Enjoying a cookie bar helps sweeten the tougher days I have to face.
Dawn Kessinger/The Lima News
After my grandma retired from her job as a cashier at Pangles (which later became Rays, and is now Chief Supermarkets), she enthusiastically began a new career. In her 70s, she had business cards made with her new professional title listed beneath her name and photo. The cards read: Pauline Hire, The Cookie Lady.
My grandma loved people. I believe it was an easy transition for her to go from helping people with their groceries to helping them find a new favorite cookie. Grandma’s job — at what was then Rays Supermarkets — was to assist whoever worked in the bakery to make cookies. Then she’d cut the cookies into trial-size pieces, and offer them to people who were shopping.
I do not remember ever baking cookies with my grandma. This doesn’t mean we didn’t — I lost many memories due to my brain tumor — but baking cookies with her doesn’t stand out in my memory. Cooking-wise, she made some pork chops and potatoes (both fried) that comprised one of my favorite childhood meals (and as picky an eater as I was, my favorites were few).
Not that Grandma didn’t offer me sweet treats — most often she’d hand me an ice cream bar and settle into the recliner across from me with her own ice cream.
Although baking isn’t a prevalent memory of something I shared with my grandma, I didn’t feel like I was missing anything. Grandma had plenty to share with me: her active lifestyle working and helping others, and her love of reading. One way she rewarded herself and relaxed was with a newspaper, inexpensive paperback book, or believe it or not, a comic book. I wouldn’t have believed it, either — except I saw her reading them. I looked forward to her finishing her weekly pile of comics when she would hand them to me.
I’d like to think my grandma, also known as the cookie lady, inspired the cookie monster in me to rise up and roar. But it’s more likely that the way she lived her life and gave to others is what inspired me. Grandma was more than a cookie lady for a few years later in her life.
She was one tough cookie. Giving up was never an option: I could pause and pick up a comic book when I had a bad day as a kid; I can grab an ice cream (or try a new or different kind of cookie) on my way to work or a doctor’s appointment as an adult. But I can’t give up. So this cookie’s for you, Grandma, and for all the tough cookies out there. I’m still going, still trying; this sweet treat helps me through some of the tougher days.
Tough (to beat) Cookie Bars
Ingredients
• 2 large eggs
• 1 box cake mix (I used Betty Crocker super moist yellow — vanilla is good, too — or try a different flavor)
• 1 small box instant pudding mix (I used pistachio)
• ½ cup chocolate chips (or more realistically, 1 cup)
• ¾ cup Canola oil
• ¼ cup water
Optional: ¼ cup pistachios or chopped pecans, macadamias or walnuts
Preheat oven to 350. Mix cake mix, pudding, water, oil and eggs (with spoon). Add and stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Pour into greased 9 x 13 pan (I used a dark nonstick pan). Bake 24-28 minutes or until golden brown on edges. Let settle in pan for at least 10-15 minutes before cutting.
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