Journal 78
Friday - 11-12-10
Making Cookies!!!!
[Chat Log]
They're not gonna be as good as they usually are at home
A. Cause I'm not Mum (the lady who taught me to make them)
B. 'Cause I'm doing it all by hand - no mixer
(Impacts creaming together of butter and sugar)
C. 'Cause This Recipe doesn't appear to like being Metric-fied
But they're still gonna be edible, and tasty
Snickerdoodles (The Cookies I was making)
They're not for me.
One batch is a B-day present, and the other is part of a Veterans' Day present for My Marines.
Unfortunately, with all the cookie making, I don't think I'm gonna get to practice tonight.
If I were just finishing the one batch, maybe
But, I've got the other one almost ready to go
And the oven is horribly picky, etc, so I have to do it now
(In response to the inevitable question of, "Why don't you just put the ready made dough in the fridge and do it later?" -- Because my host mum told me, paraphrasing, 'This damn oven is hella old, fool -- and I only want you to use it when I can help.' Or something like that.)
(No joking, the oven has no exact temperature gauge, no light in it; it's gas-powered, lit with a match, etc.)
I want a convection oven
=ToT=
Seriously, I need a 190 C oven
This thing is like - open the door for a minute, 'cause it was too hot -- 175! Turn the heat up -- then lower the flame - 220!!, etc
Or more
And I don't even think my Host Mum trusts what it says
So, you know it could say 190 ish, and really only be 170 or what have you
I'm afraid the bottoms of these are going to be more done than the tops
That's what just happened to the last sheet
= O-o =
Mew
I want them to be good.
:/
Friend - (being awesome and reassuring)
*hug*
I'm sure they'll be amazing.
Me-
Naaa... 'Cause amazing is what they should be. =^_~=
They'll be ok
But not the best cookies any of them have had, I don't think
They'll be better if I can ever make them at their place
Problem is, is you just need time to do it, you know?
2-3 hours
(Depending on how big your cookie sheets are/mixing by hand/clean up/ etc.)
*****
As it turned out, my host mum wanted to make dinner, and "give the oven a break," and she had zero problem with me beginning to bake again once I got home, so I tried to go off to practice.
*****
I didn't get to practice.
[Chat Log, Again]
Apparently, there was a group class tonight I didn't know anything about
And there was no practice afterwards
And then all my friends at the studio were like, "Why on earth weren't you int he group?!"
I said, "No one told me anything about it."
(Not from the Log-
I was joking to Nastëna: "Maybe it's 'cause you don't like foreigners!" [That no one told me about the lesson.]
She responded, after a look of shock/amusement, 'That's called 'discrimination, right?'
I lost it, laughing, "Ha ha ha, yeah!"
Many of them only found out about the lesson that day themselves. Due to, "I called my coach (one of the head coaches) about a lesson, and then they told me about the class," and so on, and so forth. So, it really wasn't an intended slight. All the kids really were surprised I wasn't there!)
*****
[Back to the log, a little later on in the evening, as I was continuing to bake.]
And the last 7 cookies are away!!!
I may just make this batch with no casualties
And they all LOOK like Snickerdoodles should
(The first batch turned out kinda thin/crunchy)
(Not necessarily bad, but I'm a thick and chewy kinda girl. Ha ha.)
Now I just have to figure out how to mix these with the first batch, I suppose -- so that there's an even variety, and then snag some to take to the dance studio
*****
[2nd Chat Log, Conversation with another friend.]
(On Snickerdoodle Making)
It's been a bit of an adventure today
Really, it's been more like Cooking, and less like Baking. Eyeballing, and trial and error. laughs
Second batch looks GREAT though!
*****
I'm getting the Reject 12 - the 12 cookies that the Oven went crazy on
It burned/scorched the bottoms
And I couldn't let anyone else have those
They weren't terribly burnt
Mostly just the edges, and I scraped it off
But it's still
They're two tone cookies
The top half is fine, but the bottom is just all sorts of crispy
They're not bad enough to throw away, not good enough by a long shot for me to put my name on them and give them to people
Ha ha ha
Friend -
haha good for the digestive tract maybe??
idk maybe you could sell that idea to some otherwise ignorant health nuts out there haha
i feel like so much of the time ppl will believe anything that sounds semi-plausible
Me -
Hey, the, "Hollywood Cookie Diet" already exists
Though, today, I was thinking about making the workout DVD for it
"Make your damn cookies by hand!"
I won't be surprised if my shoulders/arms are at least a little sore tomorrow
My hands got a little roughed up, but only in a few places. Not as bad as what happens when you go to the gym after a long break. Ha ha ha
You ever tried to cream butter and sugar without a mixer?
THEN you will know what a work-out is, my friend
(Friend - Asks How To Make the Cookies
Me - I relate it … )
"… And then tell someone the recipe, and let the Soviet Oven take 6 of the last 7
=^_~="
*****
[On Plans for the Weekend]
So, it's almost 2 AM now
I have to sort out cookies, clean up, go to bed
Saturday:
Get up sometime to deliver Veterans' Day stuff to our Marines with a friend (who I haven't heard from yet...)
Do homework, maybe?
Meet with another Marine friend at 2:30 for lunch, then taking him to the Tret'yakov art gallerty
Gallery
Head straight to my Dance Lesson from there
1 hr to the studio
Lesson from 7-8
Practice with partner from 8-9
Then, home, I think
Sunday:
Meeting with a friend for breakfast/lunch (she was on vacation, and has just gotten back - russian girl)
Then going to the Theatre in the evening, and taking a friend with me
I was invited by a Russian Film Actor I met on the metro
Ha ha ha
He liked my smile, I guess
But I asked to bring a friend with
A. So that I wouldn't be alone with some person I didn't really know
B. This is Russia, and he could very well be thinking this is a date, even though he's much older than me. = O-o =
I don't really know
Friend: that's crazy! How awesome is it going to be though! Are you super excited or what?!?
Me:
I am excited
But of course, I'm a little nervous
But if it's all innocent, and in good fun
Then yes, I'm thrilled!
It's yet another super amazing story for me
laughs
How many people can say they meet film actors on Metros, because they smiled and said thank you? Ha ha
Shoot, and even today, I had another crazy experience
So, I stopped to buy some more flour and sugar
Because I knew I'd be down quite a bit after today's adventure
And I'm standing on the metro
One bag of my two is obviously pretty heavy
I adjust it on my wrist twice
And then the older lady sitting down in the seat I'm standing in front of looks at me and says, "Give that to me -- put it here *motions to put the bag on top of her purse, on her lap*"
I try to tell her no, she doesn't need to do that for me
But she said, "Give it here!"
And basically takes my bag from me
Ha ha ha
It was so nice of her!!!!
And then!
A few stops later, the guy sitting next to her gets up
So, I sit down
And I go to take my bag from her -- and she lets me have it for all of a second, before she just scoots a little, and says, "Put it down, here," in between us, so that I still didn't have to bother with holding it!!
I have NEVER seen this happen with people before.
I inspire some of the most awesome random acts of kindness here. Ha ha, it's so out of the norm
It's like the lady who gave me apples when I apologized for bumping into her, when getting off of the train!!
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