How to Properly Say Thank You

Living in a big city can sometimes desensitize you to common courtesy and basic manners. We hustle around always in a hurry and sometimes forget that the elderly gentleman weary from a day in the city would probably love to sit down on the crowded train, but we bury our face in a book and pretend we don't see because it's just so easy. That's why when people go above and beyond the call of duty and make us realize that we are ALL in this together, this crazy, chaotic and sometimes cruel world, well... they deserve cookies.

When Joel and I planned our trip to New York City for a week we struggled with what to do with our 10 year old beagle-mix, Nico. We didn't know anyone who Nico could stay with while we were away, unlike when we lived in Seattle, where we seeming had a endless supply of trustworthy friends ready and willing to help us out. We ended up relying on our apartment manager, Juanita, who in addition to making sure a building of 170 units is taken care of, walked our dog twice a day in the morning and afternoon. Another friend, Adam, who lives close by was responsible for walking Nico in the evenings after he spent a full day at work and got home from his play My First Time that he's currently performing in at the Greenhouse Theater here in Chicago. 

Everything should have gone off without a hitch.... Should have....

Here is Nico in happier times

When we arrived home on Saturday morning we were exhausted from travel delays (we should have arrived home Friday evening) and we wanted nothing more than to curl up in our own bed and sleep until we couldn't sleep anymore. But instead we were greeted with a scene from a horror flick, only you could smell this stench coming off the elevator, and at least watching gory movies saves you from smelling the gore.... anyway, the 20 or so brown stains all over the carpet told a story we didn't want to hear. Unfortunately Juanita, the office manager, was out of the office and Joel's phone had died somewhere in the mayhem of the previous evening so we couldn't call Adam to find out what had happened.

It was apparent Nico wasn't in good health and I was sure she had been neglected the entire week we had been gone. I had a good cry then got myself together and called around to find a vet that would take us on short notice. After she received some subcutaneous fluids and got some medicine we rented a carpet shampooer on the way home and got ready to do some deep cleaning. The smell was not something we could live with even momentarily. Shortly after arriving home, Adam, breathless and nervous, burst through our front door and we listened with rapt attention as he related the story of coming into our apartment Friday evening to find Nico lying on the floor panting at him listlessly with piles and piles of vomit and diarrhea all around her.  (I bet you didn't click on a link to a food blog and expect to see the words vomit and diarrhea... I apologize).

But I'm getting close to my point. Adam came to our apartment Friday evening expecting to take Nico out for a walk as he had the previous evenings and came in, not to stains on the carpet, but to the actual bad stuff that I won't name from here on out because you know what I'm talking about. Adam, God bless his soul, actually picked it up as best as he could with a sponge and paper towels and tried frantically to reach Joel on his dead cell phone to give him a warning of what was to come.

Now don't you think his heroics deserve some chocolate chip cookies and a bottle of Jameson at the very least? I do. I'm so thankful to Adam that I'll turn on my oven in 104 degree heat and bake him the best cookies he's ever had! 

After cracking open every cook book I own in search of a worthy cookie for Adam and Juanita, I reflected back on my own simple tastes... whenever I'm at a bakery and I'm in need of a sugar fix I always rely on good old fashioned chocolate chip. It hits the spot every time; no need for anything fancy or elaborate! Now that I had it narrowed down the search began for the best recipe for chewy and delicious chocolate chip cookies. I found it, of course, in The Best Recipe which I cook from a lot. I just subscribed to Cook's Illustrated (from America's Test Kitchen) and it's the best food magazine I've read in a long time. I used top notch ingredients since this was a gift, but feel free to use the cheaper stuff, it'll still taste really good. At the end of this recipe there are weird instructions about how to form the dough into balls and tearing them apart to form a textured surface while the cookie bakes and it sounds like rubbish at first, but following this step will help you create professional looking cookies that you see in bakery windows.
Now, without further ado...

Big & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Adapted from The Best Recipe

Makes 18 large cookies

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 salt

12 tablespoons unsalted high-fat European butter, melted and cooled

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 granulated cane sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups Ghirardelli Premium Baking Chips Semi-sweet Chocolate

Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower middle positions and pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl, set aside. 

With an electric or stand mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Fold in chips with a wooden spoon. Dough should be very think and requires some strength to stir. 

Roll 1/4 cup of dough into a ball. holding ball in fingertips of both hands, pull into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, taking care not to smooth the dough's uneven top surface. Placed formed dough onto cookie sheet, leaving 2 1/2 inches between each ball. 

Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking (from top to bottom and front to back), until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets. Best served warm.