Against the Odds

After my classes on Tuesday afternoon, I went over to Charlotte's to bake cookies for Wednesday night's "Office" marathon and encountered a problem: I have been spoiled my entire life with regular access to an incredibly well-equipped kitchen.

My disadvantages: 

a. The Creamery does not have Land O Lakes margarine, which is the key to perfect chocolate chip cookies.

b. I needed to make a double batch, but didn't have a Bosch mixer; mixing six dozen cookies worth of dough with hand mixer is tricky.

c. Along with not having the proper mixing appliance, I didn't have a bowl deep enough to accommodate said large amount of dough, so had to resort to a rather shallow bowl, which resulted in the dough-splattered kitchen as pictured below.

 
After some deal of problem-solving and hand-mixering finesse, I mixed the dough. 

Then I had to face the problem of actually baking the cookies.

Now, I grew up in a kitchen where a cookie dough scoop was a staple, and as a result, uniformly shaped, perfect cookies. Alas, college kitchens are different, forcing me to use two spoons to form the dough into bake-able balls. The result was overall successful, and though they went very flat, I blame the unsatisfactory margarine more than anything else. I'm very grateful for access to Charlotte's kitchen, as my dorm building's kitchen is far worse in its quality of accommodations. (One of the guys who came to watch the "Office" made cookies in his dorm basement with only a 3/4 cup measure and a teaspoon. I was impressed.) So, an overall successful first college baking endeavor. The cookies were a hit, and I look forward to many chances to work my way back up to chocolate chip cookie excellence.