Day 26 - Chewy Choc Chip Cookies & Co.

today's offerings... a little ugly but choc chip has its fans!

I thought cookies would be a no fuss menu item to bring, but now that I've gotten into the routine of baking, it doesn't really make much of a difference. And I was concerned about the proportion of cookies as compared to its cake counterparts. I feared people might feel they're not getting the same value for money eventhough the effort and ingredients are just as wholesome - I used nice butter and chocolate!

I made a variation with walnut and the darker one is peanut butter, museli and choc chip. These cookies are all pretty sugar intense, but to be chewy with no artificial additives, lotsa sugar is the key... when I have more time, I'll be looking into natural fat and sugar substitutes like applesauce and honey etc... fun! (but nothing beats full fat full sugar for sure! *heart shivers*)

These cookies really spread out a lot and I was only able to bake six on each tray, some spread out so much they became "sextuplets"... siamese ones joined at the hip.. had to cut them apart so there were a few funny shaped cookies that were ofcourse neglected next to the round ones. Who said cookies needs to be round?!

walnut bumps

Anyway, I dropped the price to $1.50 each or $2.50 for two cookies today, concerned about the response from my picky customers... but the reaction I got from many including Naomi was "they're massive! you should charge $2 each! but you can't change it now haha!"... that's alright I thought, I was going to be content as long as I sell all the cookies I put out, and there were plenty today.

However, it was a bit disappointing to see people still taking tester bites... no one's watching anyway and the cookie is broken so it wouldn't matter if I took a corner off.... luckily, I'm finding humour in it all and will not send out another angry email, I'm happy enough with my loyal supporters. I forgot to put a smiley face at the end of my note so it might've sounded angry, but I do hope whoever is taking tester bites - next time please just take the whole piece, no one will find out anyway! :))))))))))

missing smiley face :D!

I love how the half eaten cookies gets smaller each time I revisit the kitchen for water... and look how all the funny shaped cookies got left over lol... humans are such strange beings!!! This is like a big social experiment, quite interesting...

So, I was very impressed with level 3 these past few days - no left overs!All in all, my first cookie day wasn't too bad donation return wise.. approximately 50 cookies were put out, 7 were rejected/tested. Amount raised was $46.70 - less than the minimum expected return but that's okay, I am drawing so close to my goal!!!

My day was brighten up by Elise again, and I'll dedicate a post to her tomorrow :)

Also, I stayed a little later at work tonight when the boss shouted to me "Amy! Go home to cook!" then he came around all chirpy and commissioned me to make his birthday cake in September. I said I take a donation of $50 for a cake so he wrote down on a piece of scrap paper he grabbed from the piles of paper on my desk, just like a contract with a signature, too... $150 for his birthday cake! Thank you Bruce :D! I'm looking forward to making it! He reminded me to save him a piece since he's never in the office when things are on...

I was thinking today, my earliest memories of fundraising were those in primary school when we first moved to Australia. We were delegated chocolate boxes to sell door to door, cake stalls for each class and at school fetes, red cross appeal, girl scout cookies.. Fundraising is like a national activity in the Australian culture, and kids here are taught to give at a young age.. I never really thought much about it before, but now I do see the importance and benefits of these activities being implemented into the school curriculum! It just becomes a natural part of your life if you start early :) and it's evident in people all around me!

I'm also slowly appreciating some words of wisdom passed down by my grandparents that I never used to pay much attention about either - giving is receiving... and being taken advantage of is taking advantage... some deep Confucious scholar type stuff lol...

This is enough...
Sleepy time!