Night and Day

Chewy Snickerdoodles

3-4 dozen cookies

1 C shortening
1 1/2 C sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2-3/4 C flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
cinnamon and sugar (for rolling)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using a wooden spoon or a spatula, beat together the shortening and the sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla, also until fluffy. In another bowl, sift together your dry ingredients until evenly distributed. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until the dough forms (it will look wet). Place the dough into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Once the dough has chilled, remove from the refrigerator and using a spoon (tablespoon in size yields approximately 3 dozen), form the dough into balls. Roll the balls in sugar until evenly and heavily coated. Place on baking sheet, at least 2 inches apart, and bake for 8-9 minutes, or until tops have cracked. Do not over-bake. These cookies will have a nice crispy exterior and a soft and chewy interior. 

I know! A recipe coming first in a post?! At first we were afraid, were were petrified...la la, la la la la, la la la ladidaaaa...I'm just kidding. We all know I can't carry a tune, silly girl.

Let's highlight an odd identity crisis. Sometimes, I worry I've become too American, too rah rah USA and whatnot. Culturally, that is. There are moments I forget that I'm actually Asian, and I'll even be a little shocked when someone brings up that I truly truly look Asian. And now, as I look over the extent of my blog, I see a lot of cookies, a lot of European, Hispanic and American foods, and I wonder what happened to that little peculiar regimented nerd-tastic little Taiwanese fucker in me that used to rule my very way of living and being. After scrolling through the blog and looking at the projects I've managed in the past year or so, I've slowly realized, in absolute horror, that I might not have a large enough repertoire of Asian dishes under my belt. I used to braise meats all the time, and whip together dumplings and bowls and bowls of noodles. I'm probably still pretty skilled in making things like that still, but who knows? It's been too far godforsaken long.

Perhaps the coming of a the new Lunar New Year (well, hello, year of the horse) has made things all topsy-turvy in my world. It's an anxiety-inducing reminder of heritage and my burgeoning lack thereof, and I don't feel right. Night is day, day is night, things are all turned around. I mean, for god's sake, I got up at 7:45 AM today, on a Saturday. Que rayos paso aquí?! I'm just kidding, I'm waiting for the Comcast guy to come around (he's got 10 more minutes and then I can righteously be annoyed).

Good god, why have I not made more Taiwanese dishes? Of course, there's always an explanation, always a little bit of space for denial and blame transference to peek through. I'll say, it was a product of my upbringing! I grew up in a household so devoted to the traditional Taiwanese style of shared family meals with little bowls of rice and main dishes (not that I'm really complaining, that stuff is the sheeeit), that it's only natural I'm curious about foods like...bread and cookies. In fact, growing up, I can't remember a single moment in which the cookies my mother baked elicited a "mmm delicious give me more" response from me. Her cookies were always well, too cake-like or too hard, they were rarely ever chewy (she has improved on her cookie making skills vastly though). I suppose that's why I'm obsessed with consistently creating perfectly chewy cookies. And I still don't have it down. And this upbringing, coupled with my arrogant belief that I can always go back and cook Asian food without fail, now has me flailing around in the weeds.

I suppose this post eked out of me because it's early in the morning and I want to get some dim sum. I know that's originally Cantonese, whatever. There is most certainly a prominent lack of solid and successful dim sum in Maryland it seems (that's just based off yelp though). It would be so nice, so so nice, if I could just walk to the kitchen and whip up some dim sum straight away. Alas. I suppose I will have to work on that this year.

At least you get these cookies though. I was surprised by how well they turned out. I like them even better when they've been sitting in the cookie jar for a day or two. Hint, hint, they become chewier. Either way, another point for sporadic posting! And as the cookie jars says, have a happy day.