The First Cookie

Rather presidential sounding, no? Well it’s a done deal, I just knew there’d be someone out there willing take a few cookies off my hands every once in a while.

From my initial email to the local agencies and hospitality homes the first taker was Gilda’s Club of WNY. They’re the local affiliate of the national network that provides social and emotional support for men, women & children living with cancer and also have support groups for their family and friends. I’ve also been playing phone tag with the volunteer coordinator at the local Ronald McDonald house so I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.

But for now it’s on to the task at hand and I’m baking my first cookies tonight to deliver after work tomorrow to Gilda’s Club. I guess Wednesday evenings and Thursday’s are fairly busy with activity groups and multiple support group meetings each day. When I checked their program calendar I was surprised at all they had going on – and nearly every day of the week, including a special program for children and tons of wellness and social activities like yoga and language classes – I haven’t even been there yet but already I’m impressed!

So now I’ve got to come through with the goods. I’ve gotta bake a cookie – and while I SWORE I would not overcomplicate this or over do it, I’ve already been tempted to do multiple ‘types’ of cookies. I KNEW I would want to do that, I rarely can do just a single baked good for any event – there are just too many options and so many to choose from. Different flavors: chocolate, with or without nuts (more on this some other time), citrus, ginger, maple, caramel, vanilla, molasses, mint, peanut butter, and the list goes on; different types: Rolled, drop, refrigerated, sliced, molded, baked, no-baked, twice baked – and that doesn’t even touch on the different shapes and textures: crispy or chewy or crunchy or soft – frosted, dipped, drizzled or glazed!! How can I possible pick just one? It’s a dilemma indeed …

Ok, back to reality – since I do have a daytime job and still need to get in some decent gym time throughout the week, I’ve made this little rule. If the primary cookie I choose to make contains nuts or is more ‘adult’ oriented (like a biscotti), then I will also make a second variety without nuts and more geared for the kids. That was simple enough. Now the next decision is to just pick one (or two) and I’ll confess I took comfort in the fact that this is a year long project so I know that not everything would be riding on just this one cookie. Since I just made nearly 20 varieties of cookies over Christmas, I thought it would be wise to go with one of those, something tried and true and not risk something new right out of the gate – smart, huh? Over thinking it, huh? It’s a freaking cookie – not a marriage vow – get on with it already!! Ugh … ok, ok, well, given that it’s the first week of January, with all those resolutions still so fresh and intact I guess my best bet is something light, in both flavor and in calories… Thinking… thinking … got it!

Frosted Lemon Honey Drop Cookies

They're pictured above - we'll see how mine compare.  Wish me luck, I’m off to bake … finally!