Tag Archives: Cookies

Holiday Speculoos

Here in North Carolina, yesterday’s dreary and overcast day felt like the holidays, but I found myself needing a soundtrack to truly get in the spirit.  So despite my principled stance of waiting until December to turn up the music, I shuffled my Christmas playlist and took a trip down memory lane.

Growing up in Florida, I dreamed of a white Christmas.  A Christmas where we would take our horse-drawn sleigh across snow-covered fields before settling down before a roaring fire to roast chestnuts.  I wanted to bundle up against the elements and trudge through the snow to sing carols.  Yes, North Florida does have cold days, but most of the time I’d head out the door in a wool sweater that would inevitably be shed for the tank top underneath.

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The Neiman Marcus Cookie: A $250 Cookie


The internet revealed its full potential to me many years ago when this recipe arrived in my inbox. The title of the email read “$250.00 cookie recipe” or something similar and the body of the email told the story of a mother and daughter who had enjoyed a cookie at Neiman Marcus.

The cookie must have been delicious as the mother asked for the recipe and was told that it would cost “two fifty.”  Only later, upon receipt of that credit card bill in the mail, did she realize that she was charged two hundred and fifty dollars for the recipe.  Seeking justice, she promptly typed up the recipe, emailed it to all of her friends, and instructed everyone to get back at Neiman Marcus by forwarding this pricey cookie recipe to everyone they knew.
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Grandma’s Sugar Cookies

Christmas has long been my favorite holiday.  From picking out the tree to hot apple cider on Christmas morning, my parents somehow orchestrated a perfect Christmas every year.   As I’ve grown older, I have come to appreciate our many family traditions much more.  I’ve also begun to realize just how much work it takes to prepare for the world’s best Christmas. I’m not sure how my parents did it as just finding the time to make sugar cookies was tricky for me.

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7-Layer Bars

We’ve all tried to ignore it.  As we make our way down a buffet line, heaping our plates with creamy macaroni and cheese, crisp cole slaw, and decadent brownies, we try not to make eye contact with that one dish.  You know what I’m talking about.  Maybe it’s a Jello concoction gone terribly wrong or some sort of cheese casserole (is that broccoli?) that sits untouched, but there is one at every potluck.  You do your best to pretend not to see it or if your bold, you remark to the guy behind you: “Gosh, that looks delicious, but I just don’t have room on my plate.”  In your mind, you’re thanking God that you didn’t bring that dish and then with a furtive glance down the table, you note  with great satisfaction (and relief) that your tuna casserole is being eaten with gusto.
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How can one resist?

 

I only ate a little.

I’ve been naughty recently.  It started out innocent enough.  I made some brownies as a special treat.  We would heat them up for 20 seconds in the microwave, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and it made for a sweet end of the day.  Sure, I might sneak one or two pieces during the day, but it wasn’t like I was going to make another batch of brownies.  This was a one time thing. 

Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies

And then I did make another batch.  And then I made another and then I switched it up with chocolate chip cookies.  Since sometime back in early February, my husband and I have gotten into the habit of eating dessert every day.  I tried calling it a momentary weakness.  I tried blaming it on the recession.  When those avenues failed, I convinced myself that we deserved it.  Why shouldn’t everyone eat dessert every day? Continue reading