Year 1, Day 17

I wouldn't say that baking is something I am even relatively talented at doing. Cooking, yes. baking, no. For the most part, I would attribute my lack of baking skills to my sub par math ability. When you bake, it's necessary to follow directions in certain orders and make sure that you add precise amounts of each ingredient. I really don't work that way. My brain sees that the ultimate goal is to have warmly baked, fresh out of the oven, cookies. But, then it lets me eat a half bag of nestles chips before stiriing, or take an educated guess at how much a cup of brown sugar would be because it's too hard to break up the peices that are stuck together in massive blocks. I am too unprecise and far to haphazard when cooking. It works for dinners, but serves poorly for baked desserts. This wouldn't be a problem, except for one thing...I have to bake 3 dozen cookies and neatly package them for a bake sale at Jackson's daycare on Tuesday.

Wonderful. I work all day Monday and then have a school fair to attend after work, so there goes any baking time I would have had that evening. It leaves a great dilemma for me. I'm wretched at baking anyway, but now I have a timing problem. If I make them tomorrow, I really don't think they will be fresh on Tuesday...that is, if they are even edible to begin with and make it from the oven unscathed. And since I can't bake them Monday night, it leave me 2 options. Well, three really. Option number 1: When falling asleep last night, I was in that subconcious yet concious state, and I dreamed I put an ad on craigslist for someone to bake me 3 dozen chocolate chip cookies. I would pick them up and reimburse them for time, groceries, and labor. I imagined that my inbox was flooded with responses, and I was very excited at the prospect that baking these cookies was clearly not my problem anymore. But, then my mind wandered to the Craigslist killer and it occured to me that someone might decide that they would lace my cookies with something awful and then...well, I just stopped thinking that it would be a good idea anymore. Option 2: Tollhouse makes a remarkable product of refrigerated dough that comes in break away sqaures. Do I dare?? You know they turn out perfectly shaped! Plan 3: Stop at a place like Whole Food or an in store bakery, and buy 3 dozen cookies sometime on Monday during my lunch hour perhaps.

If you read carefully, you will realize that options 1, 2, or 3 do not mention "making" cookies by any means. At the very most, I am "baking" already made cookies. How can I possibly be that mom already, that STORE buys cookies for a bake sale and passes them off as her own homemade morsels of sheer indulgence? The guilt of not being able to make Jackson cookies to bring to the daycare bake sale did have me feeling quite inadequate, but then I lightened up a bit.

The lesson I learned today: Before Kindergarten, a mom should not be judged for failure to bake. Also, since it is a BAKE sale, that clearly means I can buy prepared cookie dough and BAKE it myself. If they wanted homemade things to sell, they should have titled the event "Homemade Bake from Scratch Sale." What it comes down to is the fact that chocolate chip cookies never go to waste. Whoever makes these damn cookies will take pride in the fact that no cookie will be left uneaten - homemade, homebaked, or home assembled.