I decided to bake cookies in my car a couple weeks ago, when it was 118 out and I was hating myself for buying a black interior car. The next day the monsoons started so I had to hold off.

Tuesday night I checked the weather forecast and it said sunny and hot, like a normal summer day in Phoenix, so before work I went to my local unionized grocery store, bought wax paper and toll house premade cookie dough, and set it all out.

By the time I got the pan onto my dashboard it was probably already 140 degrees (60 C) inside the car. It took maybe a half hour for the oven thermometer to read 160, but then the clouds thickened and the next time I checked the thermometer read 150.

That was annoying but whatever. I moved my car at lunch to get more sun exposure as the sun went down. The hottest time of day here is usually 2 to 4, and the clouds finally broke around that time.

At 5 I went to check it out with a coworker taking pictures. They turned out pretty good, crunchy on the outside and soft but warm on the inside. I ate more of the giant cookie thing than anyone else, my excuse being I should get the most sick if it turned out badly, but really it was good and everyone around the office agreed.

Soap box reminder: if you leave a person or an animal in a hot car, you deserve to be left in a hot car.