In Jean Pare’s cookbook, these Boiled
Chocolate Cookies are called “…the most used recipe of young first-time cooks.”
Their first lab was quesadillas, since the
breakfast burritos were clearly going to be too difficult for this group. I
couldn’t use the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, then, as it’s substantially
more difficult. I needed something super easy. Something healthy? No. Nothing
was working. Allergies, Celiac disease, not allowed marshmallows. Running out
of time, here!
Mudpies. We’d made them before, and it was
simple enough. Okay! Mudpies it is.
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| Oats + Cocoa = Healthy. It's good enough for Nutella's ads. |
We did the recipe preview – how to make the
cookies, safety concerns and questions and the next day, we took to the
kitchens. Five pots of boiling sugar and fat over three stovetops. Constant
pacing and supervision:
Turn your burner down.
Stir gently.
Watch that pot handle…
No fooling around during labs!
Walking!
Are you sure that was bubbling for a full
five minutes?
Two back-to-back classes of boiling-chocolate
controlled chaos. The cookies were more or less a success. Some were too dry,
some were too gooey. One… well, if you’re going to use whatever measuring cup
you grab first instead of the right one, at least do the math. No harm done.
Whew.
Feeling a little breathless and dizzy, we
launch into the final lab of the day – baking our pizzas. No big deal. Add the
toppings, bake them and enjoy.
After clearing out the third afternoon
class, and starting to deal with the left over mess, there was the sound of
broken glass outside my room. With a deep breath, I head out to see what’s
wrong.
While the caretaker swept up the glass, the
storm raging inside my body broke free and down I went, head swimming, heart
raging away at 250 bpm.
Now, I’m a little annoyed… I’d had surgery
to correct this situation and this was exactly WHY. I didn’t want something
like this to happen at work. Around the kids. While cooking. Hearts don’t
respond to logic though, do they?
Within an hour, I was under the care of
some of the nicest paramedics in town, going for my first ambulance ride. My
heart smartened up as soon as we hit the “cardioversion bed”, so it may not
respond to logic, but it does respond to a tangible threat.
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| What? How do you get home from work? |
I was hoping it was merely a rebound effect
from the surgery, but the surgeon’s going back in for another look. I can’t say
I’m excited about the news.
Several weeks later, we started textiles
and one student asked wistfully – Can we make those chocolate cookies again? I
laugh a little and lean in to respond – you do know that I had to be
hospitalized after that lab, right? She accepts her disappointment with good
grace, and I chuckle. It was a fun recipe… but maybe it’s a little too
stressful.
Stay tuned for “Ballroom Dancing with
Cookie Sheets”.
