.

Smash! Boom! Crash! Pierre smacked the tray of cookies out of my hands and all of the cookies were laying on the floor, broken into so many pieces.

“Pierre! I have work and now I have to clean up your mess! Say sorry,” my mom told him.

A few seconds later, my brother said, “sorry cookies,” and started picking them up. I laughed hysterically since I knew that my mom wanted my brother to say sorry to her, and I wasn't expecting him to say sorry to the cookies.

My brother, my mom, and I finished cleaning up the cookie mess, just in time for the chocolate chip cookies to be ready for eating.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate Chips
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons hot water
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour and chocolate chips. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.
4. Enjoy!

The Amazing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

My oatmeal raisin cookies were crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. What I thought that would turn out as bad tasting cookies, since it was my first time making cookies from scratch, actually turned out to be probably the best cookies that I have ever made. All I had to do was follow the delicious recipe carefully.

It was a cold weekend in the middle of winter break when I came up with the idea of making oatmeal raisin cookies for my dad. The idea popped into my head when my dad mentioned this bakery that he passed by and the bakery had really good oatmeal raisin cookies. Oatmeal raisin cookies were his favorite type of cookies. I spent about an hour looking for the perfect recipe. I finally found a recipe on YouTube by Inspired Taste. Thankfully, I had all the ingredients, except for two, the brown sugar and the butter, which I bought at my local supermarket by myself.

I preheated my oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and greased my two baking pans with my warm butter. It didn’t take much time for the oven to preheat itself because my mom just finished baking something else. The short hallway floor was covered with pots, since my family stores all of the pots in  the oven when we are not using them.

The small kitchen was hot, even though the window was open, bringing in the cold air.

Before I started my process of making my cookies, I washed all the dirty dishes in the sink so when I put the cookies in the oven, I wouldn’t have too much to wash. My sink was near the window, so it was a bit cooler near the sink. There was a cold breeze that lightly swept on my cheek, sending a shiver through my body.

I took out two metal bowls from a wooden cabinet that was under my sink. One bowl for the dry ingredients and another bowl for the wet ingredients. I also took out another small metal bowl to put my raisins in to soak in 1 cup of  hot water so they could become plump. I then started beating ¾ cups of butter and 1 cup of brown sugar together until the mixture was creamy. I glanced up at the clock after two minutes and noticed that the mixture was becoming creamy. I cracked an egg and added it with 1½ teaspoons of vanilla extract to the butter and sugar mixer and beat it for about 1 minute. Next, in the other bowl, I whisked together ¾ cups of all-purpose flour, ½ a teaspoon of baking soda, ½ a teaspoon of salt, ½ a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and ⅛ of a teaspoon of nutmeg. After that, I added 3 cups of rolled oats slowly to the dry ingredients. I added the oat mixture to the butter and sugar mixture slowly. Finally, I drained the raisins, and with my spatula, I stirred the raisins into the cookie mixture.

I molded the cookie mixture into 2 tablespoon thick balls and put them on a greased pan were the cookies were 2 inches apart from each other. I pressed the cookie mixture down lightly so they would become flatter. The cookies were about ½ an inch thick when I flattened them. I also put on extra raisins on the top of the cookies for decoration. Lastly, I put the cookies in the oven for 10 - 14 minutes or until the edges of my cookies were light golden brown around the edges and the inside of the cookie was still soft. I cleaned up the dirty utensils and bowls. I ended up using a lot of paper towels. There were random pieces of the cookie mixture in random places which I also had to clean up.

I realized that I didn't use packed light brown sugar as the recipe asked for. Packed light brown sugar is easier to mold together, but regular brown sugar worked just as fine for me, except regular brown sugar didn't hold the cookies together as good as packed light brown sugar would have.

After a while, the whole house was filled with the nice smell of the cookies. The cookies smelled like paradise. Luckily, I had time to clean the mess I made in the kitchen while the cookies were in the oven. Once I got everything cleaned up, the cookies were ready.

“Papi! Mis galletas estan listas! Puedes sacar las galletas del horno para mi?  My cookies are ready! Can you take them out of the oven for me?” I shouted to my dad who was in his room.

“Si! Voy estar ahi! Yah! I will be right there!” my dad said in Spanish.

My dad carefully took the cookies out of the oven with his oven gloves. I left the cookies on the pan to let them cool for at least 10-15 minutes.

When they were cooler, I took them off of the pan. They came off really easily since I greased the pan with a lot of butter. My family was dying to get a bite of the cookies because the cookies smelled so good.

"Mmm... Those cookies smell so good. I can't wait to get one," my brother said.

I gave each of my family members one.

"These are so good. Aunque la proxima vez usa menos azúcar. Though, next time you should use less sugar," my mom said. My mom was always picky about the amount of sugar in her food.

Me and my brother shared another cookie because we loved the cookies. The cookies were so good and they reminded me of Christmas because of all the nice spices that that you would use in traditional Christmas recipes like cinnamon in hot chocolate. I was obviously going to use the recipe again. Me and my brother ended up getting nicely stuffed with cookies that night.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookie Recipe with Raisins

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 12 minutes

Total time: 27 minutes

Yield: 16 cookies

You Will Need:

• 1 cup raisins (optional)

• 1 cup hot water (if using raisins)
• 3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature (1 1/2 sticks)
• 1 cup (210 grams) packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup (110 grams) all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 cups (270 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Add raisins to a small bowl then cover with hot water. The hot water helps the raisins to become plump and juicy. Set the bowl aside for about 10 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, beat the room temperature butter and sugar with a hand blender until creamy, about 2 minutes. (You can also use a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment).
4. Add the egg and 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract then beat until combined, about 1 minute.

