Do y’all remember when Shaun took me to New York City for my birthday? I remember. It was amazing.

There was one less than amazing moment, though.

On our last morning there–indeed, in our last few minutes in the Big Apple–we managed to collectively lose our minds, 50 dollars, and some mighty tasty cookies…all in one fell swoop.

We had gotten up early and hustled to Levain bakery, where we proceeded to part with 50 hard-earned greenbacks to buy a dozen (only a dozen) of their famed chocolate chip cookies to take home as a special treat for our kids and the kind people who were watching them (my parents). Y’all know we’re frugal sorts. But every now and then, we like to splurge, especially on gifts. And, even though it was a little painful to spend that much money on cookies, we told ourselves it was worth it. After all, our chances of returning any time in the next decade (optimistically) were slim to none. And these are really big, really good cookies (okay, I’m done justifying now).

After the bakery, we hightailed it down to Rockefeller center, and I power-walked through Anthropologie, Free People, and J. Crew…just to say I’d been there.

Afterwards, I ducked into the Lego store while Shaun waited outside with our bags (we were those weirdos lugging our roller bags along the walkway through the Saturday morning crowds…Tourists).

After finding (and paying way too much for…how can plastic cost so much??) the perfect Lego set to take home for the boys, I hurried out the door, grabbed my bag, and we proceeded to annoy people with our, “Excuse us,” “Sorry,” “Coming through,” routine for about a block or so until I was suddenly overwhelmed by that sickening we’re-missing-something feeling. I took rapid stock of our various shopping bags and demanded, “WHERE are the cookies??”

Shaun just stared at me, startled.

“The cookies!” I repeated. The ridiculously expensive, can’t-believe-we-actually-bought-them cookies!!!

“I thought you had them,” he said.

“No! (pretty sure I sounded a little screechy) I set them down by you when I went inside the Lego store.”

“I never saw them,” he said. And then, he dropped his bags in a heap beside me and sprinted (or as close to it as you can get on congested Manhattan sidewalks) back the way we’d come.

It had been maaaaaaaybe five minutes since we left the Lego store. But by the time Shaun fought his way back…

The bag–containing half a Benjamin Franklin’s worth of cookie deliciousness–was gone.

levain

Honestly, I hadn’t thought about that little episode of brain-deadness practically since it happened (repression at its best, people) until I spotted this copycat recipe.

levain1

This is Shaun’s birthday week (he turns the big 3-5 on Saturday), and I knew the instant I saw the recipe that this was my big chance to at least partially redeem our bag of stolen cookies. (Side note: I sure do hope that it was someone who really needed them–as much as anyone can need a cookie, anyway).

levain2

ANYhoo, I whipped up a batch the night before last as a surprise for Shaun, and even though I managed to over-bake them slightly (despite the recipe-writer’s repeated warnings to TAKE THEM OUT EARLY…heed it, folks), they were still delicious and took a little bit of the sting out of the “batch that got away.” (I used Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips instead of dark).

I highly recommend that you give them a shot.

levain3

P.S. See my lovely painted nails? I used taking this picture as an excuse to paint them for the first time in forever. And then, when Della asked if I would paint hers, I promised her I would as soon as I finished this post. I gave her and the twins a piece of cookie to occupy them, then sat down on the couch to finish typing all of this. All was well until I heard the an ominous CLINK in the kitchen and looked up to see Della holding the top/brush of the nail polish bottle, with the bottle nowhere in sight. Yup, you guessed it. That “clink” was the sound of the glass bottle hitting the floor. A floor that is now spattered from one end to the other with the same lovely shade of deep, dark orange-red you see on my fingers.

So, I guess this post sort of has a theme: Moments that Make You Want to Put Your head Through a Wall.

Anybody want to cheer me up with a, “Oh man! Did I just do that??!” story of your own? I’ll be ever-so-grateful to come back and read them at naptime…assuming I’m not still scrubbing nail polish off of tile floors.

P.P.S. Speaking of recipes, I recently tried out these banana pancakes (twice), and these cheesecake bars. And they were both ah-mazing! You know, in case you needed any help breaking your New Year’s resolutions.

 

0 Comments

  1. I LOVE that copycat LeVain Chocolate Chip Cookies! They have a killer Chocolate Peanut butter Copycat recipe too. Both are great, but I make those Chocolate Chip cookies at Christmas and give them away as gifts.

