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The Peanut Butter Cookie Problem

October 9, 2013 By Marge Perry

Peanut Butter Cookies

This was supposed to be a post about kale, but then we had a PBC issue, and kale flew out the window on its lovely ruffled wings, leaving me and the bag of cookies alone together.

The cookies are for our book. We created some of the recipes for the book together, some were developed by me and some by Ebo (or, to be formal, by my husband, Mr. David Bonom) . Oh, and many are not yet developed– we still have a little more than a month before our final deadline.

The Peanut Butter Cookie Problem began more a decade ago, in the giddy whirlwind time just before love was named but was on both our minds. He made me laugh and feel safe; he helped me trust again when my brain scolded my heart for even considering it. I’m not entirely sure what I was to him then; he later told me that when I first said “I love you” he felt as though he held a little bird in his cupped hands, its tiny wings beating against his palms as it prepared to soar.

I can’t remember how it ended up that he left the plastic zip-top bag on my counter. But there it sat, just me and that haphazard pile of tawny Peanut Butter Cookies, their fork-branded tops peeking out through the plastic like so many friendly alien faces, asking me to engage with them in friendly conversation– nothing more, truly! Or so they promised. No sooner had I settled into my office for the day then I felt the need to head back to the kitchen to check on them. There they were, all toppled together, giggling amongst themselves about a funny PBC secret. I wanted “in”: I opened the bag.

Now, I love peanut butter and I love cookies, but I didn’t expect to be overpowered with greedy lust the way I was. Maybe this is what happens with crack. Maybe that was the moment I knew I needed to marry him and have access to those cookies for ever more.

I couldn’t stop myself. I had one cookie and then another; that rich, salty sweetness was like the mermaid’s song, calling me back each time I managed to tear myself away. At around 11 am I returned to the kitchen for the third or fourth time, ashamed and so full it nearly hurt. But I had another. I knew I was in trouble; I called him at work. He promised to never leave me alone in the house with an entire bag of those Peanut Butter Cookies, cross his heart, till death do us part.

Death didn’t us part, but as you see from the photo above, PBC have returned to the lair. He hasn’t stopped loving me, or caring for me, or protecting me from the sweet song of my addiction. Instead, as we sat down to make a list of all the recipes that will be included in our upcoming* book I said shyly, “What about the peanut butter cookies?” He didn’t look up, but there was a moment of silence. “Okay,” he said, and I put it on the list.

Here’s the thing about our book: the food is generally healthful. The recipes produce dishes in reasonable portions with moderate amounts of saturated fat, sodium and calories. We have the Cooking Light seal of approval– they’re even putting their name on the cover with ours. (One could say it is like the Good Housekeeping seal of approval for healthful food.) Guess what this means about those cookies?

What it doesn’t mean, as you might surmise if we happen to run into each other, is that the cookies are any less compelling. (Ten cookies for breakfast simply can’t be worn well.) Oh, I might as well just say it: the photo above was going to be of a platter stacked sky high with cookies.

Here we are, nine years after I pledged the rest of my life to my Peanut Butter Cookie Man. His cookies still make me hungry when I think I am full, smile when I think I am sad, warm when I think it is cold…and oh so very sated. Happy Anniversary, my Peanut Butter Cookie Man.

curlicue

For every one else reading here, since I began by telling you this post was supposed to be about kale, and I don’t want to be accused of a bait and switch, here’s kale. You’ll get Peanut Butter Cookies in Spring of 2015 when the book comes out.

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Sausage, Bean and Kale Soup

This thick soup freezes well.

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 chopped onions

5 cloves garlic mince

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Β½ cup red wine

6 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes, roughly chopped in their juice

19-ounce can low sodium kidney beans, drained and rinsed

12 ounces red potatoes, cut in 1-inch pieces

1 19-ounce can low sodium white beans

16 ounces chicken sausage, preferably spicy, sliced

1 pound kale, torn in 3-inch pieces (about 6-7 cups)

3 tablespoon red wine vinegar

  1. Heat olive oil over medium high in a large stock pot. Add onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes and cook 2 minutes. Add oregano and wine and boil for 2 minutes. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, potatoes, and sausage and simmer 15 minutes.
  2. Stir in beans. Working in batches, add about a third of the kale to the pot and toss it until it reduces enough in size to add more kale to the pot. Continue this procedure, which takes about 5 minutes, until all the kale is added to the soup. Stir in the vinegar and simmer another 5 minutes, or until the kale and potatoes are tender.

Makes 6 servings

Nutritional analysis per serving: 359 calories, 22 g protein, 39 g carbohydrates, 10 g dietary fiber, 13 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 823 mg sodium

 

 

 

* It is due out in Spring of 2015, which isn’t so much ‘upcoming’ as it is ‘future’.

Filed Under: Desserts, Poultry: Chicken, Cornish Game Hen, Turkey and Duck, Recipes, Soup

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Comments

  1. Anne Carter says

    October 9, 2013 at 9:09 am

    The soup recipe looks great, and I will definitely give it a go. Good luck with the book! Anne

    • Marge Perry says

      October 9, 2013 at 11:30 am

      Anne, you are the one good soul who has had any interest at all in the soup. On Facebook, I am getting fifty lashes for the lack of cookie recipe. But I like to think they are friendly lashes, like hearty pats on my back.

