Thankful for Cookies

Now that Halloween is over, Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Time spent with friends and family around the table, thankful for everything life has to offer, and of course the delicious food. Each Thanksgiving in my family is different, some years going to Georgia to see family, other years going to neighbor's houses, and of course some years just staying home.

One thing that never seems to change is how people look forward to my peanut butter blossom cookies. I make them every year no matter where we end up. Last Thanksgiving, my family flew down to Georgia to visit our grandparents and cousins. We stayed at my Aunt's house who was hosting the dinner, and so we helped out making dinner. My mom helped with the turkey, my sister helped with the potatoes, and I was in charge of baking.

My Aunt had asked me to make my peanut butter blossom cookies because they were her favorite. The last time she had been at my house I made them for her. I remember she had helped my unwrap all of the Hershey kisses for each individual cookie. It had taken us much longer than it should have because we were having so much fun doing something together. I don't see my Aunt that often, usually once maybe twice in a year, so this was something special.

The night before Thanksgiving, after we had finished dinner, I got started in the kitchen, whipping up the eggs, adding in the peanut butter, and rolling them into balls before putting them in the oven. As we waited for them took bake up, we moved to the dining room to begin setting the table, with an orange tablecloth and china plates.

When the timer went off, just like last time my Aunt helped me unwrap all of the Hershey kisses I would need for the cookies. We took our time pressing each one into the center of the warm cookies. For a few of the cookies the Hershey kiss melted a little too much, it couldn't be put on display on the Thanksgiving table, so of course it had to be eaten.

Even though the cookies were meant for the next day, we all had to try one. How can you bake cookies and then not eat any? It's practically impossible, especially when it's peanut butter and chocolate. Of course we had other things to bake for Thanksgiving dinner, but we ended up only baking the peanut butter blossoms that night. It caused for a very early morning for all of use to make the pies and other desserts as well as the stuffing and cook the turkey itself.

This year my family won't be making it down to Georgia, rather it's one of those Thanksgivings where we stay home and cook all of the food ourselves, still together, just less people. And of course, the peanut butter blossom cookies will still be made. Who knew that a recipe off the back of a Hershey's kiss package could provide more than just good cookies, but countless family memories.