Burt's Bakery

I have a confession; I bake. This might sound weird to my few blog followers but baking was a huge part of my identity before I moved to Cedar. When we lived in New Mexico, where I was born, my mom spent months perfecting a chocolate chip cookie recipe. She took a recipe off the back of a bag of chocolate chips and just tweeked and changed ingredients until they were perfect. They're good, they're really good. I can't even really begin to describe them.

Every Burt child was raised learning how to bake these cookies. We took them to class parties, random friends on Sundays, and every family reunion. Our mom is not that hard core when it comes to cooking but she's OCD about her cookies. You have to pack the brown sugar a certain way and the flower must be measured correctly with proper butter knife technique. You can only use Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips and nothing but Blue Bonnet Margarine melted to the exact consistency. Sugars first, then magarine, eggs, vanilla, flour mixture (baking soda, salt, and flour,) all while putting the chips and nuts in half way through the flour. I can double it, cut it half, make them by hand, or use a mixture, and do it all without even thinking.

So when my brother Jeff wanted a new video game or roller blades or something along those lines, he started a cookie baking business. When he was too cool for baking, I was just old enough to use an oven by myself. I inherited a healthy clientele. We sold by the dozens, we had regulars. I new who liked extra chocolate chips, who wanted walnuts in theirs, and who I couldn't tell their spouses they were buying them. Sometimes I'd make up a batch, bag them in threes, take them to school, and sell three for a dollar to students. I'd make 5 dozen, earn 20 bucks, and be out by 3rd period. I could go home right now and call up old clients, even though it's been five years, and make 100 bucks no problem.

Moving into a dorm my freshman year that had no kitchen sent my baking out the window, it was nice not to be the girl who was expected to bring cookies to everything. So when I finally made them, I was extremely upset to find out that they turn out very different at 5846 ft above Sea Level then at 30 below. This may sounds ridiculous but it's still 5 years later quite sad to me. I've tried adjusting so many little things in the recipe but there's no hope. They still taste good in Cedar, they're just not....fluffy.

This is all on my mind because I made them this morning for Jon and Liz (best landlords ever) and all I could think about was how excited I was to move home and make some fluffy cookies. 37 days till El Centro....

The Help

Have you seen the movie The Help? If not make plans to see it ASAP, best movie I've seen in a long time. Basic Overview: In a culture where a girl's main priority is expected to be marriage (not utah but close,) Skeeter gets a college education and has strong desires of becoming a journalist. Skeeter grew up in a privileged white home in Jackson, Mississippi with an African American maid that raised her. After returning home from college she recognizes the injustice of how the maids in her community are being treated. She interviews maids about their experiences and writes an anonymous book that gets published. It was beautiful, moving, funny, you're going to want to take tissues. There were two messages in the movie that I've always firmly believed in but the reinforcement was perfect timing in my life.

While Skeeter was I'm sure a talented writer, what made the difference was that she saw everyone like a Child of God. She connected with the maids, made them feel like they could trust her, and then helped them. In a time in life where I have no life plans and I'm surrounded by friends going to medical school, and getting sweet jobs with companies like Boeing, it's nice to know that me being a people person is something valuable that can change lives, even if I can't do math.

The other lesson is that children believe what others believe about them. Skeeter never felt like the southern belle her mom wanted her to be, and even though her mom never said those words, the message was delivered clearly. Her faith in herself however, came from the maid that raised her. Her maid told her every day how beautiful, wise, and smart she was. We as humans have to take the amazing influence we have in children's live more seriously.

Lagoon!

At 8:30pm last Friday night Brant called me up and asked if I wanted to go to Provo for the weekend. We left Cedar at 12:30am Saturday morning and drove to Provo. I love a good late night random roadtrip. We ended up going to Lagoon on Saturday for SUU Day at Lagoon and it was just the PERFECT day. Going into it I only knew two of the people besides me but we just had a way solid group and it was wonderful. I love when the Lord weaves people into your life.