Top 100 Cake Blog

Top 100 Cake Blog

Monday, July 12, 2010

Colton Harris-Moore and Grandma Jean


I never thought there would be a connection between the 19-year-old "Barefoot Bandit," above, and my Eastern European grandmother who died a few years ago at 100, pictured below with some of her great grandchildren.  But if Colton hadn't been captured in the Bahamas yesterday after two years on the run, right now you'd be reading about my grandmother's famous sugar cookies.


It all started when I discovered a scrap of paper with a list of ingredients in the back of a kitchen drawer.  I realized that they were for my grandmother's sugar cookies, cookies distinguished from all others by their unusual shapes -- diamonds, clubs, hearts and spades.  I wanted to make them, but didn't have the signature cookie cutters.


Enter eBay.  I immediately found a set of c. 1950s cookie cutters (how lucky is that?).  I bid and won handily for, as you might imagine, there wasn't a lot of competition for these.

I had them sent to DH's office in Manhattan because Brooklyn isn't exactly a place where the mailman can leave a package at the front door, if you know what I mean.

But last week, when the cutters arrived, DH -- a journalist who has been working on the Colton story for months -- was suddenly called to the Bahamas, where Colton had been spotted.  I waited patiently for his return.  But just hours after DH's plane landed in New York Saturday night, Colton was captured. So this morning, instead of going to his office to retrieve the cookie cutters, DH is on a plane headed once again for the Bahamas.

The lesson?  In the future, all packages will be sent to my office on the Lower East Side, because working for a social service agency, I'm pretty confident that I won't be taking any last-minute work jaunts to the Bahamas.

14 comments:

  1. Glad they caught Colton. Can't wat to hear about the cookies! Victoria

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  2. Soon, Victoria, soon! Believe it or not, I feel sorry for Colton. Of course, he hasn't robbed me or stolen my plane.

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  3. What an interesting connection-love the cutters! We have those ones too.

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  4. Six degrees of (egg) separation?...

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  5. My grandma had those cookie cutters, too!!! And my daughter is now living in Brooklyn. Common threads...

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  6. Spent last night reading every single entry on your blog. I truly enjoyed the read and now, like Margaret, have a massive craving for the famous Red Velvet Cake!

    I hate to admit that the chubby looking kid with braces is me, but alas, I found the exact same photo a week ago going through old family albums.

    Looking forward to reading about the cookies!

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  7. I don't give a hoot about the cookie cutter tins, but am dying to find a good recipe for sugar cookies-- almost unobtainable in this age of
    fancified baked goods. I want my cookies plain, rich (as in buttery) and yummy. Let us know how grandma's hold up.

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  8. Amazing how popular these cookie cutters are. Someone (but can't recall who at the moment) told me that the ladies used to make these cookies to serve at their afternoon card games.
    @madmuse: very amusing!
    @Adam: Thanks so much! Luckily, you've grown into a very handsome young man!
    @Zane: I doubt these are the holy grail, but will let you know. Seems that you might fancy shortbread instead of sugar cookies?

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  9. alas all of you fans...i'm still in the bahamas...or is it just the cookies you really care about???!!!

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  10. Susan, I have those exact cookie cutters,from my grandmother. I have yet to use them, but can remember visiting her in Wash. Hts. and eating the cookies that she baked with those cutters. I don't think she ever used any other shapes. So once you get the cutters and make the cookies, maybe you can post the recipe and I can finally use those cutters.

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  11. If DH were as good an ace reporter as we think he is, he'll come back from the Bahamas and tell you about Colton's favorite cookies... along with HIS grandmother's receipe. I await...ABA

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  12. Update: So DH went to work today, and NO COOKIE CUTTERS!! Were they lost in the mail? Held up in Customs (they are coming from Canada)? Just emailed the eBay seller to solve this mystery.

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  13. So? Did you locate the cutters?

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    Replies
    1. Got some that weren't exactly the same, but certainly good enough.

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