Being on call this weekend has given me some well needed extra time around the house. I’ve kicked my “domestic god” into high and can say with great triumph that right now the hamper, washer and dryer are all empty. That gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling
I also took the opportunity to get back into baking mode. There’s something about the fall winds that sing “cheesecake! pies! cookies!” to me so naturally I had to indulge myself. In a way, it was Earl’s fault. He made a delicious homemade chicken soup in the crockpot this morning so I felt compelled to follow up with dessert. Hence, chocolate chip cookies.
Whenever I bake I’m reminded of my paternal grandmother. She was a good ol’ “farm wife” in that she baked her own bread, cookies and pies, made her own stews, soups and sauces and lots of other stuff as well, canned vegetables every fall, sewed her own dresses and held down a part-time job with the family business all at the same time. My grandmother was a fabulous cook. As a kid I used to go next door to her house after school to enjoy some milk and cookies. She would take time out of her schedule to watch ‘Bewitched’ and ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ reruns with me, sometimes doing the ironing or folding laundry while doing so. Looking back, it seemed like she baked every day. We continued to eat her cookies from the freezer for several months after her death. Earl never met my grandmother, but he did have the opportunity to have some of her cookies. After she passed away I found some of her recipes, pulled them out, copied them all down and the put them back where I found them. Using her recipes while baking is keeping her legacy alive.
As adults, my sister and I have said that we were lucky in that we have diverse grandmothers. While my aforementioned grandma could bake with the best of them, our maternal grandmother wasn’t big in baking, but she could grow plants and vegetables and she could knit, sew and crochet with the best of them. Need a doily to cover Arkansas? Need an afghan to cover up your car? Not a problem, she could whip both up in a week.
I made 4 1/2 dozen cookies today. But unlike my grandmother’s cookies, these won’t be around long enough to freeze. Bon appetit!
