Recently I found this cookie recipe that my wife and I cooked in the 1980’s. It’s one of those things that was really good but life happened, the recipe was put in a book and we just stopped making them.

It resurfaced several days ago. One Saturday she was at work and I was home alone so I decided to make some. As I made them, I remembered several things that I had forgotten. And believe it or not, I prepped them in the same big yellow plastic bowl that we’ve had since I can remember.

She probably won’t want me to tell it, but the bowl has dog teeth bites in it. Some nefarious dog along the way in our 36-year marriage got hold of the big yellow bowl and knawed on it some. But we couldn’t bring ourselves to throw that bowl away. It still worked and it had been around for a long time.

And since I also have been around a long time and I still work, I guess the big yellow bowl and myself have a lot in common. We’ve bonded and I can’t throw it out.

As I was prepping these cookies, I recalled my wife teaching me to ‘cut’ the oil into the dry ingredients. I’d never even heard of ‘cutting’ something into something. We have this thing, I don’t even know what it’s called, but it has some wires on it and a wooden handle and it’s actually like a cool tool. But whatever that thing is called she taught me how to use it at our apartment in Murfreesboro in the late 80’s. That address was 2160 Thompson Lane, Apt E-14. Phone 615-890-0592.

I can remember 10 numbers from 1988 but can’t remember a 4 digit Pin for 10 minutes in 2019.

As I was hand-blending the ingredients (which I always loved doing) and my 56-year-old hands were encased in gooey oatmeal and chocolate chips, I couldn’t help but look at my hands and think how much younger they must have looked back then when I mixed these things up in this same yellow bowl.

Tom Hanks, The Commodores and Back To The Future wafted a little bit through my mind as I was putting them onto the trays to go into the oven. Hair mousse, big nursing school books and straight-shifting my sexy blue 81 Toyota 4wd also bounced around in the old nog for a bit.

When they came out of the oven I was remembering the challenge of the decision of when they are ‘just right’ (tan on the bottom, done in the middle and not brown on the top).

I was also thinking of how our lives had changed since we lived in that little one bedroom apartment by the Stone River in The Boro. We had a ginger-colored cat. Her name was Ginger. Apparently ‘Ginger’ was the most creative we could get at that time for a ginger-colored pet.

As I scooped em off the tray and put them on cooling racks, I remembered how young we were. We were married just a few years and our futures were ahead of us. All 4 of our parents and our friends were still alive. We were yet to begin our own family that we’re so blessed to have now.

I was scared that I’d accidentally kill someone after I graduated nursing school. That’s been 31 years ago and I haven’t killed anyone yet. In fact, I’ve saved a few lives along the way.

Great Scott, Marty! Let’s talk about these cookies!!! Back to 2019 now. I’ve scanned in the original recipe because it’s handwritten by my wife.

And I like handwritten things. The scratching and notations are my notes to me. 🙂

Make sure to add the chocolate chips/chunks with the oats. I like the dark chocolate chunks now.

I promise they’ll come out better if you put on some Def Leppard, Whitney Houston or Lionel Richie to play in the background.

Bon Appetit 1980’s style!

That’s the best that I can tell about it,

~Mark

cookie recipe