Swirling

I just tried another chocolate chip cookie recipe. It isn't exactly a fail, but I won't make it again. I've been searching, and although I can bake very good chocolate chip cookies, I have to cheat a little. When I first moved to Britain, I hadn't stocked my kitchen completely. I didn't have access to much money for a few months while things got sorted out, and one day I really wanted something American. I bought a box of cookie mix, and added a few things to spruce it up. Mostly extra vanilla, and I dumped in some extra sour cream I had lying around to make them more moist and rich. Everyone loves those cookies. Charles suggested I add coconut. They are now pretty much the only thing I ever get to bake for people, and I find that disheartening. I've got loads of recipes, many of them much better and some of my own creations-but still, everyone wants those damned cookies. The cookies that are half out of a box. Since then, I've been trying loads of different base recipes, adding things in to see if I can come up with a basic cookie recipe to replace the box stuff. Its not that the box stuff is bad, nor is it particularly expensive-sure more expensive than flour and sugar, but still under a pound. This is a matter of pride.

I've tried different combinations of fats. I've tried different flours, I've tried different liquids, egg and egg free, oven adjustments, rituals with cooling pans and refrigerating dough. I've used hot and cold fats, stirred and hand blended. Nothing works like those cookies. The trouble? The texture. If my cookies rise, they are too hard. If they are soft they spread like there is no tomorrow. I've read the box ingredients. They are actually fairly basic. Flour, sugar, dried egg powder and soy lecithan. I'm pretty sure thats what does it.

You know what the real killer is though? I don't really like chocolate chip cookies. Oh sure, I like the odd one here and there, especially if I'm feeling nostalgic. But for the most part? I prefer other things. Chocolate cake. Brownies. Other cake. Less sweet cookies...

Anyway. Plans are in the works for operation spruce. I've identified a hair training academy that has nothing but good reviews. Don't worry one of my friends has gone twice as a guinea pig. And my hair grows like there is no tomorrow, so that is sorted. I've decided to take the afternoon off tomorrow and go into town. I can book my appointment and then do a little browsing for the other things I want. It is 5:15 and just getting dark, crocuses and snow drops are poking up, and my sleep patterns should return to normal until June. When I will stop sleeping because its only dark for about 4 hours.

I've been thinking about the story. There is a significant gap in my memory at the moment, so instead I'm working on some juicer posts from later on. I'm really interested in writing suspense and intrigue into these posts. I'm also amazing by the things I've realized about myself by writing this. For some reason, I think it is easier to be honest with you than with myself.