Cookies, cookies, cookies. That's what I do best at the Inn. I love to bake. I love to make not only homemade or homebaked cookies, but cookies from scratch. No box mixes, no pre-made store bought concoctions, no canned recipes off the internet or copied from someone else. Nope... it is not me.
I usual will take a recipe off the internet or out of a cookibook, and change it. DRIVES MY WIFE CRAZY!
"Why....WHY do you ALWAYS have to change the darn recipe", Doris will ask. "Just do it as it is listed in the recipe; otherwise you just may screw it up!"
I have read a couple of cook books that teach you the scientific basis of cooking. They explain why you use the ingredients that are listed. After you read a couple of books and practice at what they teach you, you slowly develop the necessary skills in baking.
I take a recipe and modify it by changing it to make it my own. I always strive to use the best and freshess ingredients. If for some reason the batter does not look like it has in the past, I will try to 'SAVE IT" by using other ingredients to help recover the "sweet treat."
On occasions, I have felt badly for guests staying at other hotels or lodging facilities.... where they usually have commercially made and baked cookies. It does not take much for me to move through a recipe and decide what I should do, and what should this cookie look and taste like. As the baker, I know the ingredients, and what goes into making the cookies better.
I have made cookies for guests who have diet restrictions, like gluten free, or dairy free. The hard one for me was a gluten and dairy free cookie. I made that for a little boy who stayed at the Inn with his parents. That was a difficult one in that it just did not stay together. I ended up making the cookie in a mini-muffin pan and they tasted like granola. But the little boy liked them! That was a success in my eyes. At least he was able to have a nice sweet treat, and he was a sweet little boy!
Gary
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