A Warm Cookie, Cold Glass of Milk, and A Smile Filled with Memories!
National Homemade Cookie Day ushers in the windy chilly days of October! When you hear homemade cookies do your thoughts go to a tray coming out of the oven, the smell of chocolate or peanut butter wafting in the air; or maybe your taste is for a nuttier variety, the crackle and scent of pecans or almonds? Do you imagine waiting for just those handful of seconds before picking one up so fragile heating up your hand, breaking it apart to see the melting gooey chocolate, or hear the crack as you break a crisp wafer of pure vanilla, butter, and sugar? Do you go for that cold glass of milk, or more sophisticated now, a cup o' joe? I let the inner child draw me to the glass and the pouring of the contrasting cold milk to the warm cookie; but, even if I did go for that coffee, I still couldn't resist the dunk, at least for the first bite!
Dunking is really an art, if you didn't know that, trust me on this. I had an uncle who could slice a pie into just the right size wedges that allowed him to dunk it into his coffee, much to the amazement of the children sitting wide eyed, mouths dropped open watching, waiting for it to fall apart and splash so they could giggle at how silly a grown man looked dunking a piece of pie! But alas, no matter the pie, he was able to dunk it and take that first satisfying bite and continue his process to the last piece of crust. My grandmother on the other hand, played it safe when she dunked, she used a spoon, it wasn't cookie or pie she dunked, but instead a spoonful of ice cream! But also to the crinkle nosed looks from the grandchildren, waiting in wonder what the fate of the ice cream would be...would it float off the spoon and bounce and bob on the surface of the coffee, or would she hold it in the coffee too long for it to completely melt. She would daintily dip her spoonful of vanilla ice cream and submerge it just long enough to take off a bit of the chill. With both of them, the smile as they took that scrumptious bite, of satisfaction, said it all!
Today though it is all about cookies, homemade ones, if only for today! Convenience and busy lives brought about the decorative tins, bags, and boxes of cookies; now mostly printed cellophane or foiled packaging hiding plastic trays of perfect rows of cookies. Then there are the Girl Scouts who sell the annual favorites at school, mom and dad's office, or in front of the grocery store and local cleaners. And then we have the cookie store or kiosk with the close to homemade, large cookies in a bag ready to be consumed on the run. Mrs. Field's, Great American Cookie, The Original Cookie Company, and a host of other gourmet cookie shops.
Now that cookies are dancing around in your head, are you craving that all time favorite, the ones you pulled from your lunch bag once a week when you were given that special treat, or is it the ones waiting for you on a plate that you couldn't wait to devour and pair with that cold glass of milk while you told all about your day at school; or the box of Oreos you consumed in between tears after a breakup or an argument with your best friend? Whatever your cookie dream, there can be comfort in having one or two with milk, coffee, or tea; dunking or no dunking; and it's not only the joy of eating the cookie, but it's also the smile it brings deep down in the memories of when you used to enjoy them, the tradition of it, the special time it marked.
So today go through the kitchen collecting the ingredients to make those memories with someone special, bake up a batch of warm hugs and conversation, you can even cheat with the pre-made dough ;) Have the cold glass of milk, coffee or tea ready; maybe even have a giggle as you dunk, but take the moments to sit, enjoy, and share cookies and a chat; do it for you and the memories!