Snicker Doodles. These "Buttery, muffiny, sugary" cookies are a die-for at the cookie study breaks organized by Adie Ellis '04 and Anne-Louise Bigliani '05. For the "big" study breaks, they bake around 500 to 800 cookies and invite strangers to have a bite of their heavenly creations.
Both girls take pleasure in the process itself, which can take as long as 10 hours if it is for a huge study break. They also like giving out the cookies and seeing the more often than not euphoric reactions. Friends often order favorites and for happy occasions such as birthday parties, such that Ellis and Bigliani find themselves baking cookies as well as cakes regularly all year round.
Ellis and Bigliani met on the first day of practice for the junior varsity tennis team last year and quickly discovered that they shared a common passion for baking cookies. They got together in the kitchen for the first time when they baked cookies for their teammates.
Both Ellis and Bigliani have had their hands deep in the dough since childhood — Bigliani, since she was three years old. Both have moms who bake a lot and who bake well. Ellis used to bake desserts every night with her mom, while Bigliani's mom was the high school lacrosse team mom, making oatmeal cookies for the whole team.
An 8-year-old Ellis was challenged by her dad to create the "perfect" cookie. Since then, together with Bigliani, she has experimented with different combinations of ingredients. They know several ways of making one kind of cookie, and can satisfy any quirks and whims people might have.
Ellis and Bigliani have talked about opening a business on campus. They have already signed up with suppliers. Their idea is to take orders for cookies and cakes, for all sorts of occasions — birthdays, Valentine's Day, tea parties . . . you name it!
However their dream is still hanging in midair. "We ran into the obstacle of no kitchen, of nowhere to work. We need a place that's certified," explained Ellis.
Unless their request for a certified kitchen is approved, they will not be able to open their business. Nevertheless they are optimistic and Bigliani even jokes about Ellis having to "come back for a fifth year" as a student on campus should they be granted the opportunity of launching their ordering agency.
They are also realistic and are conscious that managing an agency would be akin to a full time job. But Ellis has her mind made up. If it is not for now, it will for the later: "I definitely at some point in my life want to open a bakery or a tea parlor."
Their next scheduled study break will be on the first Friday after fall break.
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