Baking with Joy

Or: A Case Study on the Limits of Written Communication

When I tasted the chocolate chip cookies that night, I said

WHO MADE THESE?

They were that good – creamy, flavorful, melt-in-your-mouth.

Turned out it was Joy.

Turned out she was willing to share her recipe.

Turned out, after several failed attempts,

That there is more to baking great chocolate cookies

Than a recipe.

I found I had three hundred questions:

Butter or margarine? And at what temperature?

Do you cream the fat and sugar first? How long?

What brand of everything are you using?

What texture of dough am I going for?

How do you shape the cookies?

What should they look like when they come out of the oven?

I found what I needed to do was watch her.

So I asked.

And she said yes, that would be fun.

And one July afternoon, I went to her house for a lesson.

I’ll make the first batch, she said,

And you’ll make the second.

And guess what?

I learned.

I now know how to make chocolate chip cookies that knock your socks off.

But I’m not going to share any of her secrets online

Because I’m shy like that.

So much of everything can only be learned when you’re there.

If you want to bake great chocolate chip cookies

And you can’t,

You will have to find a Joy.