The Signature Cookie and Jack!e

Quite frankly, I am not sure when my Christmas cookie traditions began. I know that when I was a child, Mom would bring home the bags of Nestle Toll House chocolate chips and she would inform me that I was responsible for baking the chocolate chip cookies. I was always excited and proud to bake them. I actually think I was a baker one year for Halloween and borrowed clothes from the restaurant my grandmother worked in so my costume could be very realistic. Somewhere along the way, my interest in cooking and baking faded. Of course, this was probably during the times when I couldn't afford much in the way of ingredients and had to resort to boxes of macaroni and cheese or ramen noodles. During the holidays, I would attempt a few cookie recipes, but nothing over the top.

When I moved to Santa Fe and had the first spacious kitchen in my life, I began to take more of an interest in cooking again. My first Christmas in Santa Fe, I had planned to bake several different kinds of cookies and didn't really know what I was going to do with them. I remember baking biscochitos and thinking that I was pretty cool for cutting them into the shape of New Mexico with a cookie cutter I had ordered online. I also baked red chile cinnamon cookies, obviously influenced by my surroundings. Soon, I had amassed so many cookies and had to start coming up with a plan to distribute them- mainly because I couldn't eat them all and I didn't want them to go to waste. I ordered some gold boxes with my initials on them from Williams-Sonoma. In retrospect, I find them slightly pretentious. I had those boxes for a few years after that because I had to order so many to have them personalized.

I began delivering cookies to all of my clients and friends. Anyone who dropped by, came to dinner or even the mailman got a box. After Christmas, I received a few thank you notes, but I didn't really understand the impact of my cookies until the following Thanksgiving. I started receiving e-mails and phone calls asking if they would be receiving my cookies again. So this is when I started being a little more mathematical about my cookie baking. After a few years had gone by, my cookie list had gotten so long and I had to calculate how many cookies I could physically handle baking and when I had to begin. Baking the cookies was the easy part- it was the preparation that was the difficult part. I had to plan which doughs would freeze best, how long each cookie would stay fresh, what I was going to box them in and how they would be delivered. I used to ship cookies after sending a "test box" to a close friend or two a couple of weeks before to see if the cookies would arrive crumbled or not. Many times they did and I just chose not to ever ship cookies again.

When I started to work for Macy's, I remembered thinking that I would have to leave my cookie days behind me when I was barely able to function outside of retail during November and December. Fortunately, this was not the case. During my first season with Macy's, I remembered overhearing another manager mention they were wrapping gifts for all of their sales associates. I went into a full panic and started wondering how I would afford gifts for several dozen associates. Then I remembered the cookies. I went into a last minute baking sprint and stopped at the Dollar Store for a few packs of holiday-themed goodie bags. I passed out the cookies with little response, and again, I did not know the impact of the cookies until the following year when I started getting requests again.

When I moved to Vegas, I used to bake with my friend Lisa, who I rarely refer to as Lisa, but Jack!e. You can read up on how she got that name in a previous post- but we actually call each other Jack!e and it must be with the exclamation point and not with an "i." This is how we determine whether we are talking about each other or someone actually named Jackie. We coordinated our days off together to bake (even though our boss had asked us not to be friends anymore since Lisa was promoted to a higher position than me and he thought it would look bad in front of the other managers. I will never forget how I was expected to ditch my good friend of several years because of a promotion). I had purchased a box of vintage cooking magazines from e-Bay, which I am known to do, and one of the magazines featured recipes from every First Lady in American history. I was intrigued by many of them, but not intrigued enough to try Rosalynn Carter's meatloaf aspic (I am totally making that up, but this was the caliber of recipes in the magazine). I found the very last page to be Hillary Clinton's Chocolate Chip Cookies. A very modest recipe compared to the other ladies' choices, but there was a little paragraph about how she chose to use shortening instead of butter, add oatmeal and increase the salt. I wanted to try them.

So I baked a batch on my own and could not stop eating them. John can tell you that I was addicted to the cookie and continued baking them at least once a week for a month. I did not bake them that Christmas, but did make about 20 dozen to take to our overnight inventory at Macy's. I put them in the break room when I got there and by the time we took a lunch break, I saw they were all gone. I figured I had a hit on my hands. Jack!e asked me for the recipe. I was reluctant to give it to her, because I knew I had the best chocolate chip cookie and was afraid that she would steal my thunder. Well, turns out, the following Christmas, we lived in separate states, so I figured that I could allow her to have the recipe, since our audience would not overlap. Jack!e continues to use this as her sole chocolate chip cookie recipe, as I do. No offense to Nestle, but I do not follow the directions on the back of the package after Hillary has shared her secrets with me!

