As Mom and I walked out of the waiting area at Planet Rehab on Tuesday we were greeted by the intoxicating scent of fresh-baked cookies. I had been falling asleep in the pool and in the parallel bars but the smell cleared my head and I was fully awake as I took Mommy’s hand and headed straight for the coffee cart where the smell was coming from. Once there we purchased a little bag of hot chocolate chip cookies. They were warm enough to have cooled to just the right temperature after the walk to the car, and I enjoyed them on the way home, licking my fingers unashamedly.
I am a complete cookie monster, especially now that the googly eyes make my impression more authentic. Actually, it’s not an impression – it’s just how I am. I don’t make the “Mmmm…yum” devouring sounds when eating (I leave that to Karine & Ezra) but I’ve always thought the spectacle of Cookie Monster feasting noisily while cookie fragments fly in the surrounding air is hysterical (and appropriate for my eating preferences).
When I’m feeling particularly wimpy I try to give myself a courage-infusion by telling Mom, “I’m a tough cookie…Actually, I’m a tough [insert cookie name].” I have been a lemon bar, a jam thumbprint and a French macaroon (pistaschio or green tea) among other things. Today I think I’ll be one of Ms. B’s chocolate chip Oreos.
I met Ms. B on my trip south this summer. When my niece Hannah was having some transitional angst (wouldn’t you?) when they first moved and started new schools Ms. B made her cookies. The chocolate chip Oreos have become a signature cookie for Ms. B and her “adopted” grandson, M, holds a strong preference for these over anything else Ms. B might produce from her oven. This is strong praise since I think M must have a discerning palette considering that his Mommy is very accomplished in the culinary arts. My sister is still trying to replicate “Ms. A’s brownies.”
The concept is very simple – you take an Oreo, cover it with chocolate chip cookie dough, and bake that bad boy up! Mommy has experimented with peanut butter Oreos and mini Oreos, and both are fabulous. I’ve also seen Paula make them with thin mints covered in sugar cookie dough. The possibilities are endless. Now a friend told me this weekend that he hasn’t turned on his stove since…ever, so instructions on how to make green soup etc. are largely lost on him. Let me just say that you can buy Oreos or grasshoppers etc. and some ready-made cookie dough, stuff them and then bake them, and voila! They might not be as fabulous as Ms. B’s, but that’s probably to be expected even if you’re making everything from scratch. So I ask you, what kind of tough cookie do you want to be today?
Learning How... 