In the Doghouse

I continued my weekly baking effort this weekend, with a recipe from Smitten Kitchen for oatmeal, chocolate chip, pecan cookies. The recipe seemed simple enough, but in true delusional fashion, I chose one with interesting added ingredients to over complicate it. The good news is that this recipe could be quite good, provided it's made by a skilled, controlled baker who isn't enamoured with her new zester and needs to attend Betty Ford for zesting.

Aside from your standard sugar, flour and eggs, the added ingredients were orange zest, clove, nutmeg and cinnamon. I know what you're thinking - FANCY. Or, gross. Or... fancy! I dedicated an entire Saturday night to the activity while the husband joined friends to watch basketball and drink 27 buckets of beer volunteer at a soup kitchen, and was so excited to have zesty (and I mean zesty), yummy treats for him the next morning.

The husband was too hungover busy with around-the-house jobs to assess the taste, so I brought them along to Sunday brunch with my girlfriend. I was so confident in my results that I even considered wrapping them up in beautiful bags tied with ribbon. Why not give this true GIFT the respectable presentation it deserves? In the end, I threw them in a Ziploc bag. Let's be honest.

I arrived to brunch bursting with excitement and could barely wait to order my Bloody Mary cup of tea before pulling the treats out of my bag. Not to my surprise, the gift was met with a "seriously?" look from my friend, who knows me well enough to be justified in her reaction.

Her: "What is that?"
Me: Clearly these are cookies
Her: Where did you find them?
Me: I MADE them
Her: Oh. (Appears frightened that I might ask her to eat one)
Me: Go ahead! Give 'er a try!

The clock ticks, seconds feel like hours, beads of sweat develop on my forehead.

She eats half of it and hands the remaining half to me. Like a child who hands his mother his regurgitated vegetables.

Her: These would be fantastic dog treats, sweetie. No offense, but perhaps your future is in pet foods?

Hours later, I arrived home with my head hung low and vowing to never bake again. The husband, fresh up from his hangover nap home from church, instantly brought me back to delusion with sweeter words than any baked good in the world.

Husband: Those cookies are AWESOME!

Too many buckets of beer can land a man in the doghouse. It's a good thing I left him treats there.