I brought the recipe all the way to Sacramento and now, back home to New Mexico. While in Sacramento, I still had my personalized gold boxes and started creating a few more elaborate cookies to include. The boxes were fairly large and it took a lot of cookies to fill them. I knew that I could not bake this many cookies before Christmas and had to decide on only including a few in my "cookie circle." The sales associates would only receive a small snack bag of chocolate chip cookies. The VIP Cookie Circle would receive the full assortment.

While I was preparing cookies in Sacramento, I remember John feeling really proud to see what I was producing in our kitchen. He said the boxes looked so beautiful, like those boxes of chocolates you would get for Valentine's Day. He said that he always liked how there would be a list of what the chocolates were in the box and volunteered to create a menu for the VIP Cookie Circle boxes. It really made all of the difference in the presentation. John decided to start the menu with the always-included Hillary Clinton's Chocolate Chip Cookie, naming it my "Signature Cookie." After handing out the boxes, I received so many calls saying how they thought it was so cool that I had a "Signature Cookie." The chocolate chip cookie has remained my signature, although this is the year I decided to change it to the Jack!e Chocolate Chip Cookie. With a slight adjustment in the recipe, and the fact that Hillary hardly has the time to bake nowadays, I thought it was a valid adjustment in the cookie menu.

I had to take a couple of Christmases off from baking, once promoted to the MTM position at Macy's, but this year I decided to pick up where I left off. If you got the box, you are VIP Cookie Circle. If not, I am sorry and hope that I can bake even more next year. Keep in mind, I am just getting started again, so my list was quite small. I will have better planning next year, I promise. I actually have dreams about cookies, too. I had a dream one time that I was named the Patron Saint of Cookies. My favorite, though, is a dream where I have so much demand for my Christmas cookie boxes that I have to begin using a lottery process to determine who gets them every year.

This year's VIP Cookie Box menu (that John made for me):

The Signature Cookie: Jack!e Chocolate Chips
Checkerboard Cookies
Lemon Poppy Seed Crisps
Gingerbread Snowflakes
Lemon Shortbread
Orange-Cardamom Madeleines
Cranberry Coins
Rum Raisin Shortbread (in extra-special, limited boxes)

Tater Tot Casserole and John

So, shortly after I started dating John, I moved to Albuquerque from Santa Fe. John worked very late at night and I would come home from work and cook a full meal. I would take it over to his apartment around midnight, so he would have something to eat for dinner when he got home from work. Most of the time, I was waiting for him by the time he got home and it didn't seem to matter what I cooked, he would eat whatever it was. Occasionally, he would request something specific, a repeat recipe maybe, but never picky.

Every now and then, John would offer to cook for me. What I learned through the process of eating home-cooked meals with him was that he had a few weaknesses when it comes to certain foods. Tater tots would be a good example- particularly when Napoleon Dynamite seemed to catapult tots back into their limelight. I don't know what I had prepared on this one particular night, but it was a casserole of sorts. John said, "wouldn't it be great if there was a tater tot casserole?" And of course I made a mental note.

The next day, I was googling "tater tot casserole" and finding dozens of horrifying recipes. I finally found one that I thought I might be able to stomach. Don't get the wrong idea- this is a heart attack waiting to happen. The recipe requires two sticks of butter, a pound of sour cream and even some cornflakes. That's only three of the dozen ingredients. I justified it because it has onion in it and that is a vegetable.

Well, wouldn't you know it, the casserole was a hit. Every now and then, maybe once a year, the casserole makes an appearance. Both of us realize that it is enough calories for a week and we shouldn't be eating it, but it is sinfully delicious...

The Drive-In Theater and Mom & Dad

Remember the Drive-In Theater? I barely do. My parents loved the movies and when you have kids, I think it's probably harder to go nowadays. We all know that you can't take kids to every movie- either the rating is R or you can't find a babysitter or you were the parent with the crying baby right in the middle of the theater once. The drive-in was a way around all of that.

Mom and Dad almost never seemed to plan the trip to the drive-in. We would be sitting at dinner and you could feel them getting restless. Something would go wrong, like we would drop the Kool-Aid or the pot of spaghetti. Ultimately, one of them would say, "we have to get out of here." And simultaneously, you could see the light in their eyes when they both thought, "who wants to go to the drive-in?!" And we would get into our highest gear to hurry and get ready. Mom would instruct me to get the popcorn popper out. She would go change into jeans and a sweatshirt and then come back to get the popcorn started. "Get the butter, she'd say." We would pop so many batches of popcorn in the little popper.

