McKenzie, My Baking Buddy

One of the things I really enjoy about baking is being organized and in control. I move through the kitchen smoothly and efficiently, timing my activities for best results. It fits my personality and pleases me. This is best done alone or with a capable assistant.

Our youngest daughter, McKenzie, took a very early interest in my baking. Whenever she realized I was getting things out to bake, she would come straight into the kitchen and ask, “Can I help?”

I am embarrassed to say that, at first, this set me back a bit. Inside, I would groan at the challenge this would be to my baking efficiency. I am not embarrassed to say, however, that my priorities always put her and our relationship above those selfish feelings that drove me to groan inside at having a little, inexperienced assistant in my pursuit of baking efficiency.

Every time I baked with McKenzie, I really enjoyed it and the result was that she was not only a great baking companion but became a very capable baker in her own rights.

The other day, we discovered a paper she wrote for a middle school English writing assignment. It warmed a father’s heart to see how well she wrote and how much she had taken baking into her own heart. With her permission, I share it with you today.

By way of explanation, she said, “I would have been in 7th or 8th grade (2002 or 2003.) It’s funny, when I read this I thought, ‘This must have been for Mr. Hanes’ English class.’ His writing style and lessons stick out the most in my memory. He was huge on how you structure your essays, with intros, transition sentences, main points 1, 2 and 3… It’s funny to read and see me trying and follow those principles precisely.” This explains the nature of this essay so well.

How to Make the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

The sweet chocolate chips mixed with the tangy vanilla… This is how you make one of the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. The first step is to get all of the ingredients together. Next, you have to mix them, and last is a few secrets to make them better. The first step is all of the ingredients.

You have some dry, and some wet ingredients in these cookies. It calls for 3 cups of flour, 1½ teaspoons of cinnamon, 2 teaspoons of baking soda, 3 cups of oats, 3 cups of chocolate chips, and 1½ cups of white sugar and the same for brown. The wet ingredients are, 1 cup of real butter, 1 cup of shortening, 2 eggs, and 1 tablespoon of vanilla. The next thing you have to do is mix them together.

All of these ingredients must go in a special order. First, is the butter, shortening, and sugars. You let them mix up really well. Then, you add your eggs and vanilla and mix well. Next, you put in all of the dry ingredients. The last two steps are the chocolate chips and then the oats. There are a few more details to make perfect cookies.

I have a few secrets to my success. The first one is I do not cook them for a set time. I cook them until they are slightly brown on the edges. The second one is to soften the butter so that it mixes in easily. The last and most important is not to use Quick Oats! All of these useful tips will help make great cookies.

There are many ways to make cookies but there is only one real way. Three steps to make these wonderful cookies are last, my secrets, next, the order you mix them up and first, the ingredients that you use. This is how you make the best chocolate chip cookies in the world.