Marshmallow cookies? Never again!

[wiseheart]

I'll tell you in a moment why. But first the promised cookie pic from the second batch of the Great Christmas Baking Frenzy (GCBF for the future):



From the left:
1. Cashew-white chocolate cookies
(Unfortunately, they look exactly like the macadamia ones, but that can't be helped. Still two different sorts, though.)
2. Cranberry-cashew cookies
3. Cashew-coconut snowballs
4. Nut-nougat cookies with pecans
5. Ginger-hazelnut bites with lime icing


I originally planned to bake six new sorts of cookies today. Prepared everything in advance last night... or so I thought. I conveniently forgot about hacking the raw marzipan in small pieces, which cost me some 25 or so minutes in the morning. Meaning that I already started too late.

As if that weren't bad enough, I was interrupted every 20 minutes or so. First by a neighbour. Then I had to make breakfast. Then by another neighbour. Then by the post(wo)man, who informed us that she'll be bringing Mum's pension a bit later as she had to go back to the post office to pick up more cash. Then by her again, actually bringing the pension. Then by Mum who thought the woman (who had already left by then) hadn't counted the money correctly (she had, as Mum discovered ten seconds after I had interrupted work to look at the money). And all the way long I was feeling slightly unwell with an upset stomach. Joy.

So, it took me forever and a day to get the first batch of cookies (the white chocolate-almond-pine nut ones) into the oven. The marshmallow ones were chilling in the fridge in the meantime. When the first batch was done, I put in the second batch and started shaping the marshmallow cookies. Those came out of the oven practically glued to the baking paper - I scratched them off the tin in pieces of the size of a ten-cent coin. The second tin turned out marginally better - with chocolate icing smeared on the underside generously they might even look acceptable. But I'm never making them again!

By that time, I was so fed up with the world in general and baking in particular that I decided to call it a day. I'll make the other four sorts of cookies tomorrow. This is something one should only be doing as long as one enjoys the work.

Other than that, the Dreamwidth importer still isn't working for me. Oh, the joy of cutting & pasting my entries manually and not being able to save the comments, just in case...

Comments

[noadvertising.livejournal.com]

No marshmallow cookies? But I love the Rock road cookies! They are my favourite!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I'm not familiar with those; mine, however, definitely look like a roadkill.

[noadvertising.livejournal.com]

Okay, then something has seriously gone wrong. But you have to try out Nigella´s Rocky road recipe at some point. It´s less a cookie but a crunch bar you can cut into small cubes. I did half of the portion once. I´ll never do it again. Too many complaints...

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

No, thanks. I'm done with the sticky business. At least they taste just fine; Mum will have her fun munching on the crumbs in front of the telly.

[noadvertising.livejournal.com]

Can´t you do it the other way round? Post on DW and export it to LJ? This works fine with me in case I do not forget to post on DW first!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Nah, I don't know how to do it. Besides, all that pesky hand-coding on DW would drive me out of my bloody mind.

[artemis10002000]

Oh man, the marshmallow cookies sound extremely frustrating!

But the ones you photographed are very pretty. Hopefully tomorrow baking will go smoother for you.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Your word in God's ear, my friend!
The frustrating part is that the things are actually very yummy. Mum can't resist their ruins — they'll be all gone in a day or two. They just aren't fit to be given to anyone else.

[artemis10002000]

Ah well, more for the two of you!

We are going to be baking some this week, too. Mom's arm is better now post-vax so she is eager to bake some cookies.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

What are the two of you planning?

[artemis10002000]

Anisplätzchen auf jeden Fall, sonst weiß ich noch nicht was sie plant.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Ich habe ein einziges Mal Anisplätzchen gebacken, aber sie schmeckten wie Hustensyrup! Anscheinend ist mein Rezept nich das Richtige gewesen.

[meathiel]

Oh well ... I guess marshmallows generally are a bit sticky ...

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I think part of the problem was that I didn't get mini-marshmallows, so I had to cut the big, white ones to small pieces (with a pair of scissors, as the kitchen knife capitulated after the third try or so), which increased the sticky factor by several magnitudes. The recipe said, though, that big marshmallows or Süßer Speck cut into pieces ought to work, too. Well, it did not!

[manue7a.livejournal.com]

No fun cookies are OUT!

Does that postwoman come with a bodyguard if she's bringing people the pension?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Nope. I wonder if she and the others are scared all the time, carrying all that money.

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

You can always use broken cookies to make parfaits.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Oh, Mum is happy enough to munch on the morsels in front of the telly. *g*

[elmey.livejournal.com]

Oi. What a frustrating day. But the cookies turned out looking very pretty. Ginger hazelnut with lime icing sounds really delectable.

I'm truly amazed that pensions are delivered in cash!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Many elderly people find it too bothersome to go to the bank/cash machine/whatever. My pension goes directly to my bank account, and I usually pay with my credit card. I don't like retrieving cash from the bank because then I have to pay a fee, and I don't see why I should, seeing that it's my money and the bank even uses it while I don't...

[red-day-dawning.livejournal.com]

They all look delicious though. Ginger hazelnut with lime, mouth watering!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

They are good, although not quite as extraordinary as I thought when I found the recipe. But they'll do. And next year I'll try something different.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

They all look — and sound — yummy. I hope you have a better day tomorrow!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

So do I, honestly.

[mirasaui.livejournal.com]

The cookies again, look lovely and delicious. Sorry about the marshmellow ones, they sound like a nightmare. At least, your mess ups are tasty, so no waste :0)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Ours is not a wasteful household. (Which is a nice expression for the fact that we tend to hoarding a bit.)

[elwenlj.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with you, re only doing creative stuff when you want to. I find it always goes wrong if I decide to push on.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

And it takes all the joy out of it, which isn't the point, is it?

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Those look very yummy.

My friends will get a smaller assortment of gifts I fear, although I have begun to make fruit-loaves to go into the freezer. I also did a trial run to see if it was true and shortbread kept well in the freezer, and it is! I know it also keeps well in a tin, but I think for the first ones, that will have to be stored over a month, I am going with freezing them.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Alas, my freezer is too small for keeping the cookies in there. But we do have an unheated balcony, and temperatures are suitably low now, so they'll keep there in their tins.

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Cookies!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

No Hobbit-hole would be perfect without them. *nodnod*

[medievalrosalie.livejournal.com]

I really am in awe of your cooking! Those from today sound absolutely amazing!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

They are very delicious indeed.