Useless Holidays: Chocolate Chip Cookie Day

A cookie not from M&F and not as good
 that I might tell you about later
Did you know August 4th was Chocolate Chip Cookie Day? Of course you did; that's obviously one of the most important holidays of the year. I mean, it doesn't matter what religion you practice, a chocolate chip cookie is a chocolate cookie which is delicious. Naturally, I celebrated, and I made it a two day affair because we can't limit ourselves to one cookie or one day. Basically, I'm here to tell you about a lovely day that I had because I'm trying to appreciate the little good days.

My celebration began on the 3rd. In case you haven't noticed, this summer I've kinda had a thing for celebrating holidays on the wrong days. But this time I knew it was the wrong day, I promise. Markham & Fitz just happened to be celebrating a day early, ok? Ok.

After what had been a taxing excursion to Walmart during tax-free weekend (but fun, as I was with my niece and nephew and sister-in-law), I needed some time on my own. I really appreciate time that I am in charge of, that's just mine. I went out to M&F for my Santo Domingo and a cookie. A perfect afternoon refreshment, in my opinion.

And then, my phone suddenly got a litany of instagram notifications. I was tagged in a post. I had just won a year's worth of M&F cookies! This has really been my year for contests. I've won a cake (more on that some other time) and now cookies from a place that's become my place. I have a place. As my friends (maybe even acquaintances) will tell you, I am very serious about tagging friends with contests. Thank you, to all of those I've tagged, by the way.

Now I was on top of the world when I went to get my usual. The baristas know me. I don't feel the familiar nervousness of making small talk to cashiers because I know them. And they're very nice, by the way, and were very happy to learn that I won the cookies. I deserve them. I go there a lot. My Santo Domingo was better than usual. My cookie tasted better because it was free...and I happened to get one that was warm. I sat there for an hour, eavesdropping on customers, thinking about how peaceful the cloudy day was, reading Hemingway. For once I felt a little connected to Hemingway (I don't really care for him), as he talked about the cafés he frequented, his places. I had a place, too. Maybe not in 1920s Paris, but isn't Bentonville just as cool?

Then I snuck away, receding back to my home.

But Cookie Day hadn't come yet. I baked off some cookies, the dough had been resting in the fridge from yesterday. You really can't enjoy the holiday properly without making your own cookies. I followed a recipe I had seen Chris Morocco make on Bon Appetit--their youtube is one of my guilty pleasures. Browned butter, dark chocolate chunks, and plenty of salt makes for a complex cookie. I also found great joy in the fact that the chocolate shards melted into chocolate puddles (to steal one of Carla Lalli Music's terms). The cookies were a little thinner than my personal preference, so I might add a bit more flour next time, but overall good (*it is also possible I just mismeasured; mine didn't look quite the same as Chris's*). They satisfied my craving.

And finally, I didn't expect this to turn into a Chris Morocco appreciation post, but I have to at least mention that I messaged Chris on instagram to see about adding salt on top of my cookies. And, to my surprise, he actually answered me, which is very kind and solidifies my impression of the BA test kitchen staff as nothing but kind and helpful. So if you, too, wanted to sprinkle salt on your cookies, Chris says "go down to 1 tsp diamond crystal in the cookie in that case." Thank you, Chris. I will try that next time.

Munching on cookies,
Christina
Location: 801 SE 8th St #45, Bentonville, AR 72712, USA

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