    I would have been sick about the cookies being lost though. Hopefully your parents understood.

  2. I’m cringing at the nail polish and bummed right along side of you about the cookies. Such a bummer!! The thief probably tells it as the “best day e-v-e-r” when he/she found a $50 box of cookies on the sidewalk. I’ve never heard of them, but I’m a serious sweets lover so I’d be all over them. I pay good money for sweets that are worth it! Your pics are making me soooo hungy!
    I don’t have near as many good tales as the other commenters shared. My oldest son did pour a whole bottle of baby powder over himself and part of the living room when he was little. It smelled like baby powder every time I vacuumed forever!!

    1. smell of baby powder when vacuuming could be a plus. I am sure my friend whose 2 daughterswy9n were 11 mos apart smeared her large kitchen floor with Crisco and dumped a flour canister full of flour on top of it and were about to put the eggs on that when she took her head out of the toilet with morning sickness with no. 3 on the way. I answered her sos call and wondered where her hsb was since it was not a work day. He did show up after we had finished cleaning up. UGH

    1. Oh, yikes, Tessa! You are a better woman than I to have responded so graciously right from the get-go. I’m afraid I wouldn’t have handled it as well.

  3. I’ve got one! My 4 year old decided to create his own “ocean” (his words, not mine) by emptying almost all the water from his bathtub using a bucket onto the bathroom floor. It seeped out into the hallway carpet and of course, my husband was away that weekend. I had to go dig out the wet/dry vac because it was so much water that you ‘splooshed’ as you walked down the hallway. I was in the next room doing what, you ask? Trying on some new clothes. Ugh. I have NO idea why I didn’t hear each scoop of water being poured onto the floor, but I didn’t. Oh, and I would cry about losing $50 worth of cookies, too.

  4. So, I saw the cookie jar and thought it said rum not yum. After reading the entire post I feel like rum would be a totally legitimate consumable for your family.

  5. I was visiting my boyfriend’s (now my husband) mom’s old friends (read: people I seriously didn’t know…) in their adorable and pristine Cape Cod home. While getting ready in the morning, a bottle of bright red (reminiscent of yours in this post) nail polish rolled right out of my toiletry bag and proceeded to careen toward the white tile in the perfectly decorated beach bathroom. Time slowed and I lunged to catch it. As I watched in horror, the bottle slipped right past my outstretched hand and SHATTERED and SPLATTERED all over every white surface in sight – tile, carpet, cabinets, wall, mirror, toilet, claw foot tub….it was like a little tiny crime scene.

    It was horrible and I was so mortified. They were so gracious and kind. I insisted on cleaning it up with an entire bottle of nail polish remover. It was a disaster and so embarrassing. Darn you red nail polish for being so essential!!!!

  6. At least the nail polish is on your tile floor,and not your carpet. My 3 yr old did that last week. Your “theme” made me lol! Blessings to you and yours =)

  7. Mmm, the cookies look delicious! Will definitely try the recipe!
    As for the nail polish: been there, done it,, and I’m the one who did it. And, you really need to look into Jamberry nail wraps! #lifesaver #nomorepolish

  8. no comment about doz cookies for $50.00 that someone watched you all walk away from and scooped them up into their bag instead of cautioning you that they had been left behind. But the nail polish clean up just makes me cringe for you. hope it cleaned up quickly enough not to interfere with Theos lunchtime.

  9. Oh man!! I would have for real cried over those cookies.

    My story to make you feel better: Last December (as in a year ago, not the one we just had), I was overwhelmed to the max and exhausted. My kids were 4 and 3 at the time, and I was in the middle of a crazy Saturday, trying to get it all crammed in on the weekend because I work outside of the house during the week. We had an hour at home before we had to head back out, and I accidentally passed out on the couch for 15 minutes. When I woke up, my daughter had pulled a chair over to the counter, grabbed the box of Cheez-Its, and had literally COVERED every centimeter of our kitchen floor with them. It was a Cheez-Its graveyard. I was so mad, mostly at myself for falling asleep. Not my finest hour.

  10. LIke the time my child got a bag of beans used to replace saggy bean bags… The polystyrene ones… And tipped them ALL over my laundry room and kitchen?? Did you know those babies are REPELLED by a vacuum cleaner???

I love hearing from you guys!