Cookies Madness (2/9-2/10)

It all began when a bunch of girls who crave for Chinese New Year cookies decided to try to make some themselves......
Each one in charge of one type of cookie. I would love to EAT but "Bake it yourself" sounds too unreal. For the past few years, I will receive cookies from my aunt or my mom from Malaysia (whether on time for CNY or after, but they never failed to do that..:P) Well, recently I was told that the shipping companies are really strict and will not accept perishable food? (The bird's nest that my brother sent, travelled half the globe to the US, got rejected at the US custom and travelled half the globe back, and then was taxed by the Malaysian custom when it arrived back home..who wants to risk it again?). So this year we'll be on our own. Like what Angela said, we can't get cookies here, so if we want to eat then we bake it.
I couldn't decide what cookies to make at first. I remember when I was little, together with my Ah Mah (grandma) and my aunts, we sat down by the charcoal fire to make "kuih bahulu" and "kuih kapit". So hoping that I will have the same "FUN" if I make the same cookies, I chose to make kuih kapit. I guess you all know that to make kuih kapit, we need to have the kuih kapit moulds. After few days scratching my head, I finally came out with an idea (I thought I was smart...). I asked Jamie to buy the electric grill/griddle from Costco.
Friday, 2/9 - It's my day off and I prepared all the ingredients and started making kuih kapit. Confidently, I followed the recipes and soon the batter was ready. I put the first scoop of batter on the griddle.... After about an hour, I managed to produce 8 “thick” kuih kapit, then I gave up... It was a total failure. Well, the story didn’t end here…. My “smart” sister, Ivy, suggested that I should use an appliance called “Pizzelle Maker” (I bet not many people heard of this before). I searched online and it really looks like an electric kuih kapit mould. I said to her,“Walau, why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Then I jumped into my car and drove to the stores. To my dismay, it’s not available in any of the stores. I came home after 2 hours of driving around like a mad woman….really frustrated. That night I didn’t cook dinner…We had take-outs and I complained to Jamie a lot. After dinner, he decided to help me call all the stores in KC area (so that he can sleep in peace that night :P). Yup, he tried all the stores with a kitchen department that you can name of…none of them had it…. When I was about to give up, the Bed Bath & Beyond store said there is one available at their store in Lawrence ( about 40 mins drive). Sweet enough, he went and got it for me that night (If you have heard of this story, I am sorry that you have to read it again).


Sat, 2/10 – The kuih kapit that came out from the pizzelle maker were a little thicker than those we can get in Malaysia. I thought it’s because of the batter, so after finished the first batter mix, I use a different recipes to make the batter (I found many different recipes online). The second batch came out like the ones before but this time weren’t enough “santan” smell (according to my advisors, Lena and Carol). It was very time consuming as only can make two at a time. So, half of the day went by and I still couldn’t figure how to improve my cookies. Then, there came the life-saver phone call from Lena. She was calling to see whether I have started making my cookies and wanted to know what type of cookies I am making as I have been keeping it a secret. She even invited me to go make the cookies with Carol and her as they are making cornflake cookies (I bet Lena has learned a lesson as she and Carol have to stay up late due to that phone call…:P). I brought all my stuffs to Carol's house and we decided to try another new recipes (with really good ratings online). First, Gary was sent to buy santan aka coconut milk for us twice..:P Then, I told them I have to go out for dinner with KL & YL (KL's birthday) and they probably never thought of that coming..:) When I came back from the dinner (about 9:30pm), both of them still making kuih kapit. I quickly took over and Wan Heng helped rolled up the cookies. This time the kuih kapit tasted like the ones back home and were thinner (credits to Carol & Lena spending hours experimenting the batter to the right consistency). Supposingly with Wan Heng and me in charge of finishing making the kuih kapit, Carol and Lena should be taking a break now but crazily enough they continued making new cookies (peanut cookies). The cookie making madness finally over at 2 a.m.

*Even though our made-from-scratch cookies were not as pretty as those back home, We thought they were the best cookies ever because we made them ourselves...:P*

Special credits to:

- Zurin - Kuih Bangkit/Dragon Cookies & Peanut Cookies
- Rachel - Peanut Cookies
- Patricia & Diana - Pineapple Cookies
- Angela - Kuih Bangkit & Pineapple Cookies
- Carol & Lena - Corn Flake Cookies, Peanut Cookies & Cashew Nut Cookies
- Winnie (with special help from Carol & Lena (Lots of help & the best recipe), Wan Heng (the best roller), Ivy (introduced the pizzelle maker), Jamie (hard work of getting the pizzelle maker), Gary (the best "Santan" shopper)) - Kuih Kapit