Baking

As a rule, I have several blogs that are almost ready to be posted. A little tweaking and they are published. Well, today that is not the case, nothing is near ready. Today's blog is about my last 24 hours of baking.  

My business partner is trying to raise money for a family trip they are taking this summer. Her family had a garage sale this weekend and she wanted to set up an iced tea and baking stand. I love it when kids want to make their own money and I had no problem providing the baking. Her Mom thought about 36 items would be good. 

Friday came and I prepared 12 cinnamon buns, 18 pieces of brownie and 12 rather large chocolate chip cookies. A new recipe, and I have to say the very recipe for Chocolate Chip cookies, I have been searching for. I made my delivery, and they went on sale at 4:00. At 4:30 I got the SOS the baking was nearly gone. I zipped home and made 12 raisin tarts, and a large batch of those chocolate oatmeal quick cookies that have many names, I call them "Uncooked Cookies". The second delivery was made around 5:15 and nearly gone by 6:00. My mind was already in motion for Saturday's supply of bake items to sell.

The garage sale ad did include "fresh baking". It was not only fresh, but some of it was still hot. There were people I understand that only came to buy baking. Which was great, as it was very profitable for my business partner.

For Saturday's garage sale day, I made a big batch of Grandma Dempsey's "Ginger Snap" cookies. I also made another new recipe, "Monster Cookie Bar". Well, that was a tasty little sucker. When it was all said and done, there were only 4 cookies left for the family to enjoy. I believe there were around 110 bake items for sale. 

I will always be surprised at how much pleasure people get out of homemade baking. Homemade everything has been around all my life. I remember as a kid, enjoying boughten cookies as we called them. I as well enjoy any kind of treats from others, especially if they have made them. I guess there is more to baking than I realize. It takes practice to know when the dough is just right for a formed cookie. Or when to take something out of the oven so it isn't overcooked. Little tricks of the trade so to speak. I know many of you are great bakers and will have your own little tricks. 

Today, is a "May and Faye Business Day". We are making 17 pies: 5 banana cream, 5 coconut cream, 6 apple crumble and 1 pumpkin. It was a different experience for me buying such large amounts of fruit and other items needed to make the pies. I have worked ahead and prepared 12 pie crusts, or the day would never end. I do not have a favorite pastry recipe, so I have used 3 different ones. I don't know the secret to pie pastry, I just make it. I also make an incredible mess. This business day may be a stretch for me, but we will see. To me the hardest part is the pastry.

I am learning lots of tricks getting ready for today. I did an experiment to see if lemon juice or orange juice would do the best job of keeping bananas from turning brown. The lemon juice won. I am not sure why they took fruit fresh off the market, it worked great. A new thing for me is to add about 1/4 cup of water to my apples with a crisp or pie, it makes them juicer. Probably everyone out there already knows that tip and here I am thinking I am a ground breaker. When making a pumpkin pie, I learned that the center is to jiggle when you take it out of the oven. It will continue to cook from its own heat, and it will not crack from being over cooked. Who knew????

                                                

Baking is good for my soul. It brings out creativity in me. Being in a baking business, I can make things more attractive with little baking cups or even just a smartie or rosebud on top of a muffin steps up the appearance. Dollarama is a baking girls dream store. 

I need to get going and get the pie business day launched. In closing I am sharing my new recipes; I hope you will give them a try; I know you will enjoy them.  

MONSTER COOKIE BAR

2 cups flour

2 cups oatmeal

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda and salt

1 cup margarine

1 cup peanut butter

1 1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tbsp vanilla, yes tbsp

1 1/4 c chocolate chips

1 1/2 c M&M or smarties

Don't overmix. It said to press into 9X13 pan. When I make it again, I am going to use a small cookie sheet. Hold back some of the M&Ms to top the cake. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. It suggests sprinkling a little sea salt on top. I made it the night before and just cooked it in the morning. 

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 egg and 1 additional yolk

3/4 cup melted butter

1 c brown sugar

1/2 c white sugar

1 tbsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

11/2 cup chocolate chips

It said to bake at 325 for 16 mins. I just did 350 for probably 12.