Boy, I am glad last Wednesday is over! This is just kind of a long rant about what led up to it and how I felt...
Baking always makes me a bit nervous. For one thing, I have a circa 1970's electric hand mixer, my mother's, which only works with one beater! ( The other beater just falls right out when you try to attach it to the mixer). The other thing that gives me anxiety is, with baking, you need to be fairly precise, which I'm not.
My husband volunteered at church to run a short term, 3 week evening Bible study for the general public, to be done at a downtown coffee house. The coffee house owner, who is a total sweetheart, is kindly lending us her premises for our group, her yummy coffee, etc.
Our team from church is providing the snacks, and for the first two weeks, the snacks are up to me. This is what I came up with for last Wednesday, our first session--
espresso brownies, assorted crackers with 2 kinds of cheese, grapes, and a fancy, "artisan" type of black licorice.
You can't imagine how I agonized, ha. Even though I've baked for bake sales and meal trains, etc. -- these brownies had to turn out well.
I used Maida Heatter's famous brownie recipe she made in World War II for the troops. Even though she puts you through hoops to make them-- the recipe as written is a pain! Hers also calls for toasted walnuts, but, in case anyone in the group might have nut allergies, I had to make two batches, one with and one without walnuts....
Could go on and on about the various difficulties, but they did turn out quite decently, both batches-- relief. The group seemed to like them.
I want to do something SIMPLE but good for Week 2.
Thinking of making either the cream cheese cookies from Food52, ( which I've made before and are very good) or the Pioneer Woman's brown sugar oatmeal cookies, or the Doubletree Choc. Chip Cookie recipe.
Wondering if anyone here has made the PW brown sugar oatmeal cookies before, or the Doubletree choc. chip cookie?
If you've made the Doubletree cookies, have you made them without the nuts? ( I can't face making 2 separate batches again, so if they are still good without the nuts, would consider them).
Then, instead of crackers, will have chips, cheese, and trying to think of a different fruit than grapes, sigh. The grapes were so fresh and good, and EASY. Don't want to chop a lot.
For one more sweet item, am considering those yummy little pre-made frozen mini eclairs that you just thaw. Not home made, of course, but we've used them for groups before, and were a hit.
Thinking of adding red licorice to the black, this time. Not everyone is a black licorice hound like I am! And this licorice is so pretty, both the red and black just glisten and makes a good presentation under a glass cloche...
Well, I said this was long... Am so thankful that our other team members are responsible for the snacks for the final session! And I bought a new mixer today.
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