Martha, can you hear me?

Normally I am banned from Home Goods.  Peter won't even stop the car within five miles of the store.   Ever since I brought home these two oversize hurricane lamps from Pier One, I am not allowed to be left alone in a store that sells, well, home goods.

But like Peanut, I like to flex my independence, so about two months ago I snuck into the Home Goods in Elmsford after a visit to our hairdresser.  I love the smell of stuff on sale, and my wallet was burning a hole in my pocket.  I skipped the bed and bath supplies, and strolled quickly through the furniture and art, heading towards my true destination: kitchenware.  Like any good discount shopper, I sifted through the piles of bakeware, pots, and pans, looking for a bargain that I couldn't pass up.  Shelved among the cast off cookbooks, were a few copies of Martha Stewart's Cookies Cookbook.

You made me love you...I didn't want to do it.

Living in the suburbs has turned me into quite the Suzy Homemaker.  Not only do I enjoy gardening (as you now know) but I adore cooking.  Ina, Giada and Paula share a special place on my bookshelf.  And while I hadn't done a lot of baking up to this point, I knew I had to have this book (and the 50% markdown wasn't bad either).

So ever since, I've been cooking my way through the book, testing out the different recipes.  It's my own version of Julie & Julia - you hear that, Martha...you're my inspiration.  We have had milk chocolate cookies, apricot windows, chewy molasses crinkles, gingersnap palmiers (these were a disaster), iced oatmeal applesauce cookies, lime meltaways, and our all time household favorite, chocolate crinkles (highly recommend these...A-MAH-ZING).  Tonight's recipe: snickerdoodles!

What exactly is a snickerdoodle anyway?

They came out pretty good (must be the pound of butter) - although the flavor is more subtle than the milk chocolate cookies I made last weekend.  They are also fairly large...Peter decided to call them hamburger cookies.  As usual, we each eat one or two and the rest get delivered to my office and Peanut's daycare on Monday.  The best part of cooking, truly, is sharing what you've made. 

Incidentally, my mother hates Martha Stewart (well, perhaps hate is a bit strong...she dislikes Martha intensely).  Ever since that whole insider trading fiasco Martha is a crook in her book.  I look at her time in jail both as a minor setback and as community service - she served her time and made the jailhouse look fabulous!  I mentioned to her that I had bought the book and she clucked her tongue at me shamefully.

Well I guess she won't be having any of my cookies!