I want to talk about cookies. We are a month plus into shelter in place and I have been cookie free for about 18 days. Some days, like today, have been difficult, others range from not so much to not a thought given to my most favorite snack, the cookie. You see, I am trying to break a life-long sugar consumption habit. More on that another day. Right now the cookie is beckoning.
Early in my life cookies became a staple in my diet. I had two great grandmothers who were baking Goddesses. Both of them had an impressive selection of baked goods every time I visited. But one of them was the cookie baker. She always had at least 6 dozen cookies baked up, each a different flavor. It was cookie heaven at Grandma Marie’s house.
My earliest memory of eating cookies is with my Grandpa Don, sitting on his lap in front of his HAM radio eating fig newton’s. I was around age 3.
For a couple years my family lived in a tiny village that consisted of about 30 houses spread around four blocks. I was age 4 – 6. After I learned to ride my bicycle I developed a cookie route. I would go house to house to get whatever cookie the occupant had to give me. Most of these people were older, grandparent figures to me. I experienced the world of store bought cookies, creme wafers, windmills, ginger snaps, those little shortbread variety that come in tins, animal crackers, pecan candies, I’m sure there are more, this is the memorable list. We had a schedule and if I didn’t make it to them in a reasonable time they were calling my mom. I remember talking with my mom about this a while back, I was the highlight of their day as much as they were my source of cookies and fascinating stories to tell my mom when I got home.
I almost forgot the church across the street. They served cookies on Sunday. By age five I was taking myself to church every Sunday because the nice ladies took us kids to sing and do crafts and eat cookies while learning about a man named Jesus who loved us all. Gosh, this memory brings all the warm and fuzzy feels.
With a busy household and four kids, mom was happy to pass cookie baking on to us kids. I baked my first batch when I was 8 or 9. By age ten I was on pretty much my own for the basics, chocolate chip, peanutbutter, and oatmeal raisin. Mom kept the supplies stocked and I kept the cookie jar full. It was Great!
In my early adult life with kids, job, house, school. I didn’t have much time for baking. The great grandma’s and grandma’s were not baking like they used to. My kids were introduced to a mix of home baked and store bought. They haven’t said they mind and they inherited my love for the cookie.
As for me, currently, I am a big fan of fresh bakery cookies that someone else baked from scratch. The convenience of buying as many as I want rather than a big package as well as a variety fits my needs perfectly.
Thank you for sharing a memory with me. I’m off to enjoy fresh lemon cookies from the local Amish bakery and reminisce on my brazen younger self that wasn’t afraid to ask a stranger for a cookie. ?? written by Sarah Domin, April 18, 2020