One year ago I had no idea of how to follow a recipe, less to properly use an oven. This radically changed when I was in finals. I was also one of the members of the student council at that time. And that was the recipe for my debut in all things baking.
In Mexico, we have parties during December called “posadas” to celebrate the holidays before the main celebration on Christmas Day takes place. During finals, you hardly have time to organize a posada as you’re more worried about your grades than anything. But we at the student council decided to do it anyways. The task itself was daunting for me, as I was not doing well in my networks class, so the course’s final exam was very important to me.
I was very anxious and stressed, and didn’t know how to relieve it. During those last three months I had gotten into running, and was enjoying it, but it didn’t seem to work on getting all this bad energy out of my system. But then I had a random idea: what if I make cookies for the posada while I study? While considering that doing this could be a source of procrastination, I ended up doing my first (failed) batch:
It was pretty tasty, as you can never go wrong with the cookie dough, but I had made the dough too liquid that it turned out like this. I had fun! So I decided to try the next day.
I apologize for the quality of the photos, I had a very old phone at the time. Monday through Thursday before my exam, I made new batches, shared them with my friends, and modified my recipe following that feedback. It was very iterative and sometimes tedious but interacting with people and seeing that some of them genuinely liked the cookies made me feel good with myself.
You may ask yourself, how did you study during all these batches and attempts? Did you end up failing? To the last question I say: No I didn’t, and here’s why! Every batch of cookie takes 30–45 minutes to bake, so I ended up making a routine as follows:
1. Make the cookie dough with the chocolate chips
2. Align a batch of balls from the dough and put it in the oven.
3. Read/Study a part of the book or slides from the classes for ~40 minutes.
4. Get the batch from the oven, repeat from step 2.
As I studied for a long time for my Networks final exam (ended up studying overnight), I ended up making 120 cookies for the posada!
After that week, two things were accomplished:
- I passed the final exam — and the course — with a good grade.
- I gave out the cookies to everyone attending our posada — none of them were left and people approached me to thank me for the delicious treat!
From then on, baking and cooking have turned into a hobby of mine. As I write this story, I’m currently finishing a dessert for my family’s Christmas celebration. Baking can be chaotic and unpredictable sometimes when you’re inexperienced, but it’s rewarding to make it through and see the reactions of the people you share what you make with.
I recommend you to try it sometime if you haven’t!
