Cookie Mise en Place

 It’s Zippy Tip Tuesday!

How many times have you started to make cookies, only to discover that you are missing an ingredient?  It has happened to me more times than I care to admit, even though I know the smart thing is to gather all my ingredients before starting.

Instead, I assume that I must have enough flour, because we ALWAYS have enough flour, right?  Or I’m sure I have enough chocolate chips, because I bought 4 truckloads the last time they were on sale.  Or I MUST have enough baking soda, because I saw it peaking out at me in the pantry; but good Lord knows if it has expired or not.  So my too-smart-for-my-own-good self commences to whip up the dough, when — ratsin’ fratsin’ — I see that the sugar canister has about 2 tablespoons worth at the bottom.

Suddenly, “dough” turns into “doh”!

It is then in my feverish trek to the grocery store that I remind myself of the importance of Mise en Place.  The French phrase, meaning “putting in place”, is totally the way to go.  True Mise en Place (pronounced MEEZ-ahn-plahs) requires measuring each ingredient and placing each piece of equipment into place BEFORE the first scoop of sugar even hits the butter in the mixing bowl.

It is pure genius.  In fact, the kind of genius that I wish I had the patience to be more of, darn it all.

BTW, this video is actually pre-Mise en Place, because I don’t show the actual measuring of ingredients. I had to bake about 6 different kinds of cookies for a student recital I was holding, and the whole counter was a mess.   So what’s French for mess?  I just looked it up, and it is “désordre”.

Yep, “désordre” is my version of Mise en Place.

Oh, and if you want to know more about why I snip my plastic bag handles, watch this archive Zippy Tip video:  Snip Those Plastic Bag Handles!

Watch video here:

Can’t see video?  Watch it here:  Cookie Mise en Place

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