Shades of former glory

When I was in college, I somehow stumbled across the ability to make ridiculously good brownies. There was no secret recipe. I simply used Duncan Hines boxed mix and followed the directions. Somehow, the brownies always turned out perfectly. People would request the brownies for a gift on special occasions. When the Flashdancer graduated and got ready to move to South Carolina, all she wanted as a going-away present was a pan of brownies. One friend said he'd bought the same boxed mix and tried to make his own brownies, but that they hadn't come close. We used to joke that I was secretly putting pot in them to make them so damn good. Then, one sad day, the small glass baking pan that I always used slid from the dish pile. It didn't survive the fall. No pan / oven combination I've tried since has been able to recapture the glories of brownies past.

I came to terms long ago with the fact that my days as a baked goods connection ended when that baking pan bit the dust, but now, at long last, there is a glimmer of hope...in the form of Toll House chocolate chip cookies.


Tomorrow is our friend R's birthday, and MB commissioned me to bake a batch of cookies as R's gift. I figured that since I was getting all the dishes dirty anyway, I might as well make a batch for us. And I figured it wouldn't hurt to whip up another batch for a get-together at Evilducky's on Friday night.

I like to call this one 'cooking in a small kitchen.'

If chocolate chips are awesome and peanut butter chips are awesome, together they can only be MEGA AWESOME.

The boys requested large cookies. Ask and you shall receive.

The first documented case of sexual dimorphism in cookies (male cookies on the left, female cookies on the right).

R's attempt at subterfuge


Four hours later, I had five boxes of cookies, plus the two that R took home. It's too soon to be sure, but I think I may be getting my mojo back.



Reading:  Winkie by Clifford Chase

Playing:  a mix of 1999-era songs that I made for my sister. Even though she was only about 12 when most of the songs on it were popular, she dubbed it "uber-awesome."