(sorry for the picture... i had a much more dramatic one planned, but for some reason blogger & i don't agree on how the picture should be oriented. and the sideways-cookie thing was not doing it for me. at. all.)- i need more flour-- like, twice as much.
- vanilla does cost just as much at trader joe's as it does for the store brand at the supermarket-- the difference is, tj's bottles are twice as big.
- it's difficult to buy chocolate when you boycott nestle and hershey's... trader joe's to the rescue!
- the broiler won't just melt the jam... it'll burn the shortbread.
- a candy thermometer makes all the difference.
- a quarter of an inch is a lot thicker than i think it is.
- a little less flour makes the dough softer. ummm, duh?
- too much water will ruin gingerbread.
- expensive non-stick baking sheets really are non-stickier than the regular ones.
- wilton sells no-taste red food dye.
i made everything i was supposed to make, pretty well, plus some extra fudge for gifting. i had a couple mishaps, too, like when i broke the christmas tree plate for my cookie press with my super-tough dough. i overdid it, of course, but i'm sure the recipients of the extra bags don't mind-- and let's face it, everybody has a lonely, old neighbor who will appreciate being thought of (though, perhaps not as a "lonely, old neighbor"). now i have some new cookie recipes and ideas to work out before next year. maybe then, i'll get through it with a little less crying.
cooking-related christmas gifts: a pastry workshop (on sunday!), subscriptions to bon appetite and martha stewart's everyday food and a giant cupcake cake pan.
cooking-related new year's resolutions: cook one thing from each magazine and bake cookies year-round-- not just christmas!
oh, and one final thought:
christmas baking is not complete without a nice set of... giant chocolate chip cookies.
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