 Note
from Cheri:
Years ago, in my former life as a circus performer, I
was working with my friends Wini McKay and Chester Cable
at a small county fair in Los Banos, California. It was
there that I had what was, up to that point in my life,
the greatest cookie I had ever tasted. A ladies auxillary
of the Lion's Club, Knights of Columbus, Rotary Club or
some other such worthy civic organization was selling
these home baked slices of heaven. My friends and I were
hooked, eating at least three a day for the entire run
of the fair. I asked, make that pleaded, begged even,
for the recipe. Each day the ladies promised they would
ask the elusive "Marge -- aka keeper of the sacred formula"--
to bring it to the fair. Well, Sunday night came and no
Marge, no recipe. Trying to hide my disappointment, I
left my address with the ladies, and tried to prepare
for the upcoming morning's unavoidable round of baked
goods withdrawl.
Well, months went by and I came to accept that my
treats were forever lost. But one day, when the sun
was shining just a little bit brighter and the birds
were singing just a little louder (OK the birds were
actually irritating, but that's another story), a salvation
arrived --an unmarked envelope in it a single sheet
of white paper, on that paper, a recipe. No signature,
no return address. The ever mysterious Marge at work?
Or had one of the other ladies fearlessly gone against
the recipe keeper's wishes and sent it to me? Whoever
it was, did she know, as I do, that such a recipe mustn't
be kept a secret. It must be shared with the world!
Whoever was responsible for this act of culinary good
samaritanism, I was never able to thank them. But if
you're out there, I really do appreciate it.
In typical fashion, I had to fiddle with the recipe,
but I think my addition of toffee chips makes it even
more perfect. The cookies are very simple to make. It
is actually easier to mix them by hand, as opposed to
using an electric mixer. I like to make them using all
the optional ingredients, but feel free to mix and match
as you see fit (keeping the total overall amount of
options more or less equal). Don't like raisins? Use
more chocolate chips. Don't like nuts? Omit them. You
get the picture.
The cookies make wonderful gifts, either freshly baked
or as frozen cookie dough. You might want to keep some
well wrapped frozen dough in your own freezer as well.
Just slice off a couple of cookies at a time and bake
in the oven or toaster oven. What could be better?
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