Flashback Friday: Ode To My Grammy

I've always been a foodie. Straight out of the womb I was crying for food. For milk, duh! Over the years I would quickly learn that the best pairing for milk was cookies. To me, cookies became much more than a circular, sugary goodness, but a symbol of love. I attribute this connection of love with cookies because of the #1 woman in my life -- my Grammy.

Thanks to my "adventurous" mother, Meredith Orso became a grandmother at the young age of 40. Yep, my Grammy is a young lady, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Despite being a grandmother, she has maintained her coolness rather well over the years. This may or may not be due to the fact that my aunties and I are all pretty sassy ladies and my Grandmother, well, just puts up with us. Patient, loving, forgiving, caring, and sweet, my Grammy is my favorite person in the world! 

I spent many weekends with Grammy. She would pick me up on Friday and we'd go anywhere I wanted for dinner. We spent a lot of time eating Boston Market and Spaghettios. Dinner options varied, but dessert was always the same - home made chocolate chip cookies! I started baking with Grammy at a young age. I would sit on the counter Indian-style, watching her mix as I sampled the dough several times while asking her a million questions about the process. 

It was always the same technique - she would whisper "more brown sugar than white" like it was a secret and always reminded me to incorporate the flour slowly so I wouldn't make such a mess. (Ha!)

Eating chunks of cookie dough while the first batch baked was pretty standard too.

Whenever I'm craving chocolate, cookies are my sweet tooth's relief. Tonight I decided to whip up a batch that I recently read about on Jenna's blog. Her recipe reminded me of my Grandmother's because she uses only brown sugar to create a more caramelized, chewier cookie. 

I made the cookies very carefully, even measuring out the 2 1/2 cups of flour to 300 grams on my food scale. Baking, my friends, is a science. 

A few oopsies with the flour and brown sugar later, my cookie batter was ready for baking.

(Ignore the fact that my purse is ON the oven.)

And about 12 minutes later my cookies were ready to be devoured. 

These cookies are wonderful! Each bite reminded me of all the memories I have baking with Grammy. She certainly passed on the trait of getting complete joy out of baking cookies, but even more so the joy of sharing them with loved ones. 

So, my friends, remember the important people in your life...and bake for them! :) 

I LOVE YOU GRAMMY!!

What brings you joy? And how do you bring joy to others?


I hope everyone has a safe, fun weekend! I am headed to Clemson for some more FOOTBALL!!