Cookie of the Month - First American Cookies

Yesterday, Matt and I took a super-fun field trip to Old Sturbridge Village, an 1830s re-enactment town about 50 miles southwest of Boston.  We went for my new favorite holiday, Tomato Day, where heirloom tomato plants are given to visitors as part of the entrance fees.  Matt and I are newbie gardeners, but our garden is growing pretty well so far, so we figured we'd supplement it with a tomato plant.  Matt's not even big on tomatoes, but I love them enough for the both of us.  And they're free!  Ahh, America.  Unfortunately, when we got there, we were told at the door that they were out of tomato plants.  That was discouraging, but we had a great time exploring the village anyway.  While there, we saw re-enacters making shoes, carding wool, throwing pots, making barrels, printing leaflets, forging iron, and making candles, as well as an old-fashioned baseball demonstration (they run to third base first!  What is that about?!).  Maybe most fascinating was the hearth cooking re-enactment with a woman baking bread and a pumpkin pie from dehydrated pumpkin, as well as making soup with dumplings.  Keep in mind that it was about 80 degrees out yesterday, and she was wearing a full 1830s respectable woman outfit - including long sleeves and a bonnet.
  

Cookie of the Month - Vanilla Sablés

I love giving people gifts, but am horrible at figuring out what to get them.  I've tried to espouse my dad's gift giving philosophy, which is that the perfect gift is one that the receiver doesn't even know he or she wants, or something they'd like but would never buy for themselves.  I'm not saying I always achieve such gift-giving perfection, but it's the goal.

A few years ago, it was a couple of days before Christmas and I could not think of something to get my younger brother.  Clothing seemed so uninspired, and his hobbies are technical enough that I can't just go out on my own without his guidance.  One of his favorite things about Christmas is that it is the one time of year he gets his favorite cookies - peppermint candy cane cookies from an old Betty Crocker cookbook my mom has.  "You know," he said to me while I was busy baking said cookies, "if you ever don't know what to get me, you could always make me cookies." And he plopped one in his mouth as he walked out of the kitchen.