So, the wife has some mobility issues and needs a wheelchair to go any long distances. She can walk short distances, but her back problems keep her from going far. There are several steps going in to the new house which make it difficult for her to get in.
We decided she needed a ramp to be able to get into the house. We started looking at options. One thing we found out is that ramps need to be built so that for each inch of height they go up there needs to be one foot of ramp length. It turns out the steps are thirty (30) inches high so it would take a thirty foot ramp to get her into the house.
The layout of the house is such that if we had to put in a ramp that long we’d have to cover part of the flower beds, including the traps set for termites by the pest control company. We needed a different plan.
That plan was to put the ramp by the back patio. It is only ten (10) inches high so requires only a ten foot ramp.
We started looking for someone to build the ramp and found a local ministry that builds ramps. They partner with local churches who do the actual work. They ask only for you to cover the cost of materials.
The local Baptist church sent over three of their congregation to get measurements and make plans. When they returned they brought a group of teenagers with them. It seems that in addition to putting in the ramps, they are teaching the next generation how to do so at the same time. They got the initial build put in place, with each of the teenagers getting a chance to do some of the work. They left it like that and came back two days later with a group of younger boys to finish off the ramp.
It turned out great, with some nice handrails even.
So, what’s any of this got to do with baking cookies?
Well, I got up this morning, and after usual stuff, walking the dogs, getting breakfast, etc. I got into the kitchen and started making chocolate chip cookies. I’m good at making chocolate chip cookies. I learned how when I was ten or eleven. The rest of the family was always too busy to make them for me so I learned to make my own.
I thought the folks from the Baptist church that built the ramp for us might like some cookies.
I made two batches because they had a lot of teenagers the first night. I wasn’t home when the second group came by so I’m not sure how many boys were there. I figured two batches should be more than enough to cover everybody getting a few cookies.
The biggest drawback was I only had one cookie sheet, the others being still boxed up somewhere. I had to take the cookies out of the oven, give them a few minutes to cool down, taking them off the sheet to cool on a rack, then putting the next batch on the cookie sheet to bake. Wash, rinse, repeat. I started around 10:00 AM and finished around 2:30 PM.
I ended up making one hundred and twenty (120) cookies. Two of them fell on the floor as I was trying to transfer them from the cooling rack to the container (I had to go out to the store to get a container to put them all in). The dogs swooped in and ate them. I ate three, and the wife ended up having three as well, leaving us with one hundred and twelve (112) cookies to give to the construction crews.
I hope they like them.
If you’d like to support my efforts, why not buy me a chocolate chip cookie through my Ko-Fi page? https://ko-fi.com/jhusum