Crisis Not-Quite Averted

Last week, an e-mail went around at work asking for volunteers to bake goods for the United Way Bake Sale. Remembering how complimentary my co-worker Derek was about my Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies, I had visions of Experimental Farm employees raving over vegan goodies. I eagerly responded that I would supply 2 dozen cookies. Worried that I would forget, I left reminders all over the house that on Tuesday night, I would bake a whole batch of Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies to take on Wednesday for the sale early on Thursday morning. How hard could it be? I had already made the recipe and it turned out great (see earlier post). By the Law of Sarah, I should have known that this endeavor would not be achieved without a major headache.

On Monday night, I thought how I’d better check that I had all of the ingredients. By late that night, I was too tired and convinced myself that I was well-equipped. My god, I had been cooking/baking all weekend, so I would have noticed if I was missing any critical ingredients. Nevertheless, I told myself that I would check before work. Needless to say, I was running very late this morning, and on my way to work, I even had to turn around and drive back to grab my purse that I had inadvertently left in my front hall before leaving. Cookie ingredients? Never gave it a thought. At work, I wondered if I had all of the ingredients, and knew that I was making a stop at a store next to the grocery store tonight. I told myself that I would do a mental check while I was there, so that I could easily stop and pick up anything I might have been missing.

So, after doing all of the other stuff around the house that I needed to do, I decided to get into my PJs and make some cookies at 9:42. I open the cupboard, and sure enough, I only have 1/3 cup of oats. Since these were "Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies", I thought that this was a critical ingredient. I thought about running to the grocery store, but in my attire, scratched that idea. I then decided I would halve the recipe. Forget the two dozen, the charity will have to be happy with one. However, with the amount of oats I had on hand, I would have to quarter the recipe. Instead, I went through my freezer, and found a ground oat/hemp seed concoction that I had saved from another recipe. I dumped that in and hoped for the best. I rushed to get the cookies on the sheet, then did a taste test. Good idea, since I forgot to add the freakin’ sugar! I tried to mix as best as I could, but one can only hope for the best. I added extra chocolate chips to make up for how disastrous this could be.

Needless to say, I won’t do vegan food any justice at the bake sale. I might be able to salvage a dozen if I’m lucky, but it’s not looking good. I'm probably going to have to re-attempt tomorrow night at some point as they are greasy looking, flat and too crispy :(




Fortunately, my Crockpot Homestyle Applesauce from the Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker cookbook turned out great. I had just finished telling some people in the lunchroom that I was vegan and that that meant no meat, no eggs and no dairy. Not even 10 seconds later, one of the eager listeners asked if I was eating pork n’ beans (my applesauce). I wasn’t offended, since there are a few folks that work for the government that aren’t the *swiftest* characters, so I didn’t take it personally and instead just relished in my apple pork-free treat.