More Death-Defying Adventures in the Kitchen

I thought I'd have a few mom friends over for lunch. Some of them have read this blog, so they helpfully offered to bring food. I thought I would just make some cookies from a mix; that seemed safe. Except it wasn't.

"Something's burning," said one of the women, a note of alarm in her voice.

"Hmmm. But the cookies have only been in there for about 10 minutes," I said. "Do you think they're done?"

The mystery as to what was burning was soon solved. I'd haphazardly stuck a sheet of parchment paper on top of the cookie sheet, and at least three inches of it were hanging off the edge. It was this paper that was singed black. (Recently, someone on Facebook begged me to stop cooking for my and my family's safety. I guess he was right.)

Fortunately, one of the women (a much better cook) advised me as to the incorrect placement of the rack and of the parchment paper problem. It was her opinion that the cookies were quite done - "But they're still so soft on top!" I protested - and she was indeed quite right.

(In case you're interested, the cookie mix was the French Kiss chocolate-chunk cookie mix from Jacques Torres. It's really great when you don't burn it.)