Peanut butter and jelly. Chips and dips. Green Jell-O and Spam.
Foods that go together like hand and glove.Ah, but what would life be without the most comforting matchup known to man, woman and child . . . cookies and milk?
They hooked up long ago - with early beginnings in Rome around the third century B.C. The pristine Roman wafers - hard, unleavened, twice-baked and bland - hardly resembled the hand-held flour-based sweet cake we call a cookie.
The name is derived from the Dutch koekje, meaning "little cake," and the Food Lover's Companion defines six basic "styles" of cookies that can range from crisp to soft:
- Drop cookie: Made by dropping spoonfuls of dough onto a prepared baking sheet.
- Bar cookie: Created when a soft dough or batter is spooned into a shallow pan, then baked, cooled and cut into bars.
- Hand-formed or molded cookies: Made by shaping dough into small balls, logs, crescents and other shapes.
- Pressed cookies: Formed by pressing dough through a cookie press or pastry bag.
- Refrigerator or icebox cookies: Dough is shaped into a log, chilled, then cut into cookies and baked.
- Rolled cookies: Shaped flat by a rolling pin and cut into shapes with cookie cutters.
So about the cookies and milk connection . . . .
The Romans invented the cookie dunk in an effort to soften the hard "crackers" by dipping them in wine.
Even though they have a long history, cookies didn't become popular until about 100 years ago.
Today, parents teach their young children this tradition:
Before they fly the coop to preschool, children must possess the culinary knowhow to fit in with their crumb-faced peers. He or she must be able to (1) Pull apart an Oreo; (2) Scrape the filling from each chocolate wafer; (3) Carefully submerge each chocolate half into cold milk; and (4) Quickly rescue and chomp 'em before they sog all over the place.
Milk and cookies are the comfort twins. They call, "I love you," as exhausted children drag their backpacks through the door after a hard day at the office (the principal's?).
The milk-and-cookie duo is a late-night forager's gustatory goal. There's something about a flannel bathrobe and cow slippers that add a fuller, richer flavor to the combo.
Even cold graham crackers bring back glorious recollections of mommy-to-be moments. Why, I could balance a plate of Honey Grahams on Brian's unborn nose, and dunk 'em into milk with the greatest of ease.
Companies wanting to create trust, encourage teamwork and foster creativity should consider afternoon cookie-and-milk breaks, according to a study conducted by Door Research.
Based on responses from 580 employees, the researchers found that "cookies in the workplace" are a high-impact technique that can offer some truly positive benefits:
- Productivity and creativity were enhanced.
- Cookies helped employees feel more comfortable at work.
- Cookie breaks introduced an element of fun to the workplace.
- Employees had more energy, and the majority agreed the cookies provided some stress relief.
There's no question about the success of the "Got milk?" ad campaign. Everybody who is anybody from Miss Piggy to Martha Stewart has sported a milk moustache.
But there's another success story that has revolutionized the way we take along milk for picnics or other activities that previously weren't milk-carton friendly.
This past June, Fred Ball, senior vice president of Zions Bank, talked about our local dairy business. He said, " `Got milk?' For most people the answer to this question is, `Yes, . . . in my refrigerator.' Few people, if any, would answer affirmatively to that query if asked while riding a bike, hiking, playing in the park or driving a car."
"However," he continued, "thanks to Salt Lake City-based Cream o'Weber Dairy and its parent company Dean Foods, how and where people drink milk is certain to change."
Ball's comments were made around the time Milk Chugs were introduced in the Intermountain West. And since then, Cream o'Weber has declared its new packaging design a success.
That's a major understatement! Since the full introduction of milk Chugs in July, sales have skyrocketed. Chocolate milk is the biggest seller with quart sales increasing 213 percent in July and then by 332 percent in August. The numbers continue to climb.
Cream o'Weber, which began in Ogden in 1924 as "Weber Central Dairy," has grown into one of the largest regional dairies in the country. Cream o'Weber employs more that 200 people in its Utah operations.
Dean Food Company acquired Cream o'Weber in 1991. A major Fortune 500 dairy and specialty food manufacturer, Dean has more than 12,000 employees and annual sales of more than $3 billion.
We recently toured the Cream o'Weber plant, led by sales supervisor Larry Goldman. The Chug production was a swift, spotless operation. We were led through each station - from pasteurization to container production.
Goldman explained that the Chugs stay fresher longer because Cream o'Weber's product processing exceeds state requirements. For instance, the milk is kept cooler than required; therefore it remains fresher. If properly refrigerated, Chugs stay good for at least a week after the date on the container.
