Thursday, December 23, 2010

The end of the cookie bender


John and Manuel took the helm just as I was ready to surrender. They always know how to make things happen. I will be forever grateful.

If not for my friends and former housemates John and Manuel, at some point yesterday I would have simply thrown all the cookie dough into the garbage, called it a day. Baking is hard. Somehow I forgot about that when I decided to bake cookies for Christmas this year.

In fact I think it was exactly a year ago when I decided that there are irreconcilable differences between wheat and me. Well. No wonder I struggled and juggled, cursed, laughed (at myself mostly), no wonder I worked 14 hours yesterday just to produce some rather drab, misshapen and not very tasty cookies, most of which broke into little bits almost immediately.

It's all over now. The kitchen is finally clean again, the cookies that didn't break are safely packed in cute little boxes, ready for delivery. Next year I'll do something other than baking for Christmas. Oh yeah. Lesson learned.

17 comments:

steven said...

hey reya! candle-making's good!!! "the cookie bender" - made me laugh - yesterday i struggled home with heaps and mountains of homemade cookies from my kids. between not biking and the biscuit bonanza i figure i'll be doing a little bit of tubbing up!!! steven

Reya Mellicker said...

Yeah! Candle bender!! 2011, yes.

Reya Mellicker said...

You're supposed to put on a couple of extra pounds over the winter, Steven.

Elizabeth said...

They look super anyway! I would eat them.

Why do we all think we have to do Christmas crafts?

I made 20+ elf hats.......very theraputic.
Do you need one?

oxoxoxo

Dan Gurney said...

Candles!!! Thank you, steven!! This is a wonderful idea to channel the urge to be generous. Might help the overall public health, too!

Reya Mellicker said...

Ha! Dan, you are funny.

It is interesting about Christmas/solstice crafts, isn't it? Elizabeth I DO need an elf hat, I really do.

Rebecca Clayton said...

I think your cookies look beautiful. Yea for friends who know how to make things happen!

Are there any pictures of Elizabeth's elf hats? I can never see enough holiday crafts. (I'm knitting socks.)

Barbara said...

Funny post! I have two more batches of cookies to bake tonight! I'll be happy when I'm done.

Wishing you an old fashioned Christmas filled with love, joy and happiness!

Peace!

The Bug said...

If we're lucky Dr. M & I MIGHT see a cookie this year. His aunt Helen usually gives us a goody bag. But we never know when she'll finally decide that it's too much to mess with.

Cookies were my mom's thing - not shaped ones, but yummy anyway. Haven't been at a holiday celebration that had cookies since she died...

Lainey-Paney said...

Yum.

Anonymous said...

10/10 for effort Reya. I bought Christmas-shaped cookie cutters but can't face them. I have no trouble eating others cookie attempts though. Nice photo!

Nancy said...

They look yummy, though.

NanU said...

You've inspired my, Reya. I've got a day off, an oven, and a small amount of willpower. Though I plan on cheating: prerolled pie dough sprinkled with spices, cut shapes, bake, frost.

jeanette from everton terrace said...

Cookie bender, yes very funny! Hey, it doesn't matter what they look like - it's all in the taste. I'll eat just about any cookie, especially if someone else made it. I love baking, one of my favorite part of the holidays - right after wrapping presents, it's the clean that I dread.

Reya Mellicker said...

Yeah. Powdered sugar EVERYWHERE!

ellen abbott said...

maybe try cream puffs! hee hee. (and no, I haven't done them yet)

Bee said...

This post made me chuckle.
I've done some extreme baking this Xmas season . . . (see my domestic sensualist blog.) Right now my family is asking me to make some mince pies (and I probably will) but I'm really ready to hang up my baking gloves and start on post-Xmas slouching.