Cook Club

The last week of 2005 was a lazy week at work. We had just one day off. Just 5 of us at work. With work motivation being on the low, a couple of people came up with this idea of one person making cookies or something and bringing in one day. So we nominated people for each day of the week. It turned out to be a wonderful idea. I knew my colleagues would bake from scratch and having never quite baked after disastrous attempts at cakes scones and brownies when I was still in high school, I decided to take it as a challenge. So I baked banana chocolate chip loaf cake. Turns out it is one of the easiest things to make. It took me 10 minutes to get the batter ready and it took 35 minutes in my prehistoric oven. People brought in all wonderful types of cookies and strawberry tart. Our Italian colleague delighted us with his fabulous tiramisu, which was the highlight of this exercise. We would gather in one persons office at tea time and indulge in pastries and pass time for a bit. All in the spirit of the holidays. With the advent of the new year we have decided to make it a weekly tradition. One day of a week, one person brings in something to break the monotony of work. And its not restricted to desserts. It could also be some munchie bites or whatever one fancies.

CP has also used a random generator function in matlab to decide who will cook next week. He sent it out in an email with a plot showing the normal distribution of the function. So if you thought geeks can't cook, i would suggest you rethink. :)

Food for experiment :)

BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP BREAD

1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped nuts
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chocolate chips
3 eggs
1/2 tsp salt

Cream together margarine( or butter) and sugars. Beat in eggs and banana. Add flour, salt and soda. Stir in chips and nuts. Bake in greased loaf pan for 50 minutes in 350-degree oven.

Enjoy!