Don't Call Me Betty Crocker

I love to cook.  I love to bake.  I consider it a hobby, a way to bond with my girls, and--most especially--a way to relax and unwind.  And it was until pretty recently.  I have a great chocolate chip cookie recipe that I love because it always produces perfect cookies.  But my last two attempts using this recipe have ended in complete disaster.  The raw dough was awesome.  The texture perfect, the flavor divine.  But add 8 to 10 minutes of 350 degree heat, and they end up looking like small, chunky cow pies.  Only better smelling.

Now, I'm sure that I could invite over any number of my baking friends who could take one look at the hot mess on the cookie sheet and tell me exactly what's going wrong.  But that would mean that I cared enough about producing perfect HOMEMADE chocolate chip cookies, which I don't.  So after the last tragic batch (made on Friday the 13th, no less!), I told myself and anyone else within earshot of my mini meltdown that I would be purchasing my chocolate chip cookie dough for the foreseeable future.

Yesterday I went to the store to pick up some household items (garbage bags, dishwasher detergent, pasta sauce...) and as I walked down the aisle where the baking supplies are shelved, I picked up some cookie mixes.  That's right, I said it, MIXES.  1 stick of butter, 2 tablespoons of water, 1 egg, the contents of the pouch, and in 20 minutes total, I have cookies!  My children might be scarred for life for having to consume cookies from a mix, but it's something I'm sure they'll be able to work through in therapy.

I also picked up some Easter-themed pre-made-but-bake-yourself sugar cookies on clearance yesterday, and Sadie enjoyed "making cookies with mom" in the afternoon.  Wow, my Mother of the Year potential is sure showing, isn't it?  Not only do I make cookies from mixes, but I buy clearance cookies too.  Regardless of your personal, reformed opinion of me and my cookie lifestyle choices, I do hope you enjoy the photos I took of Sadie with the bunny cookies.  She looks like she's having fun because she has no clue that other mothers make their cookies with love from time-honored family recipes passed down for generations.