BY: RACHEL WUMKES
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve scoured the depths of the National Holiday Calendar in search for intriguing topics to twist into something relevant. Some of them are so far out there in left field, it’s unreal. I mean, National Leave a Zucchini on Your Neighbor’s Porch day? Who thought that was a good idea?
**Side note, I have cameras at my house, so don’t you dare**
The one I could get on board with, however, celebrates one of America’s national treasures. A delicacy of scrumptious proportions consumed by the millions each day.
National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day.
As it turns out, the original chocolate chip cookie recipe was created in the 1930s by Ruth Wakefied, who ran the Toll House restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts. Some sources also name Sue Brides, but not all of them. It makes me wonder if there was some sort of battle over the morsel-filled creation years ago!
DRAMA!
Used for years in the East Coast restaurant, the cookie gained so much popularity, Ruth decided to make the recipe available to the masses in her 1938 cookbook, “Tried and True.”
Over the years, bakers have tweaked the recipe, adding a pinch of this or a dash of that. Some even got a bit frisky, adding in M&Ms instead of chocolate chips. Or substituting in white chocolate chips and including nuts. Then, of course, there are the uber-creative geniuses who thought of switching out the batter and making a chocolate, chocolate chip cookie.
Talking about living on the wild side!
Everyone has “their way” of enjoying a chocolate chip cookie; whether right out of the oven or dunking into a glass of milk. This also rings true for preference of the formation, size, and style of the cookie. For example, my Grandma Betty used to make her cookies smaller and cook them to a darker shade of brown. She would then freeze them. I have fond memories of Sunday afternoons at her house dipping frozen cookies into coffee.
Sounds strange, but it was so good!
My mom, on the other hand, makes a super-soft chocolate chip cookie. Her trick is to take them out of the oven before they look like they’re done. She lets them sit for a minute or two on the hot pan before removing. Somehow, they come out ooey and gooey and perfectly melty every time!
As for me? Well, I like to buy mine from Cookies Etc!
Located across from City Park in downtown Clear Lake, they make grabbing cookies easy! In fact, you can even enjoy delicious treats after hours from their cookie ATM. This handy-dandy contraption has been in operation for a full year already. Put in to combat the issues created by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the cookie ATM has proven to be a huge hit.
You can’t go wrong with a cookie, especially the giant ones. Birthday? Let’s order a big cookie! Need treats for school? Big cookie it is! My husband’s vasectomy? I’ll order him a big cookie!
Like I said… literally every occasion in life can be celebrated with a big cookie!
And so, on this very delicious National Holiday, I implore you to treat yourself to a cookie, or six.
Enjoy!