Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think that I have baked about two billion chocolate chip cookies over the years. Perhaps that is a bit of an exaggeration, but I have made a lot. It all started with my mom when I was a little girl. We would “mix up a batch” for all kinds of reasons. If it was rainy, we made cookies. If it was sunny, we made cookies. If it was snowing, we made cookies. On weekends, we would make a double batch so there would be some for the lunch boxes during the week. We brought our cookies to class parities and church suppers. They were a staple for the 4-H Sewing Club, choir practice, and youth group gatherings. When I went off to college, my mom would send me care packages with those fabulous homemade chocolate chip cookies. Of course, there would be enough to share with the other girls on my dorm floor and, oh, I was so very popular when those boxes arrived. My roommates and I swore the cookies were made with such love and care that when we ate them during exam weeks, we slammed those exams. 

When I had my own children, I continued the tradition. I baked those ooey-gooey cookies for class parties, Sunday school classes, and always on the first day of school in September. As my boys got older, I would often surprise them with a batch left on the counter. When they came home from sport practices or events, they would dig in and devour those cookies with a gallon of milk. And of course, every Christmas box of cookies included a nice selection of sweets with chocolate chips cookies on top and a plate of the hand selected ones always greeted Santa on Christmas Eve. 

Now that my boys are grown and on their own, I no longer buy the super duper big bag of Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips. But I always have at least one regular size bag in the pantry, just in case I need to bake a batch of those glorious cookies. Today it is more challenging to make my special cookies. When my hands shake, it is difficult to measure that perfectly level cup of flour or cracking eggs free of shells. But the tradition of baking and giving my family and friends these sweets is ingrained in me and I love to do it. So, out comes the flour, sugar, eggs, softened butter, salt, baking soda, vanilla, and those mighty great chocolate chips. I mix them with love and bake them with care and out comes another batch of those magical marvels. Yum.