A co-worker turned me on to this incredible foodie newsletter/website called Serious Eats.  It’s chock full of little news bites here and there, featuring new trends, old trends, new restaurants, old stand-bys, easy recipes, and just general musings on food.  I usually take a few minutes out of every lunch break to scan their forums and articles.  It’s sublimely entertaining, and written in a casual, conversational tone that really encourages reader feedback and interaction.

My “find of the day” on the site was this Oatmeal Brulee.  Simple, quick, and involves fire (which always intrigues me).

photo via seriouseats

Then, for laughs, they posted this video from Funny or Die that features the Blue Man Group (whose particular brand of entertainment I still can’t get behind… sorry, I seem to be the only person alive who really doesn’t have any interest in seeing a BMG performance…) in a “Before They Were Stars”-style video.  The Blue Man Group serves up the unsuspecting public some McBurgers… to some hilarious consequences.

I don’t really know what came over me.  But there I was, sitting at work on Friday, suddenly overcome with the urge to bake.  I don’t consider myself a baker: I’m a cook.  I excel at the savory, my sweet usually comes pre-mixed in a box.  I can grill, sear, plank, and roast.  Setting, rising, and souffle-ing are not my strong suits.  However, there was this incredible urge to bake cookies, and bake a lot of them.  Inspired,  I promptly “pinged” any of my friends I saw on-line, and asked the obviously rhetorical question: “Would you like a plate of cookies?”

At home that night, I plunked down and whipped up some Oatmeal-Raisin-Chocolate-Coconut and Molasses-Spice cookies.  Then, the next morning, I schlepped my goods around Brookline, Allston, and Natick, surprising my friends with a tray of (hopefully) yummy cookies.

The thing about living in a city is that sometimes you are overwhelmed by just how big it is.  Your neighbors no longer feel like your neighbors, but rather the incidental occupants of surrounding pieces of real estate.  Rarely do we say hi to one another, or pause to inquire how they are.  It’s an unfortunate by-product of the modern city.  I want to know my neighbors.  I want to greet them cheerily on my way out in the morning, and wave to them on the way home in the evening.  I miss the small-town hominess of my upbringing.  And while I don’t believe I can single-handedly reinstate neighborliness back into Boston, New England’s most notoriously aloof city, I’m hoping a simple plate of cookies will at least provide an adequate start.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with Chocolate Chunks and Coconut

(adapted from Mom’s Big Book of Cookies by Lauren Chattman)

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt