I think chocolate chip cookies are our quintessential comfort food.
Bad day? Let’s make some cookies.
Frigid outside? Let’s whip up a batch.
Feel like you’re getting a cold? No chicken soup here…what about a cookie?
I desire them greatly and I know I could sustain myself on them indefinitely.
This round of Cook the Books had us reading Sustenance and Desire: A Food Lover’s Anthology by Bascove. (Rachel at The Crispy Cook selected this anthology of “sensuality and humor” for the December/January round.)
I sat down with Sustenance and Desire with a totally open mind. I was a blank slate. I thought I might really challenge myself for this round of Cook the Books and show my creativity. As I perused the contents of this anthology, I was excited to revisit selections from M.F.K. Fisher and Virginia Woolf and Barbara Kingsolver. I eagerly read the poetry selections of Langston Hughes and Edna St. Vincent Millay.
Would I be inspired by Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to French Fries” or “Artichoke”? Quite possibly I thought.
Would I whip up a peach dessert inspired by Wallace Stevens’ line: “With my whole body I taste these peaches”?
Or, would I create a pear dish as inspired by Stanley Kunitz’ “My Mother’s Pears”?
Only twenty-five pages into the book, I landed on Carol Weston’s “My Life in Cookies.” I would look no further.
She spoke to me. (Or, should I say the cookies were calling my name?)
Weston waxes poetic about all things cookies but more importantly she includes a super easy chocolate chip cookie recipe.
PARIS, 2003, oil on canvas (Bascove)
Weston describes her twelfth grade year spent abroad in France where she was amazed “that the whole gastronomically-proud country was chip-free.” After being without beloved chocolate chip cookies for this year, her “Life in Cookies” includes seducing her husband with freshly baked cookies “full of chips” and their subsequent wedding which featured cake and cookies.
Here is her simple recipe for chocolate chip cookies which she writes is straight off the “yellow all-American Toll House bag” except she leaves out the brown sugar, baking soda, salt and nuts. 🙂
Carol Weston’s Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 sticks butter
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
dash of vanilla
2 c. flour (more or less)
1 pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chipsPreheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in “just over two cups of flour.” Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop by small scoopful onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet.
Mounds of goodness.
Bake for around 10 minutes. Let cool for 2 minutes. “Serve while the chocolate is still melty and gleaming.”
While it may not be the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie EVAH (from a previous CTB post), these are certainly tasty and the easiest recipe ever. I added one cup of chopped pecans to the second batch I made and I liked these even more.
Thank you Rachel for suggesting this collection. I have a notebook on my night stand that is now full of the wit and wisdom of the authors Bascove collected for this anthology. And thank you for introducing me to her art.
HEIRLOOM TOMATOES, 2002, oil on canvas (Bascove)
Please join us for the February/March edition of Cook the Books. Membership is open to anyone. Just grab a copy of the latest selection, Comfort Me With Apples: More Adventures at the Table by Ruth Reichl (one of my favorite food writers EVAH). Deb of Kahakai Kitchen is hosting. I hope you can read along with us. (For more information, click here.)
Please check out all my CTB posts.
They are calling my name too :-)) Well, who wouldn’t love chocolate cookies? I sure do! They look wonderfully delicious, Debra.
You are right on spot about the cookies. They look delicious, and what could go better with a cup of coffee on a cold winter morning like this. I need to bake these!
These ARE the easiest chocolate chips ever – so little work, I love it and so will everyone else. I have posted it (using your picture and link) to the Just Desserts Group board on Face Book that I am an administrator on Tuesdays!
You are SO right, which is nice to be sometimes. Well it’s nice to be SO right a lot of the time. Anyway these
are the easiest—no salt was the only thing I was mildly concerned about. BUT what I loved about this wonderful post was the lush paintings. Gorgeous.
Easiest works for me, the faster I get to them the better – I am craving chocolate cookies now!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Cookies are my favorite, I would have had to go with them as well. That is so crazy there’s no leavening but they still look puffed. Cool! Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite EVAH!! Oh and re: the lasagna – yes I put sausage in it and listed it as an ingredient, but you could leave it out – it’s not in the original recipe.
I’m delighted that you found our Cook the Book selection so satisfying. Your food photos in this post are really luminous.
I can tell these cookies would be way too addicting!
I smile that we chose the same piece from the Cook the Books selection and each enjoy the warm cozy aroma of baking cookies
I almost did cookies as well but the problem with cookies…..I cannot keep my hand out of the cookie jar LOL
I do love chocolate chip cookies, and did wonder about those, how they would be with the omissions, but yours certainly look good. Our selection seemed to have something for everyone.
Nothing beats a freshly baked cookie. Could you just mail me a plate of these cookies (the ones with the pecans please) and a big glass of milk–that would be even easier! (for me) 😉
This has been one of my favorite CTB rounds–it was so fun to see how everyone was inspired.
Everything tastes better with pecans, is my new motto 🙂 I like the painting of tomatoes: great choice.
Great choice! I nearly tried that recipe, but I was ultimately swayed by the french fries!
It’s cole and rainy. I just might have to make these today!
How wonderful! So pleased that you enjoyed the collection, poetry, prose & paintings. I’ve just forwarded this to dear Carol Weston. “Paris”, which you included, is a portrait of her in one of our favorite French cafes, L’Ebouillanté.
You made my day by dropping by AND sending this to Carol Weston. I am now a big fan of your art!
What fun to read this!! I am so glad my cookie essay and recipe spoke to you, Eliot! Just seeing this today! Cheers! — Carol carolweston.com
I feel so honored that you and Bascove dropped by my meager blog! Thank for a great new cookie recipe and the inspiration. You also inspired Delaware Girl Eats.