日本: Cookies, a Convection Microwave Oven, and You

I have come to realize just how closely correlated my sanity and dessert-baking opportunities are. That is, if I'm not baking, I'm probably going insane. It's sort of my meditation. Focus completely on a task that is not work and then enjoy the fruits of your efforts immediately afterward.

But you see, my apartment in Japan does not have an oven. But what is does have is a fancy microwave with a 'convection' option. So. I can bake with my microwave. But only four cookies at a time, even after I invested in a microwave-sized cookie sheet. The baking part was actually quite easy to figure out, considering I had a translated manual. The real challenge was finding and identifying flour, salt, refined sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon in the grocery store without the ability to read Japanese characters. And then approximating the ingredients without measuring cups/spoons. My baking abilities must be pretty advanced, because the cookies came out okay. 'Just your basic chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles. They lacked a certain level of tasty-satisfaction to which I am accustomed, but I'm blaming that on a slight overdoes of baking powder. It's a shame, because the cookies I've had in Japan have been lacking that tasty-satisfaction even more so.

Baking four at a time, I made enough cookies to bring into work as omiyage for the coworkers. It went over decently well.

I had no idea how much the Western diet relied upon an oven, until I didn't have one. Roasted vegetables. Broiled meat. Baked goods. The list goes on...