happy little routine

Amy shapiro morris

Growing up, mom’s cookies were always in hot demand.

A fresh batch had barely been removed from the oven before friends started stopping by, offering all kinds of favors in a desperate bid to snag some dough for their freezer. At high school I continued the tradition, gathering my sister and friends in our kitchen to put our newest twist on the Toll House recipe.

For me, like most Americans, homemade cookies evoke deeply personal memories. To many, it’s our first experience creating in the kitchen; the first time we mix ingredients, the first time we realize cooking is creating. Even if it isn’t part of your cultural makeup you’ll discover them soon enough, come to know them as the ultimate fix, nothing scores a bull’s-eye quicker than a hot batch of homemade cookies.

These days I share my richest cookie experiences with my husband. Growing up in Australia, he wasn’t brought up on a tradition of homemade cookies. I always keep a tub of homemade dough in the fridge – ready to go. I mean, Game of Thrones is great, but it goes to a whole new level when accompanied by Chocolate Chip cookies, hot out of the oven!

 That’s not to say we don’t share them with friends. Whether we’re hosting a dinner at home or away on a long weekend, friends know I’ll be bringing a batch of dough. I still get a kick out of seeing a room full of faces light up when I enter with a freshly baked batch, after a great meal and a few bottle of wine they’re the perfect way close out a night, something about them have always brought people together, brought forward childhood stories -- they are celebration of life.

Throughout the years I have played with and expanded on the original recipe (don’t tell mom), experimenting with various spices, nuts and flour to vary the flavor. Baking is a respite for me, a creative outlet away from the office that is both meditative and relaxing.

At times I’ve thought about going public with my homemade cookie dough, and a few years back we even created a label with the idea of starting a small cottage business. But then we began to worry that we might take the joy out it, that a happy little routine would become more about the bottom line than savoring the flavors, so that in the end we decided to stay at the recipe-testing phase – a batch is in the oven now…. This time with five spice replacing the cinnamon.

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