Day 6 AKA: There's Such A Thing As Too Many Cookies

Today's class was a disaster.

I've never been a fan of working in groups. Especially groups that were chosen randomly.

I'm going to make this short. I was the makeup person today. My job was to take the batter from the mixer and scoop it into uniform sized cookies onto the baking sheet to hand to the baker so he can put it in the oven. I did a fine job. All my cookies looked uniform and my biscotti logs were ok. They could have been shaped a little better, but for my first attempt, it wasn't that bad. I even cut my own pattern out into a heart so I could make cute sculpted tuile cookies.

But that's when things went downhill. I don't like to blame people for things very often, but our baker totally dropped the ball tonight. He did not pay attention. He never prints out his recipes and relies on the rest of us for the formula or bake times and temperatures. I found myself saying "I don't know" a few times when he asked me how long they should bake. Of course I knew, but this kid needs to stop relying on everyone and take charge of his own responsibilities.

Long story short, our biscotti was overbaked, our flourless chocolate chewies were burnt, and my precious, delicate tuile cookies were set on fire and blackened because our baker walked away from the oven. Tuile cookies cook in literally 2.5 minutes.

If all went well, I'd be telling you I was proud of the following:

Coconut Triangles
Tuile Cookies
Spritz Cookies
Biscotti
Flourless Chocolate Chewies
Sugar Cookies (which I cut into hearts and did not have time to ice because by that time it was 10:30 and class was over)

Days 2 and 3 AKA: A Whole Lotta Bakin' Goin' On

I finally have some time to sit here and write. I work this weekend so I have today and Friday off. Well, I did have to work 9-12 today, but from the comfort of my home, so that doesn't seem like work to me. Thankfully, my shift is over so I can concentrate on writing.

Tuesday was an interesting day. I was chosen to be the "baker" for my group. The baker is the person who makes sure all the ovens are set to the correct temperature. I was also responsible for running the muffins and quickbreads to and from the oven.  It was a hot and sweaty job, but I think I did okay. In between running the items to the oven, I made sure that our station was clean and organized, which is really important in a kitchen. A messy and cluttered station could lead to disastrous results, and I did not want that.

Tuesday we baked the following:
Blueberry muffins
Cream scones (we added dried cherries and almonds to the mix)
Sour Cream muffins
Streusel topping
*Sour Cream coffee cake
*Corn muffins

Yesterday was an intense day as I was the scaler for our group. The scaler is the person responsible for weighing out the ingredients to give to the mixer. With baking,  every measurement has to be precise, so it takes longer weighing out 16oz of flour than measuring out two cups. It was the role I was dreading the most, so I'm glad I got it out of the way. It went well, but at one point I was feeling a little overwhelmed and scattered because for a second I forgot which container contained all purpose flour and which had the pastry flour. I just had to step back, breathe, and stop second guessing myself.

Wednesday we baked the following:
Lemon poppy seed bread
Spiced Banana Bread
Morning Glory  Muffins
Caramel Bran Muffins
Popovers

The popovers were by far the best part of the night. I love popovers. I think I ate about 7 of them. I can't wait to "practice" them at home. I'm happy to say that my team's popovers turned out the best. They rose the highest and were the best tasting. I might be biased, but our Chef seemed to be impressed, too.

After we did our baking and cleaned up (I did more dishes last night than I've ever done in my life!) we had our first quiz. I did well; only missed one question (and it was a stupid mistake), so I feel pretty good about my standing in class. I really can't wait to get back to it on Tuesday next week.

I'm off to my chiropractor. He will make my back feel better from being on my feet 15 hours this week.