Started a family tradition several years ago called; "Cookie Tuesdays".
Now for all I know she saw it on Oprah or stole the idea from a neighbor. I don't really care.
Because she made it her own...
There were no Sugar Cookie Tuesdays or Oatmeal Raisin Tuesdays. Nooooooo.
She would scour the internet and cookbooks for the most unique and creative type recipes she could find. Some where out of this world delicious. Others were strong on presentation and less successful in the taste department. But one thing they always were, was special. Because Heather put in the time and made it fun and everyone looked forward to it. More Tuesdays than not I found myself over at their house (30 minutes away from my home) for one made up reason or another....
Just over 2 years ago my best friend (Rusty - Heather's husband) got a great job with a large software company and my two closest friends and their kids packed up and moved to Texas.
And thanks to the Magic of Instagram I have reason to believe that Cookie Tuesday is alive and well and as fun as it ever was.
I tell you THAT story to tell you THIS story...
Yesterday, Tuesday July 16th. I was on day 8 or 9 of my New Paleo diet. So far so good...
It was around 8pm and I was home alone. When my doorbell rang. By time I got to my door there was no one. There was however, a plate of 8 fairly fresh from the oven chocolate chip cookies and a very nice handwritten note.
There was no name and I can say even as I write this I do not have any idea who they are from. If the note was not addressed to: "GDPIII" I would have my doubts about whether they were left at my home by mistake or not.
I returned to my room and posted a Thank you on Facebook to whomever the generous Cookie donor was. I also jokingly asked; "Just how many warm chocolate chip cookies would a Caveman on his Paleo diet, eat?"
The Answer is 4... He (I) would (did) eat 4 of those warm chocolate chip cookies.
I ate them and other than wishing I had stopped at 3, I have no regrets.
Regardless of the fact it broke my new diet or undid any hard work or sacrifice I had put in for the day.
It was as much about how delicious they were as it was about escapism.
You see for a few minutes. I didn't worry about finding a job. How I was gonna be the best Father I could be to three amazing and impressionable children. I didn't worry about what I could or couldn't eat under my new restrictive eating habits.
Instead, I allowed those Cookies to remind me of happier, less stressful times with my best friends. Doing something as frivolous and "unimportant" as "Cookie Tuesday".
We need Food to live. Sometimes as much "Figuratively" as "Literally"... Taste and Smell are tied so strongly to our memories. All of us hold certain simple memories very dear.
- Whether it was the smell of Heather's house on Cookie Tuesday's.
- The smell of charred meat and propane from the grill at Aunt Leslie's house during family get togethers.
- The smell of Tamales and Freshly squeezed Orange Juice at my childhood friend Tony's house on Christmas day as we wasted the day playing Super Tecmo Bowl on the Super Nintendo...
I will tell you that a little break from the diet. Never killed anyone as long as you can keep it in check. I will also tell you I was not about to weigh myself this morning after my personal "Cookie Tuesday"... It's doubtful that 4 cookies would pack on several pounds. But I'd rather put together a couple strong dieting days first before I climb back on the scales...
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