Last of the baking days

I have been banned from baking until September 30th. Dad was not too thrilled that I baked cookies when it had been ninety-degrees out that day. In my defense, I had waited until ten o'clock at night. It might have only been eighty-five by that point.

Anyway, while my father was in Florida the past week, I baked the oatmeal chocolate chip raisinette cookies, the plum clafoutis, and sugar cookies. If Pie is reading this, she remembers that the last time we made cut-out cookies using a mix, it was the dough from the swamp. It was wet, mushy, way too malleable - in fact, it was too wet to be malleable.

We went through a lot of flour.

This morning? I was using the same type of mix ... and it came out perfect. The dough rolled, it was easy to shape, I had fun cutting out diamonds and tulips. None of the cookies burned (first batch of the oatmeal confections wound up charred).

It seems almost cruel that I won't be able to bake in my kitchen until September 30th. I still have the keys to the barn (where there is a lovely kitchen), so I could always go there. But still, the urge to bake usually strikes me at ten o'clock at night, and I'd rather not drive eight miles with my cookie sheets in the passenger seat.

So, until the autumn, I'll just be hoping that cookies will turn up in my house - whether from the store, or from furtive baking nights.