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.