Sweet Things

A few weeks back I (Leanne) wanted to venture into the idea of baking. I loved to bake back in CO, and thought it would help me feel like this is home. The idea of making even just chocolate chip cookies was somewhat daunting, but I went for it anyways. I asked Rachel, one of my interns, if she would be interested in helping me one evening. She gladly said yes, but also let me know that she had never tried to bake before. So here we are the blind leading the blind. We mixed the batter with a fork, instead of my usual hand mixer, but with enough elbow grease we got the cookie dough to taste just right. Then came the oven. In Cambodia, the ovens run off propane, so it's like using an oven made for camping. We couldn't get it to light, and just after that Rachel said "I know how to fix it!" So she did just that, and went and ripped a small piece off a cardboard box that was in the kitchen, lit it with a match, and then threw it in the gas filled oven. Not exactly safe, but we got it started. The cookies surprisingly turned out really good and here are some pictures of us baking.

Then just last weekend we were going over to hang out with the Ohlin family for dinner and a game night. They ordered a pizza, and we offered to bring dessert. Our first thought was "Lets do a schmolie." Again, I made the cookie dough (this time easier than the first time) and got all the other items needed. We have loved spending time with this family, and were excited to teach them a little bit about our life back in CO. Here is the picture of Chris getting it ready, and explaining to the family what a schmolie is, and how you eat it. The Ohlin family loved it, and our friends back in Boulder would be so proud of them as they yelled "Schmolieolieolie" and ate the whole pan!