NO MORE MULTI-TASKING!

The first time I almost-not-quite botched a recipe was with the cool rise dough a few weeks ago. I had the dough covered and rising when I noticed – uh oh – the two eggs on the counter (where I had broken them and put the two eggs in a little bowl to come to room temperature). So I dumped everything back into the mixer and added the eggs…which made the dough very wet so I added the 6th cup of flour which I thought I wasn’t going to need, before. Ok, the cinnamon rolls turned out just fine. No harm no foul. (Or, no fowl).

Yesterday I was mixing oatmeal raisin cookie dough…while watching Harrison Ford in “Air Force One” and doing who knows what else (Oh, I was defrosting split pea soup in the microwave too) —I was putting things like flour and sugar back in the cupboard as I measured out what I needed. I sifted the flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl and set it aside. In another bowl I was busy mixing the shortening, eggs, sugar and vanilla….and while Harrison Ford is trying to avoid capture by the bad guys, I measured out 4 cups of oatmeal, added raisins and cranberries and chopped up pecans. Chopping pecans is good when there is a lot of shooting going on, on TV. In the midst of all this, my son Kelly drove into the driveway with a load of firewood for us, so I grabbed a sweater and went outside to see if I could help. We put the wood under the car port and came back in, Kelly tried some chocolate chip cookies I had made earlier and asked if he could take some home. I put them into a zip lock bag and sent him on his way, right about the time my son Steve called from South Dakota. He asked what I was doing and I said “We’re watching Air Force One and Harrison Ford is about to take on the bad guys”. “Oh, that’s a good part,” Steve said “I’ll call you back later”.

My cookie batter seemed much too “wet” so I added more pecans and more raisins. It still seemed too wet. As I was pondering this too-gooey dough, I discovered the little bowl of flour, baking soda and salt – off to one side. Now you are not supposed to add the flour last but I had no choice. I mixed in flour for all I was worth until it was completely blended…then covered the bowl with a towel, figuring that was enough for one night. By now Harrison Ford had saved the day and all the bad guys had been sent to oblivion. I have yet to see Air Force One from the very beginning.

This morning I baked oatmeal cookies and they are absolutely perfect. Chewy with a lot of nuts and raisins. We like them like that.

The lesson I think I am taking from this is no more multi-tasking. Absolutely no watching a suspenseful movie or answering the telephone while mixing cookie or cinnamon roll dough.

–Happy Cookie baking!
Sandy