Photo Essay

I had some Christmas baking I wanted to do - I'm giving treat bags with oatmeal/cinnamon chip bars, brownies and chocolate chip cookie bars - so I thought, why not make a photo essay out of it just for fun? It was a good time, and definitely not without its challenges! First off, I don't bake. So right there I was starting at a deficit. Then to stop umpteen times to photograph this mixing and baking, well, let's just say it was a little time-consuming and challenging as well!

I was just at the store last night where I picked up some chocolate chips and brownie mix. I made the brownies this morning, to be followed by the oatmeal bars and chocolate chip bars, only to find that I didn't have enough butter and the brown sugar I did have was hard as a rock. So I made a list of the few things I needed for my baking.

I thought, while I was at it, I'd get a couple things ready for the mail tomorrow

Next came socks and shoes and Hildy on the bed being cute

Downstairs, then Hildy in the crate

Out to the mailbox, then on my way to Kroger

Grocery shopping with a festive bent

The store was a madhouse so it was all I could do to navigate my cart and take a few shots here and there

I swear I didn't do this. But I had to shoot it. You never know what you'll find on the way to the butter.

Not to late to buy a wreath

I really wanted to shoot the self checkout process but I thought the people in line behind me would kill me, so it's back on the road to the homestead

And, of course, the dog always wants to know if I bought her something

Time for a bite before digging into the baking

And now for a little Josh Groban Christmas music to set the mood

On to the business of baking. I got all this stuff mixed together, the butter and sugars, and my separate bowl of flour and baking soda, only to realize that the 1 cup measure I THOUGHT I was using was actually 3/4 cup! I had to go back and add 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 flour. This is precisely why I don't bake. I'm just glad I caught it!

This cracks me up. I love how the recipe says to "spread" the mixture in the bottom of a lightly greased pan. This stuff does not spread. It sticks to the spoon. It sticks to the spatula. It sticks to the "spreader". It sticks to everything but the bottom of the lightly greased pan.

Into the oven!

And viola! Smells yummy!

Time now for the chocolate chip cookie bars

Catching these babies in mid-air was tough!

Thick enough to stand a spoon in. I could've eaten a bunch of this batter, for sure, but I was a good girl.

No need to see the spreading struggle again!

And poof it's done!

My little masterpieces.

The end!