Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Baked

I started off busy this morning because of the Hero Initiative Bake Sale at Comics Unlimited. My contribution was two-fold because not only did I donate cookies, but I also offered to man the table for the morning till about 2:30 pm. Running the table was funny, because I could literally feel myself slipping into Server/Waiter mode. This is the mode where I get overly enthusiastic and try to soft-sell everything. Also, my voice gets really warm and inviting. Evil Nate would be one step removed from sitting in the back of a van and waving candy at kids. But enough about that, let me tell you about Hero Initiative!

Hero Initiative is a non-profit organization that collects donations to help pay the medical and living expenses of former comic creators that are too old to work. Many creators were freelance and didn't have any savings for retirement or health care. Hero Initiative makes sure these artists aren't left out in the cold.

I was one of many people contributing to this noble cause, and the end result was an intimidating amount of baked goods. Approximately enough desserts to put an adult elephant into a diabetic coma. The cookies that I brought were Oatmeal Chocolate Chip w/ Walnuts made from the recipe that my mom has used since I was a kid. Basically, these are the cookies that are associated with each and every one of my happiest moments as a kid. I... am a bit biased towards them.

I had asked my mom specifically to help me make these cookies. She was game, since it had been a little over two years since she had last made them. I got my lazy ass in gear to get all the ingredients, but would have to work most of the night of baking. I asked her to at least get the dough made beforehand, but that I would be more than willing to break speeding laws to get home in time to help. It turned out it wasn't necessary, and that I would have time to finish an entire batch.

But not before my Dad had decided to change the first batch's recipe.

As of the past few years, my Dad has gotten into cooking in a big, bad way. And he is good at it. Even my Mom thinks so. Too bad my Dad thinks that he's invented cooking. He'll make suggestions to my Mom, and modify her own cooking. My Mom has been cooking since she was 9. I'm not sure if my Dad is getting that fact. I mean he used to. But now that he's discovered cooking, he has to make sure Mom knows how its done. I shake my head at him sometimes. He's a good cook, and getting better. My Mom is already great cook. He should be asking for pointers, but that's my Dad.

I came home from work to find a whole batch of cookies already done. They were flat and perfectly round. They looked like the ones you would buy at the store. Excellent, and baked with precision and a sharp eye for detail.

Basically, they weren't even close to what I had wanted.

The cookies that I remembered were lumpy and thick. They were chewy, but had just enough crunch that the texture would always change. My Dad decided that a cookie recipe that I have actively and vocally loved for 23 or so years needs to be changed now that he's invented cooking. They weren't bad cookies by any stretch of the imagination. But they were not the cookies that I wanted. They were... by the book. We made another batch that turned out like the cookies from when I was a kid. Two spiritually different cookies made from the exact same ingredients. Anyways, my parents rock no matter what. And my Dad's cookies were good, too.

I'm done whining.

Topics of Conversation @ Comics Unlimited: Cookies, pushy salesmen, wet money, the folly of relying on California to have cool weather, my mom's cooking, the mysterious old lady, getting hands stuck in jars, sweaters, etc.

I had to leave at around 2:00 because I had left my work shirt at home. I needed it because I had to shoot a Planning Commission Meeting that night, and would possibly be on camera, so I had to look the part of a studious P.A. (The Planning Commission barely lasted for more than half an hour, by the by). Work was spent with me coming down from a sugar high, so of course I nearly fell asleep twice at work. Tsk tsk.

-Nate

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"They looked like the ones you would buy at the store. Excellent, and baked with precision and a sharp eye for detail.

Basically, they weren't even close to what I had wanted."

I don't know why, but this line made me laugh out loud.

-Justin Quizon

Anonymous said...

I miss the taste of a big, chewy oatmeal cookie. All they have here are small cute crunchy things that aren't at all to my liking.