43 Comments on “Here, Have a Cookie”

1. You’re such a giver.
   I’m sure Athena appreciates your dedication to the cause.

2. You are such a great father.

3. Hey, John, I’m only 90 minutes away, so if you need help…

4. It’s a tough job, but someone… Hey, is that Butterscotch?

5. Hmmmmmm…I want to be John’s intern this summer. You know, tio help with the cookie burden he’s tasting.

6. Every parent has their sacrifices, right? It’s all for the greater good!

7. I don’t see criss-crosses. Are they properly peanut butter cookies without criss-crosses?

8. Mmmmm….peanut butter cookies.

   I might have to stop in at Charlotte’s Bakery this afternoon, since it’s here in Fresno and Athena and her cookies are all the way in Ohio. Charlotte’s pb cookies are marvelous.

   I don’t know if you left Fresno before Charlotte’s opened, John. But if you like peanut butter cookies and are ever back in Fresburg, you really need to drop into Charlotte’s and try some. They’re on Wishon in the Tower District, right across the parking lot from BofA.

   Oh, and thanks for screwing with my diet. :P

9. That’s why we love you, John. You’re always willing to take one for the team.

   “mmmmphph, these are just a bit over done. We’ll have to try again. Oh no, honey. I’ll make sure nobody else tastes these.”

10. Yes, but did she bake enough for everyone?

    (How many daily visitors do you get again on this blog thingy?)

11. Greater love hath no man…..

    To help you along with your eating and her cookie project a small suggestion. My incredible cook wife makes them in small balls, a bit smaller than a ping pong ball, then puts a fork, actually the fork tines, on top and pushes down slighly. That puts the characteristic (she says) peanut butter cookie mark on top of each cookie and they stay smaller than those in the picture above.

    If worked right, you should be able to go through several batches getting the marks right. Helps her, helps you. A win-win in my book.

    Michael

12. I would think 4-H would choose a cookie less likely to KILL SOMEONE WITH NUT ALLERGIES. Oh whatever – I wouldn’t want life without peanut butter.

13. stick me with a epi pen and let me chow down…mmmm yummy Peanut Butter cookies…

14. Go Athena! I learned to bake and cook in 4-H. It is a repository of useful skills! I also learned to sew, take good photos, and tug a thirteen hundred pound animal around by a rope when he didn’t want to go.

    See? Useful skills!

15. I dunno… If it’s for 4-H I think that this “baking” project is simply a ruse. It’s more likely that she’s trying to fatten you up in time for judging at the county fair and then the eventual auction. I think it’s time for you to find a spider that will spell “Hugo Winner” in silk webbing above your bed.

16. I’m assuming this is for the County Fair? I don’t remember our County Fair rules saying that parents couldn’t help – I definitely relied on my mom a lot when fighting with the oven.

17. As my friends once learned on a spring break trip to Florida, “Hardship builds character.”

18. Speaking purely professionally, you might also check the softness of your fat (usually butter, but sometimes shortening with PB cookies) – the colder the better, as it’ll help prevent spread/flattening.

    Suggestion: make the dough, using cold fat. Chill. Scoop into balls to put onto sheet, mark with fork. Chill. Then bake. Gives you nice fluffy cookies.

    Oh, and baking on silpat or parchment paper saves you a world of cleanup duty afterwards.

    But yeah, sucky job you have there. :)

19. I salute you sir.
    You are an inspiration to fathers everywhere.
    Unfortunately, my son does not bake, but he does grill a pretty good steak.
    Mmmmmmmm…..steak….

20. You need help.

    I’ll be right over.

21. Is she allowed to get advice from the interwebs? Because I always find that people never put enough salt in or on peanut butter cookies. Mmmm, salt.

    (Also, try peanut flour!)

22. John, I think you need to see how well the cookies travel. Just wrap them in plastic wrap, box them up and mail them to me in Burbank, CA and I’d be happy to let you know how they turn out. Because I’m just a giver like that.

23. You are a great 4-H dad.

    And, as a daughter of a former 4-Her, former 4-Her myself, parent of a former 4-Her, and former 4-H leader, gotta say, it’s a great program.

    Her leader is grooming her for National 4-H Congress her senior year in high school, right? It varies by state, but in my state record-keeping was a major issue. I didn’t get to go, but my son did.

24. My daughter baked several small batches of chocolate chip cookies with variations on different ingredients (omit salt, omit baking powder, omit vanilla, etc.) one year for a science project. And she had to have them taste tested as well. I know what this is like and it isn’t nearly the treat as it sounds like. But you’re a good dad and up to the challenge.

25. Ian, in the Scalzi household, 4-H stands for Head, Heart, Hands, and HOMICIDE.

26. *sigh* I think about eating one’s 4-H project, and I think about my mom’s 4-H steer. Poor Bo. Apparently he was tasty. Maybe that’s why I never did 4-H.

    Peanut butter cookies, on the other hand … NOM!

27. I always wondered what full-time writers did with their days.

28. Steven @ 25

    That should be Head, Heart, Hands and HUGOS.

29. How’d you do that? I think I can smell them.

30. I like everything about this post. And I really would like a cookie now.

31. This is the only peanut butter cookie recipe you’ll ever need: http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/58/Peanut-Butter-Cookies

    I prefer them softer, so chilling the dough prior to baking (and a lower oven temperature) is a must.

32. Okay, now I need a cookie, but Some Crust will be closed by the time I get off work. http://somecrust.com/cookies.html

    Let me know when the molasses cookie project starts- I’ll come by.

33. And here I thought parenting was supposed to be the hardest job EVAR… ;)

34. I recommend some focus on consistent sizing of cookies within a single cookie sheet. prevents over- and under-cooking some while having others perfect.

    I’ll eat the underdone ones though.

35. “To make the best peanut butter cookies.” Hmm. Can’t say it’s an improvement over the old 4-H motto, but I could get behind it.

    Go Athena!

    Signed Bob P, adult leader for Washoe County Rocketeers 4-H Club

36. Joel @ 28
    You mean Headcrabs, no?

37. Hey, cool: yay for 4H! A whole lot of what I know and use every day (including very certainly any ability I have to think logically and express myself clearly) I owe to 4-H. I was a 10 year member*, both my parents were leaders (and Mom judged cooking, meal prep, and bread baking), and my nephew has a pig project even now.

    About the cookies: remember that flour varies in moisture content, and in humid weather you might need a little less liquid or a little more flour.

    (Yelm Prairie Wranglers)

38. Very cool! Peanut butter cookies are one of my faves; I bet you’ve got one of the best jobs in the world right now =).

    I’m always happy when I see kids are still participating in 4-H. My mom & aunt ran a 4-H sewing club years ago (we did some ceramics too). People always seem surprised when I tell them I was in 4-H, but guess who always offers to fix seams, rips, & buttons ^_^

    Athena looks like she’s having a blast – hope her project goes great!

39. Me want cookie!!!!!

40. She is too cute, man

41. Just another quiet American hero, toiling away to make the world better. Well done, sir.

42. She is one cute kid. Not too many years before Dad will be sitting on the porch with a shotgun, weeding out the suitors. ;)

    Jeff P.

43. Let me know if Athena would be interested in my recipe for chocolate chocolate chip cookies — the one that uses three different types of chocolate chips. (A very good friend told me that just the smell of these cookies alone would put a diabetic into a coma at 50 meters.)