And we didn't have the hot air popper or the microwave popcorn. We used the old-fashioned, oil driven popper. She would get her Weiss Market paper bags out, unfold them and we began filling the bags with each batch that was done. We'd drizzle butter and shake the salt over the top and then close up the bag and shake it for a while to coat each piece. We'd end up with two or three bags of corn and head out to the theater. Each bag would look like it might fall apart from the oil and butter leaking through slightly. There were spots all over the bag, but it smelled so delicious.

On the way to the theater, Dad always insisted on running into one of our favorite corner stores- Stewart's, where he would pick up random pieces of candy: always a Fifth Avenue Bar, Twizzlers and maybe some M&M's for Mom. My brother and I would sit in the back and when we got to the movie, Mom would spread a blanket over us. I honestly cannot remember one movie I saw at the theater, but I remember Mom and Dad would have all of the windows down, so they could hear the audio from the little box next to our car. My brother and I would have a bag of popcorn of our own and after finishing our candy and popcorn, I think we must've fallen asleep. Now, doesn't that beat staying home with a babysitter?

I miss the drive-in. You know what was funny about it, though? Nobody ever really seemed to care what movie was playing.

Baked Potato Sundae and Penny & Mom

I honestly do not remember who told me first about the Baked Potato Sundae at the Cowgirl in Santa Fe. What I know is that I have made it one of Santa Fe's popular tourist attractions ever since I got wind of it. I don't know what I was thinking when I first found out, but I actually had memories of the awful tourist-type ice cream flavors I have experienced in the past. For instance, I will never forget being in Cape Cod and having someone offer me Lobster Ice Cream (I, of course, tried it) and then seeing things on people's menus like Green Chile Apple Pie. Not to put these to shame, necessarily, they are all intriguing... but I may have thought that the Baked Potato Sundae was actually a baked potato. And quite frankly, it would not have made it less appealing.

I arrived at the Cowgirl shortly after hearing of this invention and proceeded to eat my entree quickly. I think I even informed the waiter that I would be ordering the Sundae early on, so he would know to expect it when I was finished. After confirming my order, my dessert had arrived and I could not believe it. Here a baked potato, with butter, sour cream and chives was sitting before me. But when I dip my spoon into the middle of the potato, I see that it is, in fact, vanilla ice cream. True love at last! The pat of butter sitting on top, the waiter informed me was banana butter...the sour cream was whipped cream....the chives were bright green pistachios...the potato was the ice cream, molded into the shape of a potato and dusted with cocoa.

I thought this was the best invention and apparently began sharing with the public immediately. I spread the word like wildfire and people would constantly ask me what they should do while in Santa Fe. I'd skip past the plaza, the cathedral and go right to the sundae, as embarrassing as that is... and many have taken my advice. I think my advice to stop and get the sundae was enough to get them there to try it, as most of the advice they had gotten from the locals would be the best place to get a really good taco, a great museum or the opera.

I somehow gave my sister the hint that there was a baked potato sundae and to this day, I am convinced that her first visit to Santa Fe was solely to experience this dessert. I knew that between the two of us, we would never forget the first time we shared this little "secret."

Years later, when my mother decided to tag along with Penny for a trip to New Mexico, we were sure to stop at the Cowgirl and we had told Mom that we were going to get the Baked Potato Sundae. I don't remember what she had said exactly, but it was something like, "What the heck..." And so the three of sat there with three spoons awaiting it's arrival. We devoured the sundae, all the way to the end. Everytime the potato arrives, I am in amazement that someone thought to make this up. I haven't had one since the family visit. I am thinking that it might be time to get one soon.

If you are ever in Santa Fe, please don't miss the Baked Potato Sundae.

Day of the Dead Cookies and Valerie

When I first moved back to New Mexico, my friend Valerie would start bringing in vegetables from her garden. She would bring them to work and lay them in front of her on her desk. People would walk by and see them. She almost never had to beg anyone to take them. The sad part was, by the time I saw them and inquired, they would all be spoken for- but each still laying out there staring at me still until each lucky winner was off the clock and came back to claim their prize. I always hoped one would forget to come back for their squash and I could just take it home as a consolation prize. Never happened.

She eventually got sick of me whining and one morning, she had placed a bag of miscellaneous squash on my desk when I wasn't looking! Delighted to find several large zuccinis, I immediately raced around the corner to her desk to let her know that I had just found a recipe for zucchini bread that I wanted to try. She told me about a recipe for chocolate zucchini bread and I was intrigued. She invited me over the following weekend to have a zucchini bake-off!

