Uncle Eddie’s Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate-Chip Cookies

I’m doing this cookie review completely from memory since back when I bought these cookies to try (February), I didn’t think I was going to be doing reviews. I figured I should include these anyway. Sorry I don’t have a picture of the actual cookie.

 

My first thoughts were “these are very fibrous and a bit salty.” I haven’t eaten a lot of vegan cookies so I don’t have anything to compare them to, but these are what I would say “tough chewy” – kind of like ripping apart a hard-crusted piece of bread. There are chocolate chips, but this is mostly a oatmeal cookie. Again, FIBROUS. I wasn’t crazy about these at first, but they grew on me. In addition to being vegan, these cookies were made with all-organic ingredients.

Extremely uniform and round.

Packaging is double layered. There is a plastic bag inside a lined brown paper bag. Re-sealable by fold down and those wire-like things that fold inward (is there a name for this? I don’t know it).

$5.89 for I think 10-12 cookies. I can’t remember. From Whole Foods.

Not sure I would buy these again… maybe a different flavor.

Cookie Reviews! – Dancing Deer Baking Co. Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

Originally written April 4th

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I’m not a picky eater. I eat about almost anything that’s put in front of me. It’s just the way I was raised. Part of it is manners – you eat whatever someone serves you – and part of it is not being wasteful – you know, because there are some people who don’t get to eat a meal everyday. I also happen to not have any food allergies, so there’s not many limits to what I can consume.

Well with that in mind, I’m probably not the best person to be critiquing/reviewing food, but since I am sort of a culinarian, I should probably try to refine my taste buds and be more critical of what I eat, instead of scarfing down everything . (Run-on sentence!)

So! I’m going to start reviewing cookies! I haven’t really figured out an order for this chaos, so this will be my test run I guess.

Company/Brand: Dancing Deer Baking Co.
Flavor: Triple Chocolate Chips Cookies

Taste: These cookies are a perfect combination of crunchy and soft, with just a little bit of crumble. The chocolate flavor is on point. Not too sweet or bitter.
Appearance: The cookies are uniformly circular, and the white chips add a bit of accent to an overall dark cookie. You might mistake them for macadamia nuts. The cookies have a beautiful crackly appearance of desert ground.
Packaging: It’s minimal – just a plastic bag with an airtight seal and recycled paper tag on top. I suppose it’s good enough to keep the cookie fresh on the store shelf for a while, but once opened, it is non-resealable, and the plastic bag is the kind that easily rips.
Price: $6 for 8 cookies. Bought these at Cafe 28. Not bad.

I’d buy these again. I can pronounce and identify all the ingredients on the label. The Molasses Cloves flavor seems to be the popular one, so maybe I’ll try that next.

Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer

I came across this book randomly in Barnes and Noble while my sister was browsing for Kindle cases. (This was also the same day that I came upon How to Be Black, which I also want to read).

I’ve heard the name Danny Meyer a lot, but I didn’t really know why he was so famous. He’s an entrepreneur-restaurateur known for his many restaurants and food establishments, which include but aren’t limited to: Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, Blue Smoke/Jazz Standard, Shake Shack, The Modern, Cafe 2, and Terrace 5 (the last three are part of the MoMA). The book is part memoir and part advice/ideals about hospitality. I find that I agree and share many of his views about hospitality, and hope to implement some of the same “concepts” in my future establishment (…whenever that happens). Aside from the fact that the things I take from Meyer’s book can be applied to my current studies (Entrepreneurship/Small Business Management), it also struck a chord with me because so much of his work and success has occurred in my hood! – Danny Meyer is responsible for a good portion of the development around Union Square Park and Madison Square Park. I can’t say too much about Union Square, but Madison Square Park was like my backyard growing up, and I remember it when it was pretty plain (no Shake Shack, art structures, manicured lawns, etc.) and the playground there was just wooden beams and monkey bars that left your hands with that nasty metal smell. Now it’s one of the most populated parks and the neighborhood is fairly affluent. 

A good read!

Some of these might make more sense in the context of the story that Danny Meyer was telling, but anyway, here are some quotes from the book that I really liked (all Danny Meyer except for the last):

“Change works only when people believe it is happening for them, not to them.”

“Hospitality is hopeful; it’s confident, thoughtful, optimistic, generous, and openhearted.”

“The mind-set “We’re just hanging on” perpetuates scarcity. Investing money, imagination, and hard work to created a mind-set of abundance achieves abundance.”

“The road to success is paved with mistakes well handled.” (Stanley Marcus, of Neiman Marcus family)

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Jan 8-29.

Keep Centered

“People will say a lot of great things about your business, and a lot of nasty things as well. Just remember: you’re never as good as the best things they’ll say, and never as bad as the negative ones. Just keep centered, know what you stand for, strive for new goals, and always be decent.”

-Irving Harris
(Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer)

Is this real life?

Alright. This is long overdue. I totally bailed on writing about vegan and raw diets. I’m not going to write about it now, and I probably won’t later, but just a few quick thoughts:

1. There are a good number of tasty alternatives to animal products that I was not aware of before.
2. I can understand the ethical and health benefits of animal-free foods, but I hate when people get all pretentious about their diets.
3. Raw food is pretty good, but requires some pretty pricey tools/equipment sometimes…
4. I think I could go vegetarian, vegan would be more challenging, but a strict raw diet sounds horrible. No warm/hot foods!

So I am now in my last block of classes before I head out for my externship. This means I am in the restaurant now. I can hardly believe it. It’s been less than a year, and it seemed like forever, yet here I am. It really flew by. My last 6 weeks at school is split into two parts. The first 3 weeks I am working Front-of-House, and the remaining 3 will be Back-of-House. Today I was assigned to be a “floater.” I did a little bit of everything for FOH. Man, let me tell you, being a waitress is a lot harder than I thought it’d be. I really only waited one table, and even then it was hard for me to keep track of things and pay attention to the customer without being overbearing. We had few rude customers that didn’t care that it was all our first day on the job, but most of them were patient and understanding. I was really anxious about going down to the restaurant before because I felt so unprepared to actually start serving the public (there’s a lot more at risk than if you’re serving yourself or the instructor), but the chefs are really good about guiding clueless people like me and saying it’s okay because it is an educational experience; you’re not expected to know everything (which I was also nervous about because of classmates who have been in the food industry forever, and I feel like my questions have common sense answers, and I’m always afraid to ask). I just got to keep in mind that it’s only the beginning and not give up. I”ll get the hang of it soon enough. Need to not get defeated so easily.

With Valentine’s Day just yesterday, I won’t deny that I had someone special on my mind. Unfortunately, I missed an opportunity, and now he’s lost forever. Don’t you hate it when that happens? I do. It’s happening to me right now and making me sad. Although I know it’s true, I hate the saying “There are plenty of fish in the sea.” Well right now, there’s only one that matters! It’s like Marlin trying to find Nemo.

By the way, if anyone wants a great lunch deal, Technique (LCB school restaurant) has a 3-course meal for $10. (Dinner 3-course $12 and 5-course $15). Come see me in action at lunch time! (11:30am-1pm)