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yummy yummy yummy i got love in my tummy...
once upon a time in a land that was not far away at all but rather the land you currently stand on (if you are standing in germany), there lived an abbess, author, linguist, poet, philosopher, herbalist, composer, scientist, physician, philosopher, naturalist, counsellor and channeller by the marvellous name of hildegard. hildegard of bingen.
in her spare time, hildegard made cookies. these were not the ilk of your average cookie, they were a special breed of epic cookie, nerve cookies in fact. nerve cookies stimulate your five senses (six if you prefer and seven if you are wonderfully strange), bring general cheer and gladness and "lighten a heavy heart". this has the brilliant effect of making one more intelligent (not even kidding, i've eaten so many that i can now successfully tie my own shoes).
hildegard suggests three to five of these be eaten every day and apparently, nerve cookies are particularly helpful for children who find fascination in thought outside of their school curriculum a bit too frequently. it is recommended you don't feed them too many though as it would be embarrassing for teachers worldwide to be outsmarted. on second thought i'd actually be very proud to precipitate a cookie conspiracy...
hildegard's nerve/intelligence cookies
1 3/4 cups butter
3 cups brown sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
6 cups flour
2 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
2 1/4 teaspoons nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
add eggs.
combine and sift dry ingredients.
add to the creamed mixture.
knead in the last of the flour.
shape into rolls, wrap in waxed paper and chill thoroughly.
when firm, slice thinly and bake at 180C.
this makes a rather large number of cookies, thank goodness. life would be dire were one to bake too little, go into withdrawal and rampage down the main street in a lack-of-cookie induced haze. if feeling feverish and unable to access a kenwood, we always have a jar of intelligence at the ready in little brown house.
we love you like we love cookie. a lot.
the jumping tangents team X
"i've never felt like i was in the cookie business. i've always been in a feel good feeling business. my job is to sell joy. my job is to sell happiness. my job is to sell an experience."
~ debbi fields |
