Rainy Sunday... and a labor of love

What to do on a rainy Sunday? Ride the train and bake cookies, of course!

In order to uphold my reputation as the best cookie baker (and the best sister) in my brother's life, I promised that I would bake cookies for him one weekend. So, I took the train up to the city this morning, had delicious pho for lunch, and picked up ingredients from Whole Foods-- organic this, unbleached that. Not my usual stop for baking goods, but my opinion on that to come.

I knew going into this job that I wouldn't have my trust Kitchenaid mixer, the beautiful red machine that I've had since I was 12. I was a precocious young thing, asking for a mixer (of all possible gifts I could ever want) for Christmas. And, I have to say, it was one of the best presents I have ever received. Dear 12-year-old me: Good choice. It has added so much deliciousness to my life and to the lives of others. I thought, at the very least in this San Francisco kitchen, I would have a hand blender, the kind that you plug into the wall but have to stand there holding while it does the work for you. Turns out that was a no go. All I had at my disposal was a whisk. So, I had to go old school on these cookies, turning them into a veritable labor of love (and an arm workout).

Recipes these days take the stand mixer for granted. My trusted recipe for cookies sure does-- "Use the stand mixer that your kitchen must be equipped with (a no-brainer, since you're reading the New York Times), outfitted with the paddle attachment so that it can use the power of approximately a third of a horse to cream the softened butter and sugars together for 3 minutes." (I looked this up, and indeed, it's got a 250-watt motor, which according to Google, can be converted to 0.3352 horsepower)

Now, horses are much bigger than I am. In fact, they are a lot larger than my brother is, too. But, put the two of us together, and about 15 minutes later, you go from this:

to this:

Indeed, my brother and I put together approximately equal the amount of work that a third of a horse can do over the course of 3 minutes (except, give us over 10): to cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

Luckily, the rest of the recipe is easy to do without working one's shoulder to death.

And the final product:

Yum. They turned out wonderfully-- a little crispier on the edges than I'm used to, but it provided a nice contrast to the chewiness of the center.

No more pretty pictures follow, but I'm going to give my opinion on using a place like Whole Foods to supply my baking goods-- ones that I consider to fall in what I call the "conscious" category. Organic, cage-free, unbleached are all options that they provide: options that are good for the environment and better for the body. In general, I would love to do a side by side comparison, using bleached versus unbleached all-purpose flour, organic light brown cane sugar versus "standard" light brown sugar. To be totally honest? I couldn't tell the difference. I'd like to say I'm enlightened when it comes to my choice of food-- I'd prefer organic to non-organic, same with unbleached to bleached. And sure, I buy free range/cage-free eggs when I can. But, when it comes down to the fact that the goods in the more "conscious" category are more expensive and there is no noticeable difference in taste, I'm more likely to go for the cheaper. The things to splurge on? The quality of chocolate, vanilla, butter-- things that are likely to affect flavor right off the bat. Because let's really think here- you aren't making cookies to be health conscious or environmentally friendly. Eggs, butter, sugar, and a whole lotta love are being mixed together to make something that warms the soul and makes people happy. In the long run, if I have a lifestyle that can sustain making choices that are better for the environment and making batch after batch of baked goods: no question, let's save that environment. But for now, keeping in mind that there's no difference, just eat the cookie and enjoy.