  2. Kimberly Winter Stern says

    October 9, 2013 at 9:10 am

    Me. Want. Cookie.

    As always, Marge, you celebrate every crook and cranny of your life with food.

    There’s no other way to live, I’m certain.

    K.

    • Marge Perry says

      October 9, 2013 at 11:26 am

      Hmm. Blogs don’t have “like” buttons. But there certainly is NO OTHER WAY TO LIVE. At least not for folks like us.

  3. Susan Decker says

    October 9, 2013 at 9:34 am

    COOKIES! COOKIES! I want the PBC recipe! LOL! You tantalized me with the story on to give me a kale recipe! BooHoo!

    • Marge Perry says

      October 9, 2013 at 11:32 am

      I will deliver, Susan…eventually πŸ™‚

  4. janet says

    October 9, 2013 at 11:38 am

    WHAT?! I am here for COOKIES.

    Teasing is not friendly!!

    • Marge Perry says

      October 9, 2013 at 6:55 pm

      Um, friendly?? We’re talking PBCs here, and when it comes to PBCs there are no friends. Just the one guy, and he’s mine.

  5. Michelle says

    October 9, 2013 at 11:45 am

    I am in full support of the soup and the cookies…and the anniversary, for that matter! I appreciate the solid use of tease and promotion all in one…and can’t wait to try both soup and cookies…perhaps as one complete meal!

    • Marge Perry says

      October 9, 2013 at 6:54 pm

      You won’t need the soup if you have the cookies. You might want a glass of milk. Maybe.

  6. Suellen says

    October 9, 2013 at 11:48 am

    The kale can wait, I want the cookies NOW!

    • Marge Perry says

      October 9, 2013 at 6:53 pm

      They are all gone. I ate them all up.

  7. Peggy says

    October 9, 2013 at 11:56 am

    YOU ARE SUCH A TEASE. And this column is a winner – a real winner, like the pink ballerina cupcakes. No one writes about the intersection of love and food better than you. No one. <3

  8. Ebo says

    October 9, 2013 at 12:00 pm

    She gets the cookies but I get the girl!!! I win πŸ™‚

  9. cecilia fasano says

    October 9, 2013 at 12:18 pm

    oh Marge .. I always come away so HAPPY after reading your posts! And this Kale soup is just BURSTING off the page! I’m so glad to look forward to the cookies too! What’s the point of living if you can’t experience JOY! xxx’s

  10. Kurt Jacobson says

    October 9, 2013 at 12:19 pm

    I love your well written PBC post and will aspire to be as good of a writer someday when I grow up. If that never happens at least I will own your cookbook with the PBC recipe as a consolation prize.

    • Marge Perry says

      October 9, 2013 at 6:52 pm

      Kurt- You have to promise you’ll sign a copy of your book for me when it comes out.

  11. VIVIEN says

    October 9, 2013 at 12:37 pm

    I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND πŸ™ YOU HAD THOSE COOKIES IN YOUR KITCHEN AND DID NOT SAVE ME ONE?

    • Marge Perry says

      October 9, 2013 at 6:51 pm

      I couldn’t. I had to eat them.

  12. bruce says

    October 9, 2013 at 12:44 pm

    I love your story and it makes me want to have some homemade peanut butter cookies right now. Though I think you may be confusing that David Bonom with another David Bonom.

    • Marge Perry says

      October 9, 2013 at 7:02 pm

      Bruce, there is only one David Bonom.

  13. Jeanne says

    October 9, 2013 at 6:17 pm

    Are you serious? No PBC recipe. Now that’s what I call bait and switch. Your writing is just stunning, Marge, even though you are cruel for making us wait 2 years for the recipe. Two years? Really? Really?

    • Marge Perry says

      October 9, 2013 at 7:02 pm

      I am not making anyone wait. The people who are (apparently) hand lettering each and every page of each and every book need the time. Our recipes will all be finished by the end of November. Then there’s just the writing (oh, that small matter), editing (but we have a crackerjack editor who will surely whip it into better shape in just minutes), design, taking all those pretty pictures, shooting the videos…I need a nap. No, I need a cookie and THEN a nap. Two cookies.

  14. Amy Nieporent says

    October 10, 2013 at 7:24 am

    As one of your frequent taste testers I think I deserve a bite or two of these famous PBC….holding out on me????

  15. Ivy Manning says

    October 10, 2013 at 3:36 pm

    Happy anniversary! This post is so gosh darn sweet and sweet tooth crazy-making, I might just have to go make a batch for my PBC man, though he eats them, he doesn’t make them. Have a great day, you two!

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I make my living writing, teaching and speaking about food and travel. In the name of work, I (have to!) eat a lot, meet interesting people (many of whom, like me, are passionate about their work) and travel near and far to see where and how food is made, grown or raised. I am saved from a life of extreme obesity by the fact that I truly love to exercise, but I am always one forkful away from not being able to button my jeans. Mine is a sweet and savory life.

I share it with my husband and co-author, David Bonom. Check out our new book, Hero Dinners: Complete One-Pan Meals That Save the Day

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