Shortly after the decision to bake zucchini breads, she asked if I had any cookie cutters that would be suitable for Day of the Dead. Well, of course I gathered my tote bag of Martha Stewart cookie cutters and headed on over to spend the day with Valerie. Of course, we had our assistants who happily took off to fetch us ingredients we may have forgotten.

I remember feeling incredibly relaxed and completely at ease sharing a kitchen with Valerie. We planned out our day and in the end, we had what seemed like dozens of zucchini breads- plain and chocolate. We also made beautiful and delicious Day of the Dead cookies. Skulls decorated with brightly colored flowers. I have not made Day of the Dead cookies or zucchini bread since then and each time the season is upon us, I think I will forever be reminded of the baking day with a dear friend.

Corn Pudding and P. Susan

So the year this story takes place has escaped me, as time often does. But I had recently moved to Santa Fe and my friend P. Susan dialed me up to let me know she was planning to make a last minute reservation to fly in for Thanksgiving. Surely I had invited her a million times and she finally took me up on the offer. Our good pal, Katharine Moore agreed to tag along and I couldn't be more delighted.

I know they hadn't planned to stay more than a few days, which was probably good because P. Susan was somehow agreeing to sleep on the hard, brick floor in our living room next to the fireplace. I was constantly worried and having major anxiety thinking she would roll so close that her long hair would get clipped by the flames. It didn't happen, thank goodness.

When my two friends arrived, my friend Jeff was already visiting from Chicago and so my house started to get crowded. We didn't seem to mind, because during the day we could still use the patio when the sun was out. Before she even arrived, P. Susan inquired about the Thanksgiving menu. I went down the usual list- turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, broccoli casserole, sweet potatoes... and I'm pretty sure she stopped me at the end with, "No corn pudding?" Corn pudding? Whoever even heard of such a thing? She said she would not eat Thanksgiving dinner without corn pudding. After finding out more about it, the dish sounded wonderful and I was surprised to hear it was a savory dish and not a dessert. I asked for the recipe. She didn't have one and started rattling off ingredients she thought were involved: corn, creamed corn, cream, butter, a crusty topping, eggs, sour cream, cornmeal? I am not sure she knew at all what this dish was made with and I was left to my own devices. I pulled about a dozen different recipes, all of them omitting at least one of the ingredients she listed. I could not find the exact recipe. I remember calling her and going over each recipe- after each one, I could sense her stomping her foot, "NO! That is not it!"

Eventually, I had to just purchase all of the ingredients and hope that I could put together something that resembled her favorite Thanksgiving dish. Turns out, we did it! And it is a wonderful compliment to so many meals. I hadn't thought about it in a while, but I recreated the dish recently for a family dinner. It came out just as beautifully as it had the first time around and I managed to create it by memory. I think this dish will now become part of my own Thanksgiving tradition, all of these years later...

Schwan's Ice Cream and Kenon

I can't remember when my mother decided to start ordering from the Schwan's man. He would drive his truck through our neighborhood and we used to see him carrying in cases of goodies to houses all around us. Occasionally he would stop at our house and leave a little order form with a brochure. He talked to Mom a bit and then she always said, "No thanks, not today..." But one day she finally gave in. I'm not sure what changed her mind, but I could guess she probably thought she didn't have anything for dinner and this would save her a trip to the grocery.

One of the first things she ordered was the little, frozen push pops. They're called Push-Ems and they came in two flavors- Orange and Raspberry. They definitely had a distinct flavor somewhere between yogurt and sherbet. I always thought the orange flavor was much better than the raspberry. They were very good and they didn't last in our freezer for too long. I remember my brother liking them a little bit more than me.

One day off of the school bus, we were walking down the street, turning the corner to our house and my brother saw the Schwan's truck parked in front of our house. He didn't even tell me what he was going to do before taking off at full force to make it there in time to see if Mom had gotten the Push Ems. By the time I made it to the house, the Schwan's man was pulling away and Kenon was running up to me with his ice cream. From the time the pops were delivered, it was almost a contest to see who could eat more. We would sneak into the freezer when no one was looking and run outside quickly to eat them so Mom didn't see us. She definitely used to say, "Not til after dinner," if she saw us looking for ice cream after school.

I haven't had one of these in a long time, but I bet they still taste the same. It wouldn't be the same if I didn't have one with my brother, though.