Sunday 18 October 2015

Cookies in a Bottle

Actually, not the cookies came in a bottle, but the dry ingredients needed for baking them.
A few years ago, someone came up with the idea of offering all the dry ingredients needed for a specific recipe neatly layered in jars and bottles, with the recipe attached. This can make an unusual and appreciated gift for those people who (like me) do not want more things to clutter their shelves and lives, but rather like presents that can be worn, eaten, drunk or put on one's skin (such as lotions, perfumes and so on). 

Some time ago, RJ's mother received one such bottle as a birthday present. She already knew she would never bother to make them, and passed it on to me.


I've had it for so long I kept thinking I really should use it - or throw it away. But with dry ingredients such as sugar, flour and chocolate chips, all vacuum-sealed, there is not much risk in keeping them for rather long, and so I waited for an occasion to make the chocolate cookies that were described on the label attached to the bottle.

A few weeks ago, I was coming home from work as usual. To reach my front door, I have to walk past my neighbour's door. Sometimes, Mr. R. is outside, sweeping the pavement, doing a spot of gardening or cleaning something. He does not speak German very well, but that does not stop him from enjoying a little chat nearly every time we meet. He is a very gentle character, always friendly and polite. 
That day, he stopped me not just for a chat, but even asked me to come in for a moment - it was his wife's birthday, and I was welcome to have a cup of coffee with them. So I went in, but really only very briefly, having my coffee and then going home. Mrs. R. was in the middle of preparing her own birthday dinner, and I think she wasn't too keen on having unexpected guests turning up in her kitchen ;-) Still, she was as friendly and kind as her husband, and I really kept my visit very short.

Later the same evening, she rang my doorbell and gave me a plate of leftover cake, something I thought very nice of her.
Ever since, I've had the plate sitting in my kitchen, waiting for an occasion to go back.

But as is sometimes the case with such things, although you live next door to someone and usually see them all the time, the time is never right - you are either on your way out, catching a train, or in, tired and hungry.

Today, the weather is not nice enough for me to want a walk, and I am spending the day on my own. It has gone cold enough to enjoy the warmth from the kitchen stove when baking, and so I finally made those cookies and put them on my neighbour's plate, in order to take it next door later, and not return it empty. 

To make the dough, I had to add butter, an egg and a splash of milk:


It was all so simple and easy, and ready to go in the oven within a few minutes: 


15 minutes later, the cookies were done: 


They aren't burnt - the black bits are only on the baking sheet. In fact, the cookies are  just right, golden brown with the dark brown chocolate chips in them. 


(I know they are just right, because I kept three or four myself - had to try them, didn't I, before giving them to my neighbours! And sorry for the blurred picture.)

Now the plate is finally ready to go back to its rightful home!

18 comments:

  1. What a great idea! It makes things simpler!

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    1. It also looks nice while it's still in the bottle, and one does not have to worry about having all the necessary ingredients (except for some basics such as butter and eggs, which even I nearly always have at home).

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  2. What a thoughtful way to use those cookies in a jar. We did layered bean soup last year as holiday gifts. One friend just loved how they looked on his kitchen counter, while others made soup right away. :)

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    1. I've seen similar dishes in jars and bottles in a shop, and I can imagine anything with beans or lentils looks really nice. A good idea to prepare them yourself as gifts to your friends!

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  3. A good idea, indeed. And you could make up a bottle or two for yourself. Then if you need to bake something in a hurry it would be so simple and quick. I bet your kitchen smelled really nice when they were baking.

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    1. Yes, Kristi, my kitchen smelled very nice, actually the entire flat did, as I usually have all the doors open. As for needing to bake something in a hurry - that simply does not happen with me :-) But the idea is certainly a good one, and I have been thinking about getting similar bottles or jars for friends at Christmas.

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  4. We've both given and received such gifts in a jar or bottle, they are fun on either side! Those do look good.

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    1. They taste nice, and I really like giving and receiving gifts that are useful in some way and won't sit around collecting dust forever :-)

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  5. They look scrumptious! What a great idea for a present and how thoughtful of you to share them with your neighbours.

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    1. They were nice and crunchy, and I hope my neigbhours enjoyed them, too. Over the 13 years I've been in this flat, they have given me a lot more than they've received!

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  6. Great idea for a present. what a neat post/story - loose ends all tied up!

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    1. That's how I like it, Mike, neat and all loose ends nicely tied up.

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  7. It's always nice to return a gift with another gift, and what a lovely idea. I am not sure what I think about the idea of having all the ingredients in a bottle. It sounds a bit gimmicky to me, I remember years ago we used to be able to buy a kind of roll of dough which you cut into slices, and baked. I think it was called Pillsbury, and I have seen it in America but it doesn't appear in the shops here any more. It was quite nice if you wanted something for tea quickly. And since it wasn't very widely sold, people rarely realised you had only cut them off a Pillsbury roll! :)

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    1. I remember the Pillsbury doughboy! We had adverts with him on telly when I was a kid: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillsbury_Doughboy
      Aldi here still sell ready-made dough in various packages, to make croissants, rolls and other things. For a while, I regularly made the croissants for Sunday morning breakfast with Steve, but being on my own most of the time now, I have stopped buying the dough. It was rather nice, though, and the smell and warmth in the kitchen were part of our "Sunday feeling".

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  8. I don't think I'd have been able to bring myself to use that jar. It looks so pretty as it is.

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    1. But it just sat there, collecting dust...
      Also, I hate wasting food and I know I would have had to throw it out at some stage.

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  9. The idea of the one-pot contents is good marketing provided that you leave the person something to do or add. Your efforts look good and returning the plate with the cookies was a lovely touch.

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    1. These pots/jars/bottles make nice presents if you're looking for something neither too big nor too small, and possibly if you don't know much about the person or their home - they can use it up or give it away or just put it as an additional deco element in their kitchen.

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