Cookies


Sitting amongst the cupboard and tables and chairs in my grandparent's farmhouse kitchen was a small, white free-standing cabinet. On one side of that cabinet there was a door that when opened, you'd find boxes of hot and cold cereal. On the other side there were 3 drawers. One drawer in particular was the most exciting. Not because there were surprises inside. It was just the opposite. There were no surprises at all-just Cookies! We all knew that's where those special cookies were always kept!

Later when the farmhouse was sold and my grandparents and aunt moved into a smaller home nearby-that cabinet went with them and sat in their new kitchen. Nothing had changed but the location for inside that one particular drawer with its top with holes for fresh air that you'd have to pull back with your finger in the right spot were those cookies. They were always the same cookies-Lorna Doones and Fig Newtons.

Unlike today there weren't a zillion varities of those two brands or any brands available. They were simply Lorna Doones and Fig Newtons, shared when sitting around the kitchen table together. My grandmother baked cookies all the time. We especially loved her big, molasses cookies but the cookies she baked never lasted very long. On the other hand, we could always count on that pullout drawer. If the packs had been opened, they'd be neatly secured, waiting for the next little hand to reach in for a familiar treat.

Going down the grocery store cookie aisle these days is confusing. There are too many concoctions to basic cookies from which to choose. Some have added fruits; some have frosting or sprinkles or are stuffed with creme or peanut butter or jelly or raisins or mint or colored frosting or whatever else you might imagine. Most are available in low fat, no fat, diabetic, salt free, sugar free, etc. Just as confusing are the size of packages available made even more confusing by the clever pricing.

Getting a cookie was so much easier when going to that drawer in that cabinet that sat in my grandmother's kitchen.

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