In this time of separate and distant, as we try to cope with not meeting our favorite person for coffee and cake, or connecting with a like-minded group to discuss a book over food relevant to the plot, I scurried to find store bought cookies to ease me into comfort.
Ah, but to venture into a store was to risk contagion, despite the plastic screens in front of the cashiers at Whole Foods and the yellow tapes marking six foot distance. Not many millennials venture in, but when they do, their sense of immortality tends to drive them to ignore science-based suggestions. I could order cookies from Amazon, but then I would need to wipe down the cartons inside and out, and those handiwipes are precious, better saved for my hands when needed.
A friend, noting my dilemma, suggested I make my own cookies. I always have a stash of semi-sweet chocolate and sugar. Recently, I had bought a ten pound bag of organic flour on sale – before I knew I would be housebound. Why not make the most comfort laden food I knew. And, I could control everything in the process, in a time when control of anything seems almost impossible, from the dough to the oven to the delivery – without packaging.
Toll House Cookies
If you have made the traditional Toll House cookies lately from the recipe on the bag, you may have noticed the teaspoon of hot water has been omitted from the ingredients. Originally the water was used to dissolve the baking soda, a step most modern bakers no longer use. Earlier forms of leavening, including baking soda, were chunkier than now, and a little water helped to keep out the granular specks.
I’m not sure when it disappeared from the wrapper, bu I still add it. Does it make a difference? I’ve never tried making the cookies without it, so cannot judge, but if you have, let me know.
Ruth Wakefield, the inventor of the chocolate chip cookie, sold Nestlé the rights to reproduce her recipe in 1939 on its packages, with the teaspoon of water included.
Perfect Scrambled Eggs
My mother always had a few dozen eggs in the refrigerator, and I started to have more on hand when I discovered Cosco’s packaging of two dozen.
I remember reading one of the many books about Julia Child’s meticulous research in creating Mastering the Art of French Cooking. With its own section for eggs, from omelets to eggs Benedict, my favorite is her version of scrambled eggs.
Do you remember the running line in The Runaway Bride, when Julia Roberts tries to discover her favorite version of eggs? Mine is scrambled eggs, Julia Child style.
The secret to their fluffiness is to add a tablespoon of water for each egg. Bringing the eggs to room temperature is always a good idea too. I usually just bath my eggs in hot water from the tap for a few minutes to take off the refrigerator chill, and always add a tablespoon a water for each egg. They taste just the way I like them.
Julie Andrews sang about a spoonful of sugar helping the medicine go down; a spoonful of water can help too.
Related Post:
https://nochargebookbunch.com/2010/01/03/autobiographies-vs-biographies/
Potpourri with Rosemarie 