5. In another bowl, use a whisk to combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Next, add the oats then stir until well combined.
6. Now, add the oat mixture to the butter and sugar mixture in thirds, beating after each addition until incorporated.

7. Drain the raisins then gently press down or squeeze them to remove any extra water. Stir them into the cookie batter. (Use a spatula or spoon for this, not the mixer).
8. Drop dough by two tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. (You can also use a large cookie scoop for this). Then, wet the tips of your fingers with water and gently press cookies down until they are about 1/2-inch thick. If some of the cookies have no raisins showing on top, steal a few raisins from the bowl and add to the tops of the cookies (they are prettier this way).

9. Bake cookies 10 to 14 minutes or until the edges are light golden brown, the center is still soft. Cool cookies on baking sheet for 10 minutes then move to a cooling rack and cool completely.

http://www.inspiredtaste.net/easyrecipe-print/18596-0/

Magnificent Sugar Cookies

Amalia Dayle

  I woke up at 7:00 AM  determined to have an amazing Christmas Eve. I was sitting on the sofa the cold air brushed on me. I stopped and thought. What is something I can do to make this day special ? People have countless traditions, things people do that are really significant to them and their families. Suddenly, a burst of inspiration came to me.My brain filled with excitment. “Come Davida !” I shouted to the other room so my sister was able to hear me. She turned off the movie she was watching on her ipad and came to see what was going on. I quickly explained my plan to her. “Amalia, making sugar cookies is an amazing idea!”

   Together we paraded into the kitchen. It’s a small part of my living room with a stove, an oven, a fridge, cupboards, and a sink. “But wait, how are we going to find the recipe?” I thought. “Davida grab your ipad” I say. She went in the bedroom and got her Ipad. She came back with her Ipad in her hands. Quickly I took it and searched up “sugar cookie recipe”. We searched and searched until we found the perfect recipe. “ Chewy Christmas Cookies,” the website stated. “Ok,Davida get the ingredients” We both opened  the fridge and got the flour,sugar,baking soda,butter eggs and vanilla. Then we brought out our tools,measuring cup, measuring spoon, two big bowls and a whisk.

    We measured all the of the ingredients and put them in separate containers so we could easily distinguish them. My sister turned up the oven to preheat it to 350°. I could tell she was extremely happy and excited because of the huge smile on her face. I went to get a bowl from the pantry and mixed the flour, baking soda, and salt. Then my sister took another bowl and began creaming the sugar and butter. Her hands were grabbed the whisk and spun the batter. She took the eggs cracked the shell,“crack crack” and the gooey egg spilled out.She added brown vanilla extract, which gave the batter a brownish color. We then blended both mixtures and mixed it thoroughly. Then we put the dough in another bowl and put saran wrap on top of it. I waited for an hour to let the dough chill. In the meantime we sat on our couch and watched YouTube on my sister’s Ipad.

    An hour later,  “Davida,get the roller and the cookie cutters.” I said. She took the roller and with all her force rolled the dough to flatten it. Sweat poured down her face like water from a water spout. She then went to the bathroom to wash it off. Then, I took an ungreased cookie sheet and placed it on the counter. “Come on, it's time!” she told me. This was the moment we were waiting for. The most fun part. We took our cookie cutters and gently pressed them into the flattened dough. First the Christmas tree, then the star… The shapes looked beautiful and would surely stand out. We continued until our dough was done. As team, we placed the cookies on the cookie sheet each two inches apart from another. Then we carefully opened the oven. The hot brushed air my face. It felt as if the sun was blowing on my face. I then put in the cookie sheet. While they were baking, we sat down and envisioned  how amazing our cookies would turn out. We wafted at the sweet scent of baking cookies. I tapped my fingers on the table waited for time to come. The smell made me feel like I was in paradise.After patiently waiting for 10 minutes it was time to see if they were cooked. My sister took a toothpick and gently poked at the the cookie. It was solid. No batter went on the toothpick which meant it was cooked.

     We put on our oven gloves and took the cookie sheet out of the oven and set them on the plate. We repeated everything for the leftover batter until all the cookies were made. Finally, I looked at all of the cookies. They were missing something, I thought. I went to see what I had in the pantry and found some colorful sugar. I sprinkled a little sugar on each of the cookies. Perfect, they looked amazing. I grabbed the first cookie, excited to taste it. As I look a bite my teeth sunk into the cookie. The cookie was moist and had the most delicious taste. That night we all sat at the dinner table and after eating, my sister and I pulled out our special treat.

“Tada!” We said in unison.

“Amalia, Davida! They are amazing,” my mom said.

My dad grabbed a cookie. “And they taste fabulous!” he said.

“Merry Christmas Eve!” we said. That feeling made me always treasure that Christmas Eve because it reminded me of the most delicious cookies I ever made.

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups margarine
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sugar for decoration       
• a whisk
• two big bowls
• saran wrap            

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, stir the flour, baking soda, and salt (together); set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream the margarine and 2 cups sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat  the eggs in one at a time, when done add  the vanilla. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients until just blended.
3. Cover and let the dough chill for an hour
4. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned at the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on a baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool them completely.