merdeka project

the initial plan was to go to the hair salon with mum to do some damages to the wallet changes to the hair i.e. colour and/or highlight. however the kitchen has run out of food stock, major food stock. the last time we went to the supermarket was the 3rd day of puasa and today is already the 3rd week so most stuffs have finished. i hope i still have time to do my hair before raya.
anyway, what is raya without raya cookies, right? as much as we know that we don't really eat the cookies, raya is not complete without them. be it store-bought or pre-ordered from friends and the like. i feel like something is missing if i don't have at least one home-made cookies on the table. it may not look as pretty as the store-bought ones, it may not look as fancy and colourful or perfect but it's the satisfaction and the feeling i get when i tell people that i made the cookies myself. it gives me a sense of pride. most people would be more interested to try the home-made ones as compared to the store-bought ones.
my must have cookies come every raya is chocolate chip cookies. it is really easy to make and the ingredients are very minimal. the recipes can be found everywhere on the internet, in newspapers, magazines etc. it's just a matter of trial and error. i do have a recipe that i've tried and tested before but like i said, it's a trial and error process. so this year i decided to try another recipe. there are not that much difference anyway but some recipes seem more reliable than the other.

chocolate chip cookies in the making.

the recipe said to put hazelnuts but there's none in the supermarket so i substituted it with almond nibs instead.

mix 'em all up.

roll them into small balls, about the same size each.

i may not have the most advanced cake mixer or the most hi-tech oven (all along i've been using our more than 10-years old 4-dimension microwave oven) but alhamdulillah so far my cakes and cookies turned out well (except for minor burns here and there due to the uneven heat). i only have two baking trays so i used this stainless steel tray (as in dulang bubuh gelas segala) as the baking tray. it's all about improvising. mind you, a proper non-stick baking tray is not really that cheap. so as long as it can go in the oven, what the heck!

first, i made a batch of chocolate chip cookies for my sis & bil in UK. one batch can fill about 1 plastic jar so there's not much left for home. since i am in the mood to bake, i made another batch, from scratch, all over again. i've run out of almond nibs so the second batch was without almond.

the house smells like Famous Amos. alhamdulillah the cookies turned out well. phew~ baking can be unpredictable sometimes. i've packed one jar to be sent to sis & bil. my bil loves my chocolate chip cookies so much that they 'fight' who gets to eat more. knowing that gives me a sense of satisfaction & happiness that i can't describe. you know that your effort is worth it when people appreciate your cookies.
i hope the cookies will reach them on time for raya and i hope it will reach them in good condition.
btw a friend on facebook wanted to order my chocolate chip cookies. i am excited and nervous because i've never sold my cookies to anyone before. how much should i sell them for? what if it didn't turn out well? what if it's not crunchy enough? will it be tasty enough? if you ask me, of course i would say that it tastes better than Famous Amos haha. hey, cut me some slack, will ya? who else to sing praises if not my own self? LOL. ohhhh when am i going to bake the cookies? will i be able to make it by this weekend? oh-oh!

on a different note, SELAMAT HARI MERDEKA MALAYSIA!