Cellar Cookie Exchange Experiment
 

so....how do we do this?

Microwave.

this is inspired by morthanpretty's cookie mix microwave weirdness in friday night chat.

this IS a Doable thing !

Carol Just Bailed on the bakeing Part

so I guess it'll be Zippyt baked cookies

Well, zippy failed to mention this in Saturday early AM chat, so I'm just now learning about it. But yeah, it's doable!

There are non-bake cookies...anyone who did 4-H club knows that...

Christmas before this last one I didn't have a lot of cash, so I decided to go through my late grandma's recipe file and make some of her cookies and candies which were famous to us.

The oatmeal cookies were great. I put them on the pan, into the oven, and checked later and it was one gooey gelatinous sticky form that covered the top of the baking sheet. I had put in everything but the flour. The flour.

I wrapped it up and gave it to my family at Christmas. It was solidified, like amber had been poured over the pan. After a short speech that I acted like what I was about to bestow on them had a lot of meaning to me, to all of us. I choked up and told brother "just open it."

They laughed so hard they were all crying, once I told the story.

So, yeah, you probably don't want me in a cookie exchange. If we're having a Nacho exchange I might be interested.

:)

Shawnee, you could buy some of my daughter's girl scout cookies, then rewrap 'em... ;)

I wasn't in chat but with more info, I'd be in :)

I know someone selling GS cookies too. ;)

Post cookie recipes here, allocate them to volunteers who bake them then eat/photograph/describe the results?

I would love to be a part of this.

I missed it... what, was she slathering cookie batter all over her body?

morethanpretty was wishing she had some "cookie mix" -- a dry mix that, with a little added water and a trip to the microwave, somehow turns into actual cookies.

To the group's consternation, our collective championing of real ingredients, a good ol' fashioned oven, and honest physical labor -- or even some refridgerated tube cookie dough! -- was met with disapproval.

How "fresh" cookies can come from a box I will never know. Brownies and cakes, I'll grant you, but even little kids can make chocolate chip cookies from scratch.

(For the record, other chatters were guilty of such attrocities as trying to cook eggs in the microwave or toasting Pop Tarts with the foil still on. But nothing as bad as cookie mix.)

Hey, you can totally do that! You just have to crack it into a very tiny dish, cover it with saran wrap (with a pin prick for venting,) and break the yolk so that it doesn't explode. Instant Egg McMuffin shape.

Here's how I would do the cookie exchange:

-Organizer collects participant names and addresses. Participants state how many people they'd like to bake for.
-Organizer scrambles all the entries up at random. Each participant gets a dozen cookies for every dozen they send out.
-Each participant mails out a dozen of their signature cookie by the given date.
-All parties eat, enjoy, and take pictures.

So, for example, if I feel like baking three dozen cookies, I might send out cookies to lumberjim, Zippyt, and LabRat, and receive cookies from Pico, blue, and Shawnee.

(Clod, my eggs always stuck to the bowl. What's the secret for Egg McMuffin shape?) :)

I'm in. I make kick-ass oatmeal choco chips...

how'd you like to be the organizer?

Sure! I'll do it, if everyone's comfortable sending me their info.

i wanna participate. I make some stellar peanut butter and chocolate cookies

dibs on the toll house cookies

Okay, how's this for a suggested timeline:

If you'd like to participate, drop me your contact info and how many people you'd like to bake for in a PM by Monday, Feb. 2nd. That gives everybody a week to see the thread and decide if they want to participate.

I'll send everyone their cookiecipient information by Friday, Feb. 6th, and we'll try to have cookies mailed by March 1st.

You put a very thin coating of oil in the bowl first.

I like to nuke eggs in a square microwave dish. Perfect shape for a sandwich!

my oven's not working. :(

you need mtp's microwave recipe....

In an IRL cookie exchange, you only generally get 1-3 of each type (in my experience), and mailing 12 cookies several times over is going to be pretty costly, so few people will be able to sample more than one or two cookies baked by other people....

So how about 3-4 addresses per dozen you want to bake? Should be less than $1 for each mailing and so you can get lots of different types in return.... ?

Yeah, I wasn't sure how much it'd be for shipping. I haven't sent a package in a while!

How about 2-3 addresses per dozen, so that if the recipient really likes the cookie they'll be able to have a second serving? :)

Has anyone ever managed to mail cookies that didn't arrive as crumbs? I've had bad luck with this.

Cookies posted from Abroad may be stale on arrival :(

I'd be tempted if it wasn't for the overseas thang.
Also, I'm not sposed to be eating cookies (biscuits).

Please include descriptions and photos in this experiment so we can participate too!

Part of it is just having sturdy cookies. For mailing, I usually line the sides of a tupperware container with paper towel. Layer the cookies in and put layers of paper towel or wax/parchment paper between cookie layers. Then the tupperware goes in either bubblewrap or a box with packaging peanuts.

What about sending the dry ingredients only, with the rest of the recipe? So the receiving person just has to add the butter and eggs. No stale cookies that way, and less costly to mail. That way everyone could get a full batch??

I am in, but sending to the States is pricey..... it would be good if we had a few in Canada that wanted to do this as well :)

Edit: also, what about the UK people doing one, and the Australians as well... it would be cheaper, and they could still be part of it. Its a bit more work for the organizer... but... maybe more people would join in.

Sorry . but I haz to Bail on this , Zip Grills , Not Bakes :(

Rib exchange anyone? Here's how it works:

1) zippy sends me scrumptious ribs
2) I eat them


That's it. Who's in?

:P

Oh I thought it worked this way:

- Send Sundae "cookies" (bizarre American food)
- Sundae eats, shares with family, reviews and takes photos
- Posts the above on Cellar
- Teh End

Substitute grits, cheesesteaks, chili, home fries and repeat.

Grits. I haven't even had grits!

I could send you some Rocky Mountain oysters. ;)

That seems more like a recipe swap, since flour is going to be flour regardless of where you get it. I'd like to be able to do a full, finished cookie, especially since cookies can change depending on the baker.

Say no to them Sundae. Trust me on this. They aren't what you're thinking. Oh and don't go for the "Rocky Mountain oysters" either. :yelsick: