It’s the Thought That Counts

Will has been in Nebraska for the past week ultrasounding cattle. He got home last night, and as a surprise, I thought I would bake his favorite cookies. Oatmeal. Not oatmeal-raisin or oatmeal chocolate chip. Just plain oatmeal.

Now I am a chocolate chip lover myself. I have a chocolate chip recipe that I absolutely love and I can count on those cookies to turn out every time. But I seldom bake oatmeal cookies. And therefore I don’t have a tried and true recipe for those, so I just found an oatmeal-raisin recipe and decided I could omit the raisins. Seemed logical.

So I whipped up a batch of oatmeal cookies for my sweetie. I happened to be talking to Mom when I pulled the first batch out of the oven. “Oh my. These look hideous.” I commented as a chunk of cookie fell of the baking stone onto the floor. The cookies were flat, crumbly and in all sorts of non-round shapes. And I knew Will would not be impressed that some had fallen onto the floor. He doesn’t really care for food that falls on the floor. (I’ve never understood that.)

So I quickly picked up the crumb and threw it right in my mouth. ‘Waste not, want not,” my mom always told me. And to my surprise, these cookies tasted fabulous! I had to help myself to a couple more.

And I thought, you know, maybe these cookies would look better if I put them on a plate. I remembered from 4-H that we had to plate 3 or 4 cookies to take to the judges.

But I never should have plated them, because as soon as I did, I remembered a batch of cookies I had made once for 4-H. They looked something similar to the cookies above. Flat, misshapen, and ugly. And I received a red ribbon for my efforts (or lack thereof). Apparently you are supposed to soften the butter for your cookies on the countertop and not in the microwave. Microwave-softened butter leaves your cookies flat and shapeless. Who knew?!

But then I smiled because I knew Will wouldn’t care what the cookies looked like. He’d just be happy I made them. After all, it’s the thought that counts. (And they really did taste good!)

Have a great day!