Baking Day for the Neighbors - Getting Our Holiday On One Cookie Sheet at a Time.

Somewhere in the mid-2000s the universe was given the fantastic recipe of mini-muffin tins, chocolate chip cookie dough, and Reeses Peanut Butter Mini Cups, which might be the simplest, and most exquisite cookie recipe in the universe. The delicacy is so fantastic, that I have students from my Kentucky days still contacting me about the incredibleness of the treat. "Crandall, what was that cookie you made?"

Well, I've been making those cookies and delivering them for holiday love to my neighbors who show me genuine, non-committal intrinsic support for life in CT, and occasionally popping one here and there.

Yes, they truly are a life treat for the ages. Peanut butter and chocolate are simply brilliant.

I don't get all fancy and stuff (like buckeyes, which are equally as delicious or magic layer bars, but I have made a name for myself with the simplest of recipes. I've actually mastered them.

So, as the holiday celebrations take off and people invite us to this or that event, I'm able to arrive with the perfect blend of simplistic flavors (and I'm proud of them).

As people deliver trays of cookies to me, I'm unlikely to be tempted to dip my fingers into the healthy distractions. These, however, lure me in. I'm a chocolate/peanut butter lover and I can't think of an easier, better combination.

One more day of cookie delivery and then Chitunga and I will head northwest to Syracuse of the family love and embrace (where my mother's cookies trays will be a fantasy land of temptation. It's all good, though, because in eating these, the guilt will kick in and I'll be ready for New Year's resolutions. Growing up in Italian neighborhoods, I've experienced the trays and trays of Christmas traditions. I feel, however, that nothing beats the trays my mom ensembles.

I only wish I could do such decadence in Connecticut. A few more days of eating, then the reprieve!