Hello New Forum Friends,
I'm new here - been caregiving for my 70 y.o. mom since 2018.
Tonight, after dinner, I made our first batch of cookies for the holiday season: Nestle Toll House cookies (a "classic"!).
As I was mixing the wet ingredients, I thought, "something's not right, here . . . " By the time the first batch of 5 dozen cookies came out of the oven, I knew something was really, really wrong. "Why didn't they LOOK right? Why didn't the kitchen have that warm, sweet, chocolatey baking smell? What's going on here?!" was all I could think.
I took a lumpy cookie to my mom & said, "something's not right." She tasted it ~ and almost spit it out. Great. 60 cookies. None of them edible.
"Call the butter company - tell them they need to recall their butter!" Yes, I actually, honestly, said that.
Mom and I entered the kitchen, Sherlock & Watson style; we practically had our magnifying glasses out to scrutinize the ingredients.
Was it the flour or sugars? No, those were fresh / not expired / smelled like they should . . .
Was it the fresh ingredients? The eggs were fine, we'd had them for breakfast yesterday. The butter? No - not expired, smelled downright delicious, like fresh butter should.
By now, it was 9:30 p.m. "I could just cry," I said. "I know, I get it," said mom.
"Where are the bowls you used?" she asked, still determined to discover the culprit of our evening mishap.
I showed her the bowls. She sampled the dough. It tasted . . . weird. Not sweet.
"Did you put both kinds of sugar in?" she asked, gently.
"Yes! Look, see ~ I used this [1 cup] measuring cup 2X for the flour. And this measuring cup, 1X for each type of sugar - I know I put in white AND brown sugar!"
I held the smaller measuring cup out to her as if I were presenting evidence in a court of cookie law, and . . . suddenly, SAW what was in my hand.
The 1/4 cup measuring cup. NOT my trusty 3/4 CUP, which was NOWHERE to be found. Not by the sink, not in the cupboard, not on the counter.
If you know the recipe for chocolate chip cookies, you'll know it calls for 3/4 CUP EACH of white sugar AND brown sugar. So, that's 1.5 cups sugar for your five dozen cookies. And mine had a measly 0.5 cups.
I was baffled, startled, even. How many years have I been making chocolate chip cookies, and . . . I made a mistake?? MOI??
Merriam-Webster defines "burnout" (vb) as:
: to cause to fail, wear out, or become exhausted especially from overwork or overuse
Mom hugged me & said she was so glad to know what happened, at least we wouldn't need to file a lawsuit against the manufacturers of our ingredients (crisis averted). Haha.
I smiled, close to tears. And we decided that tomorrow, after our coffee time, we'll make cookies TOGETHER. Now, I'm not sure if my tears are from sadness, exhaustion, or just, feeling the LOVE. (All of the above . . . )
So, if you're still reading this, I wish many sweet moments, maybe with cookies, for you & your "care receiver". And don't forget to be extra sweet (a FULL 1.5 cups worth, at least!), to YOURSELF, too! We deserve it! ❤️
Goodnight, All!
I'm so grateful to find such a bunch of the most truthful, loving and down to earth people.
Wishing you all the best for the upcoming holiday season and the festivities that come with it.
I love you all!
Scampie
You and your mom worked together like Sherlock and Watson to solve the mystery. I enjoyed the read of this story. I got a good chuckle.
I remember making lamb stew one time and grabbed the cinnamon instead of the curry powder. It turned out well after I added the curry. Then I realized there are different blends of curry powder with additions.
Try again the next day. Wishing you all the best during this holiday season.
(((Hugs))) from Scampie
You made an honest mistake. It happens. I made a beautiful homemade chocolate cake a few months ago. Now I am reknown for this cake. I don't use a recipe for most things because I've been cooking for a long time and don't need to. Especially not for a cake. I make the cake, get it in the oven and then start on making the frosting. Everything looked perfect until I tried to turn the cake out of the pans. I left out one very important step and did not grease and flour the cake pans. That cake got wrecked. What could I do wth it? So I whipped up some cream, added some fresh raspberries and turned it into a trifle pudding. I made an honest mistake too.
When I first married I could burn a frozen pizza.
Thankfully my culinary skills have improved but, we still joke about those early years. It was easy to stay trim with my cooking :-)
Midkud, made those same pies one year.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Family joke--but it had been a very stressful pre-holiday time and it taught me to 'job out' as much of the dinner as I can. I've cooked for 30+ years and it's time for my kids to step up.
Even less sweet toll house cookies can be rescued - sandwich two together with icing in between, or use them as an ice cream topping, or use them in place of oreos in dirt pie/pudding....
My husband said Homeowners Insurance will reduce our rate if I don’t cook.
I have burned water.
Ive set noodles on fire while cooking them
* takes a bow *