Ramping up...

I just returned home from my maiden voyage to Costco, and holy smokes that place is gargantuan! They have a walk-in refrigerator that I'm quite sure is bigger than our house. I came back with huge 20kg bags of sugar and flour, plus some other baking goodies in preparation for March of the Cookies.

That, and a new memory foam pillow. Sweet zzzzs are coming my way.

It's always better with butter

Last week Shopper's Drug Mart (my Mecca, second only to Bulk Barn--swoon!) was having a sale on butter for $2.99 a pound, so I stocked up and froze it anticipating March of the Cookies. In total I purchased 24 pounds (as in, twenty four POUNDS!) of butter. I could feel my arteries clogging at the mere purchase of it.

My stars I love butter, I just didn't know it came in miles:



Marvel at the artistic reflection shot à la Cuisinart Stand Mixer:



(Don't judge my photography skills on these point and shoot camera snaps, by the by.)

The will and the weakness...

As you may have noticed, I totally caved and signed up for a Twitter account (*gasp!*). Those in my acquaint have overheard me utter many a quip at Twitter's expense, and I still believe I held out for an admirable length of time, given Twitter's pervasiveness. However the current Zeitgeist is that all thoughts should be broadcast to the public, and that said thoughts should be compacted into 140 characters or less. I'm sure I will have much on my mind as I bake my way through March, and figured someone might be interested in said direct-from-brain feed. I hope.

Meanwhile I am still formulating the charitable aspect of March of the Cookies. I would like to do something for the Food Bank, as I have a personal connection to this organization. Someone suggested to freeze the cookies, throw a celebratory shindig at the end, sell nicely packaged bags of said cookies, and donate the money. So far, this idea is the forerunner as in encompasses some of my favourite things: hostessing, cookies, and charity.

I will certainly think on this more.

Sweet Charity

When I first dreamt up March of the Cookies, I will admit, it was for purely selfish reasons: I enjoy the science and artistry of turning a miscellany of ingredients into something that titillates the tastebuds. I even hope to bake professionally someday. Aditionally, I want to better my skills, and become familiar with new recipes. I, I, I, me, me, me.

The first thing people ask me is "What are you going to do with all those cookies?" Well, I thought I'd blog the experience, including snapshots of the goodies (and, lets face it, the spoils), taste-test and note the outcomes in said blog, and share them with my manfella, my friends and my coworkers. Then I thought I'd freeze the remnants and host a little soirée at the end of it all, which was culinary music to the bellies of my friends.

It occurs to me, however, that ambrosial buttery biscuits can accomplish so much more than putting a smile on the faces of those in my personal social network. Don't get me wrong, these are people I adore, but it behooves me to say that they are not in need.

My long-winded point? I endeavour to find some way to add charity to the mix (har har!) and bake up (ho ho!) a way for these cookies to help someone in need. Beyond hosting a sad little bake sale in the lobby of the building I work in, however, I have no idea how to go about doing this.

Your thoughts?

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Charity begins at home, but should not end there.” - Thomas Fuller
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March of the Cookies (dunh-dunh-DUNH!)

I love love LOVE baking...almost as much as I love eating! Everyone who knows me knows how much I love to bake. What they may not know, what is indeed my secret shame, is that I'm not (yet!) terribly adept at baking cookies. For some reason, I've never been able to consistently make fabulous biscuits. They turn out tough, or the wrong texture (too crumbly, not chewy enough, etc), too brown on bottom/edges...and even though I know intellectually how to correct these issues (don't overmix, use less sugar, don't overbake, etc.) I still can't seem to develop the knack for certain cookies. There was one time in recent months that I made some really fabulous chocolate chip cookies, but as I recall, they were the ONLY chocolate chip cookies I've ever made that turned out the way I picture the perfect chocolate chip cookie to be.

SO! I propose March of the Cookies (à la Julie & Julia) in which I bake a different cookie recipe every day in March. Potential schedule snags: Jeremy--my manfella--and I will be going to Niagara Falls Friday and Saturday of one weekend, so I will bake 3 different cookie recipes on Sunday to make it up. I'm also going to an Air concert and two Tastes of Tomorrow events, all on weeknights. I'll make it up somehow. The point is, by the end of March, I will have baked 31 different cookie recipes. Not as impressive as taking on every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but you know, my French cooking skills are just fine thankyouverymuch; it's the cookies I stink at!

I will draw my recipes from a few different sources, namely:

• Professional Baking (4th edition) by Wayne Gisslin
• Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (thanks Sarah!)
• Some thrift-store cookie book find whose name currently escapes me (update: it's an older edition of "The Ultimate Cookie Book", but not the Better Homes and Gardens one)
  
• Maybe some cookie recipe suggestions from friends? Haven't decided yet.

I'll try my best to blog with photos every day in March, but we'll see how it goes.

TO DO LIST:

1. Scour my sources to find 31 recipes that highlight a wide variety of cookies (they can't all be drop cookies, y'know!).
2. Plan what days to do which, accounting for schedule.
3. Grocery shop to ensure all ingredients are on hand.

So yeah....cookies! Wish me luck.

Yvonne

Welcome to Ms. Adventures in Baking!

.After several weeks of designing and tweaking, Ms. Adventures in Baking is officially launched! I made it using Artisteer 2, an amazing little tool to create good looking blogs without having to become a programmer to do it. Me and CSS? We're not friends.

I wanted something that was feminine, but not girly, with a vintage flavour without being too retro-kitschy. I am pleased with the results (in particular: cookie bullets* the mini-me chef icon), but don't be surprised if it looks different tomorrow because I am also a perfectionist. For job interviews, perfectionism is one of those things that you say when they ask you what your flaws are. It's music to their ears, because in an employer's mind, it's a blessing, but I'm here to tell you, friends, when you spend weeks designing a blog that won't make you any money, or an entire day decorating cookies that should only take a couple hours, perfectionism isn't a blessing, it's a curse. You'll watch me struggle with this in my blog, I'm sure.

Please see the About page to learn a little more about myself (there are things beyond chronic perfectionist) and what this blog's all about.

So welcome, lovelies! I'm excited to read your comments and share some of my baking msadventures with you!


*Cookie bullets? I think I just solved world peace.