Hot Cookie - the Archive

Apricot Chews with a lightly toasted coconut topping. "Do you want a partner in crime for this new project of yours?" Laurel was planning a party for her 93-year-old neighbor who had moved to a retirement community. Betty had lived in Laurel's neighborhood since 1966. "Ooh, sounds like fun. Do you know when she moved into her house, or when she was married?" I asked. "We could make cookies from those years. Can't wait till Friday." The fruit gets jammy and sticks to the sides of the saucepan after simmering 30 minutes. Lucky me, I got to make another batch of the 1944 Cinnamon Sugar Crisps (see cookie # 4). Laurel's neighbor Betty was married that year. I had the dough ready to go. Laurel seemed in awe of my rolling pin and cutting techniques. I hadn't noticed before, but I'd improved. The soft dough of those crisps do have a learning curve, and I'd rolled, cut, and rerolled before. I cut the shapes and Laurel applied s...

The finished bars - full of promise. "Graham crackers!?" In what I think of as a fairly well-stocked pantry, I haven't kept graham crackers since my children were about five. "Doug," I called to my husband, "I'm going to buy graham crackers." In the aisle of my basic neighborhood grocery store, I was horrified to learn that graham crackers, something I'd considered wholesome snacks, no longer hold up to health food standards (partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil and high fructose corn syrup). My image of graham crackers as nutritious snacks lies in its history. Sylvester Graham, a Presbyterian minister, invented them in 1829. It turns out he promoted his "Graham bread," made of coarse whole wheat flour, to curb excessive lust. He also preached temperance and a vegetarian diet. Little did I know this was the heritage of one of my own favorite snacks as a child - I couldn't get enough of these crackers with butter and jam...