Regrets about cookies that is! The other day Dan and I were driving home from somewhere and I had a thought and spoke it: I can honestly declare that I can never utter "I regret that I didn't bake enough cookies". You know how we all say things like "I regret that don't exercise like I should", "I don't read as much as I'd like to", "I regret that I didn't call my mom more often", or "I regret that I didn't save more money, that I didn't finish college, eat enough vegetable, that I dyed my hair red, that I ever decorated with the color mauve, I didn't say I love you enough - you get the idea.
You see, many years ago when I was a young bride to be, an older woman gave me a piece of advice I took to heart - "always have cookies in the cookies jar". She went on to say that homemade cookies, ever available, would comfort children, delight a husband (you should see Dan's face when I mention I'm going to make cookies), establish bonds with neighbors, bring peace among enemies, make your coworkers love you, provide treats for unexpected visitors, qualify as a nice dessert in a pinch with a bowl of ice cream or, handily all by themselves at a church potluck.
Sound advice. One of the best pieces of advice I've ever been given. I bake cookies not only for these reasons but for a few of my own; gets me out of the doldrums on super gloomy days, cookie baking is therapy when I'm really stressed out, fulfills a creative need, and a freezer full of cookies brings me peace of mind and surprisingly enough, keeps me from eating too many (except on "sugar Sundays" - that's a future blog post".
These are simple M&M cookies. These were a Christmas tradition cookie when I was growing up and more often than not I make them during the holidays too but usually with the red/green candies. Today I made them with the full color bags, both dark and milk chocolates.
True story: About five years ago at my last place of employment, a colleague called me at home on a weekend and told me that she had company coming from out of town, didn't have time to bake anything, didn't want to buy baked goods and asked me if I had anything in my freezer that I could put together to bring over and she would pay me for them. This delighted me on two counts; that she even asked, and that I could immediately say yes and help out because I had lots of cookies, bars, etc in my freezer. And I didn't let her pay me - I was thrilled to do it.
In to the happy freezer they go until it's time to prepare all the Christmas goodie plates that we will be delivering to a designated list of families (this list changes every year - gotta spread the love) next week.
These cookies below are from Smitten Kitchen's blog, one of my favorite cooking blogs, and her latest post. They are called "The Browniest Cookies" and they are incredible. I might even like them better than brownies now. Do you cook from blogs? I sure do. As a matter of fact, Thursday I cooked from recipes from three different blogs: a banana chocolate chip bread from a now closed blog The Daily Muse - to use three very overripe bananas in the fruit bowl, the Browniest Cookies above, and for dinner, Chicken In Red Wine Vinegar from David Lebovitz's. All were excellent.
If you drop by, I've got some cookies for you.
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