kitchen sink cookies

Don’t trust the internet

~ stephzuniga ~ Leave a comment

We all know by now not to trust a thing you see, hear or read on the internet.

It’s also no secret that I’m a Marketer’s dream.  I am super brand loyal and very susceptible to advertising.  So when someone’s internet blog says, “this is the perfect chocolate chip cookie”, I say, “let’s try it!” 

Well, I tried it…and it’s not that great.

I like the Vanilla Bean Blog.  I’ve baked her cookies before- and I’ve bought her cookbook, 100 Cookies.  So I trust her.  So I was super excited when I got the email this week saying she had created the “perfect” chocolate chip cookie, I was keen to try it. 

Everybody loves chocolate chip cookies.  I mean, everyone loves cookies but everyone loves chocolate chip cookies.

Last week’s Kitchen Sink Cookies were a hit- one of the top 10 cookies I’ve made apparently.  But they can be divisive.  Anything outside of the standard, comforting chocolate chip cookies can cause… feelings.  So no matter how crazy a recipe I make each week, I like to also make one comforting, plain-sh, normal cookie.  

And because everyone loves chocolate chip cookies, everyone also has a favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe.  There are SO many out there.  Even the 100 Cookies cookbook has like 5 different recipes for them.  So what was meant to make these so good?  

Not sure.  But they weren’t great.  I ran out of vanilla and substituted a teaspoon of bourbon, I increased the recipe from 20 cookies to 32 so maybe it didn’t quite scale well.  Whatever it was they are/were disappointing.  Not an outright fail but not great.

Luckily, I always make at least two types.  The second batch is Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies- which were excellent.  They look good too.   They are dark, velvety, rich and coffee adjacent.  They’re gorgeous. I love them. I think they will be a hit.

The chocolate chip ones… not so much- but we’ll see. People are always surprising. But one thing I know, we can’t trust everything we see on the internet.

What inspires you?

~ stephzuniga ~ Leave a comment

And I don’t just mean when it comes to food. I’m learning that the hardest part of being a parent is knowing what to say when life lifes. When games are lost, when small humans are worried about big things, when you’re trying to encourage someone to believe that the world is limitless while knowing that it’s also full of disappointment.

How can you be their biggest cheerleader and also a realist at the same time?

I mean, full disclosure, I am my child’s biggest fan. Biggest cheerleader, biggest advocate and most likely to tell him how amazing he is. Because I think he is AMAZING. But the better he gets at things, the harder the competition is, and the more often he faces adversity, and challenges, and losses. And that’s hard. For me, and for him. The me part of me wants to find the bright side. The mom part of me wants to make sure he doesn’t experience challenges- but if he does, I want to make him feel better and grow and learn. But losing can be hard. It can be tough. It can be disheartnening. So, as a parent of an amazing child, what do you do? What should I do?

I don’t know, and I don’t think any parent knows. But I’m trying. The phrase, “Pressure is a a privilege” has recently become a mantra. Billie Jean King first said it so it feels apt for a tennis family. And reflecting on my own life, it’s so true. So it feels appropriate to pass it on. Pressure creates diamonds and pressure is a privilege- it means people think you can…and maybe they expect you to DO as well. It’s not a bad thing.

We also talked about the poem, “If” by Rudyard Kipling. Again, it’s on the wall at Wimbledon Centre Court so it felt… right. If you don’t know it, it’s worth reading.

Also, I baked cookies this week. Kitchen Sink Cookies and Chocolate Peppermint Sugar Cookies from the 100 Cookies book by Sarah Kieffer. Sarah’s blog “A Vanilla Bean Blog” is amazing! The cookbook is too.

This week has been challenging. There’s a lot going on- on every level, in every orbit of my life. From the National Guard on the streets of DC to my small person worrying about his tennis match, it hasn’t been easy. But pressure truly is a privilege and we are holding on!