Mentoring days are always so much fun. Last week, M and I tried the paint bubble craft I’ve been seeing all over Pinterest. I didn’t do a blog post about it because it did not work out as well as Pinterest claimed. Theoretically, it should have: add paint to bubbles, blow paint tinted bubbles on canvas, get random round paint circles, marvel at how beautifully abstract final product is. Yeah, ok. In reality, bubbles are impossible to control because of how light they are, and finding the perfect ratio of bubbles to paint is not easy. Bubbles flew everywhere except where we wanted them to go! Needless to say, M and I resorted to splatter painting the bubble mixture on our canvases instead. While still so much fun and colorful in the end, it definitely did not seem like something most people would rave about!
This week, we tried our hand at making cookies. The facility we meet at has a kitchen and last week we spent our hour drooling over the blueberry muffins another mentor was making with their youth. We decided right then and there to bake something of our own, and since I make a mean chocolate chip cookie, we agreed on that. Here’s the recipe if you’d like to give them a whirl:
(Disclaimer: this is a slightly modified recipe my mother-in-law gave me. I don’t know where she got it!)
Amy’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 C sifted flour
1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 – 1 1/2 tsp salt (everyone raves about the salty/sweet combo when I use 1 1/2 tsp)
1 egg, well-beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3-1/2 C shortening
1/4 C brown sugar
1 package chocolate chips
Optional: 1/2 C chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 375. Sift flour, add baking soda and salt, sift again. In a separate bowl, cream shortening. Add sugar and cream until light. Add egg, mix thoroughly. Add dry ingredients to wet, mix well. Blend in vanilla. Add chocolate chips and nuts. Spoon onto ungreased baking sheet, bake for 10-12 minutes. (I always check them after 8 minutes!)
Unfortunately, I didn’t know the kitchen doesn’t come stocked with cooking supplies. The only utensils are plastic throw-away forks, knives and spoons. And the only baking containers are cupcake tins. No bowls, no mixers, no measuring cups. Even though I brought all the ingredients measured out, we still needed to mix them! SO, needless to say, we couldn’t make the chocolate chip cookies this week. Luckily, I also brought pre-made sugar cookie dough and sprinkles 😉 We put them in the cupcake tins and decorated them. Did you know that when you put cookie dough in the bottom of a cupcake tin, it will form a bowl as it cooks? We had a lot of fun talking about what we could do with our cookie bowls, and it got my wheels spinning for my next party recipe! Just imagine the possibilities….
