It has been a tiring 2 weeks when Rene spread out 2 weeks worth of hard work, baking cookies for the ones she loved.
This time her love goes beyond just family and relatives; there are pastors, leaders, home group members she wanted to bless, so our daughter insisted to use smaller bottles as the ingredients were not cheap.
Rene found recipes for 25% mixed almond flour cookies and also walnut cookies, and we created a mixture of these two with pure butter.
We also have a local cookie called "hap tou sou" 合桃酥, which is basically walnut cookies, but this one actually adds in a 20% vegetable oil. Boy, it does turn out exactly like what are sold in the market, but we lost the buttery fragrance, simply because we ran out of expensive pungent fragrant salted butter and went for something cheaper. It tastes good, but it will not be able to replace butter cookies.
I know Rene has always secretly wanted to restart her annual baking hobby in service to those who are unable to have time to bake it, but as a generous home-carer, she never put cost into account, moreover she always change to her "latest recipe". All these cookies are more of a "research and development" phase for her to keep her time well spent.
But our daughter had a stern caution to her two nights ago and insisted showing her what needs to be counted in: hidden charges such as electricity bill, gas / petrol bill, packaging and branding. That is besides raw ingredients and also minus off labour charges.
Our daughter is right in many ways; it is because we used to be "break even hawkers" where our food was a huge seller but we barely make ends meet enough because we never calculated cost against profit diligently.
Furthermore, our daughter also insist on a Biblical principle from our recent bible study:
“You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a large and a small. You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small. You shall have a full and just weight; you shall have a full and just measure, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
For everyone who does these things, everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 25:13-16
Source: https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Weights-And-Measures,-Laws
It is because Rene, being generous often times just "fill the bottle to the brim" with cookies as a present. Never has she thought that selling unjustified weights to people she doesn't know can create strive and complains of unjust sales, resulting people demanding for refunds in the future.
That is also true. We are seeing so much "entitlement" demanded by people, young and old, to the point it is scary to make business because there is no trust bonded, and people tried to cheat another.
Our daughter said to us, "if we want to make this an annual business, then we must do it God's way: weigh correctly, label them, according to the price we charge them; it is okay to be a little over, but never give them under weight per value cookies. Also, the first fruits of profit, no matter how small amount it is, must give it to God as thanksgiving for the opportunity and good health He has blessed us to do what we love to do."
Hence if we want to do this next year, we will team with 
We are not certain how we can do this, but as long as Rene is healthy and alive, by the end of the year, we will ask our daughter to speak to locals and see who wants to have some homemade cookies prepared.
Pray for us, as we now often get weighed down and tired easily. No matter how much we eat or the supplements our children help provide, our bodies cannot recover faster than usual.
Despite how much I want to protest, Rene still has that mustered energy to make deserts for the grandchildren. That fuels her joy. We must not rob it from her.
Rene takes all the pictures herself with her Samsung phone, but we forgot what the name of the model is
Best wishes and happy Lunar New Year to all of you.
Philip and Rene Lee
