~Freshly-Baked Cookies = Home~

When the boys were still at home, I'd become so busy with my business, that I'd worry that I wasn't 'mothering' them enough. My answer was to bake cookies right before they walked in the door after school, so the house would smell like 'home'. I posted about it here.

"In those days, my boys knew that whenever they smelled freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies when pushing open the back door after school, that their mom was feeling like she wasn’t “mothering” them enough. Their next questions were always: “Oh no. Where are those over-ripe bananas?” or “Do I taste that ‘bran stuff' in these?” Jim bought me the painting you see posted above, at one of the art shows we did. It hangs in the back hall. I'm sorry I cannot read the artist's signature to give her credit. It's beautiful and very meaningful."

Although the boys are now grown and gone....my 'biggest' boy still loves to walk in the back door after work, to the aroma of baking cookies: peanut butter cookies to be exact. They are the recipe from the Better Homes And Gardens Cookbook I got as a gift when we were first married. You can see by my scribbling above the recipe that I wrote (over 40 yrs. ago) 'Jim's favorite'!

Even today, when the cookie jar is empty...Jim always mentions that it 'needs' cookies....so I decided to bake his favorite Peanut Butter Cookies...a double batch, so I can freeze some. As the holidays approach, the orders are already mounting, and I fear I won't have much time to bake cookies in the coming weeks. The house smells wonderful. And I feel satisfied that although I'm not 'mothering' anymore...I'm making my original 'boy' very happy~