For Want of a Cookie

I have been thinking about cookies for the past few days.  Well, more than that, as you will see, but it has been cookies (well, more than that, you will also see) that have been guiding me.  Last Thursday, between stopping for a quick lunch and getting together with a friend for prayer, I found myself with a sweet tooth.  It got to the point where I tried giving myself a "good talking to" to convince myself that a piece of fruit or even some water would do just fine.  As I continued this lecture, my walk slowed, and I found myself in front of a bakery.  As I was already running late, I decided to at least show up late with cookies.  Florentines.  So thin and delicious.  Yes, we did enjoy them. 

 

When I got home, I was thinking I might bake a souffle with some of the leftover roasted butternut squash in our refrigerator.  However, I found myself distracted by the Penzey's spice catalogue that had just arrived.  As I thumbed through it, I ran across an article about a couple named Sharon and Larry Adams.  One of the side-bars contained this quote: "Cooking together, eating together, it lifts the whole community."  Standing in my kitchen, I learned of the efforts of these two to create the Walnut Way Community Center, housed in a former dilapidated  boarding house in Milwaukee.  Sharon's family owned but had not resided in the home for many years.  She returned to it, moved in, met Larry, and they set about rebuilding community.  Yes, much of the community is centered around the sharing of food. 

      

Included in the article was a recipe from from Sharon for Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Cookies.  As I perused it, I thought, "Well, I don't have a baked sweet potato, but I do have roasted squash.  I don't have walnuts, but I do have pecans.  I don't have chocolate chips but I do have some baking chocolate.  I began  chopping the chocolate and the pecans which is just about the most satisfying endeavor I can imagine.  I sniffed my lemon extract and decided that while it was quite out of date, it smelled just fine.  I made cookies.  Three trays full. 

   

Some of those cookies Tyler and I ate warm from the oven.  However, most of you know that Tyler and I have no business eating three trays of cookies.  I took some to a meeting.  I shared a bag with an elderly neighbor. The last of the batch went with us to visit with friends who had invited us over to eat chili and watch the playoffs.  One of hosts  commented as he reached for his fourth cookie, "Well, you can't eat just three."   

  

So, I have been thinking about cookies.  What if instead of spending money on those Florentines, I would have stopped at a 7-11 and bought a snack pack of Oreos and ate them in my car on the way to prayer?   My life would not have been wrecked, but it would have been lacking the joy of discovering and sharing.  The past few days have been a wonderful reminder that much good can be found in using and sharing what we have - and who we are.       

               

Sharon and Larry Adams, I thank you.  

  

Friends, rather than a psalm, I leave you with a recipe.  Enjoy them, but mostly give them away.  Hmm...maybe this is a psalm after all.    

  

Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Cookies  

 

3/4 cup mashed, cooked sweet potato (I used butternut squash)

1 cup butter, softened  (two sticks)

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 packed brown sugar 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1/2 tsp lemon extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda 

1 tsp baking powder 

dash of salt 

1/4 tsp cinnamon 

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 

1 cup walnuts, optional  

 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  In a large bowl, cream together the cooked sweet potato, butter, eggs, sugars and the extracts.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  Gradually add the dry ingredients to the sweet potato mixture and beat until blended. Fold in the chocolate chips and the nuts.  Drop by the teaspoonful onto ungreased (I used parchment paper) baking sheets and bake at 300 degrees for about 25 minutes, until firm in the middle (if you bake until there is some color on the top, the chocolate will be a little more gooey.  Some folks really like that).   

  

Yield:  4 dozen cookies