There you have it . . . enough background info to drown an Oreo . . . .
For the homemakers among us . . . mix up some cookie dough and start baking.
Then pop open a Chug, grab a snickerdoodle and proclaim . . .
I am the Big Dipper!
*****
RECIPES
BARBARA BUSH'S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon very hot water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease baking sheets with vegetable oil. Sift flour, baking soda and salt onto waxed paper. Beat butter, sugars and egg in a large bowl until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in hot water and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture until blended and smooth. Add chocolate chips. Drop dough by well-rounded teaspoonfuls on prepared baking sheets. Bake in 375 degree F oven till golden, about 10 minutes. Cool on sheets on wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
- Each cookie contains 89 calories, 5g fat, 1g protein, 12g carbs, 81mg sodium, 9mg cholesterol.
- From Barbara Bush (www.pastrywiz.com)
SUGAR COOKIES
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Confectioner's sugar
Cream the butter and the sugar together until light. Add the eggs and the vanilla. Beat until fluffy, and add the milk. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt two times. Beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture until well mixed. Then wrap the dough in wax paper or plastic wrap and chill it for at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and butter some cookie sheets. Break off a hunk of dough from the refrigerator, dispensing pinches of it liberally to anyone in the kitchen. Dust your rolling pin and the hunk of dough with confectioner's sugar. Roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thinness - or even thinner. Cut out with cookie cutters, place on greased sheets and bake for about 8 minutes, or until faintly browned around the edges. Cool on racks. Makes 200 really thin cookies.
- Each cookie contains 48 calories, 2g fat, trace protein, 7g carbs, 40mg sodium, 5mg cholesterol.
- From "Beat This!" by Ann Hodgman
- NOTE FROM HODGMAN: The secret to these cookies is rolling them out so thinly that transporting them anywhere will make you faint with nervousness. Also, dusting the work surface and the rolling pin with confectioner's sugar instead of flour helps keep the cookies even more delicate.
GINGERSNAPS
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
Rind from 1 lemon, finely grated
Juice from 1 lemon
1 teaspoon orange extract
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with foil and butter the foil. Cream the butter and sugars in a large mixer bowl. Combine the maple syrup, lemon rind, lemon juice, orange extract and carefully whisk in cake flour to make a smooth paste. Add the finely chopped crystallized ginger and toss to coat. Stir this mixture into the butter mixture. Drop teaspoons of the batter 3 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets, leaving plenty of space for the cookies to spread. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 to 15 minutes, watching closely so they don't burn. They will be thin and lacy. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for about 4 minutes, then lift them carefully off onto racks to finish cooling. Makes 4 dozen cookies.
- Each cookie contains 46 calories, 2g fat, trace protein, 7g carb, 20mg sodium, 5mg cholesterol
- From "The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook"
CRANBERRY CRUMB BARS
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (lightly packed) light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped small
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon hot water
3/4 cup raspberry preserves
2 1/4 cups fresh cranberries
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-inch square baking pan with butter, or line the bottom with parchment paper. Place all the dry ingredients in a medium-size bowl, and stir with a spoon to mix (or toss with your hands). Add the melted butter and toss with the dry ingredients to distribute the butter evenly. Take a little more than half of the dough and press it evenly into the prepared pan. Bake on the middle rack of the oven until lightly golden, about 14 minutes. Then remove the pan from the oven but leave the oven on. Meanwhile, add the hot water to the remaining dough, and toss with a fork to distribute. Set aside. Prepare the filling: Mix the preserves and cranberries in a medium-size bowl until the berries are evenly distributed. Distribute the berry mixture over the baked base, and using a frosting spatula or the back of a spoon, spread it so that it covers the whole base evenly. Crumble the remaining dough over the filling. Return the pan to the oven and bake until the top is golden and the filling is bubbling, about 45 minutes. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before cutting into 2 1/4-inch squares. Leave the bars in the pan, at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap, for up to 2 days, or layer the bars in an airtight plastic container with plastic wrap, parchment, or waxed paper between the layers, and store in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks. Bring the bars to room temperature before eating. If frozen, the fruit may get a little wet in the thawing process, but the bars will still taste delicious. Makes 16 bars.
- Each bar contains 242 calories, 11g fat, 3g protein, 35g carb, 160mg sodium, 23mg cholesterol
- From "Rosie's Chocolate-Packed, Jam-Filled Butter-Rich No-Holds-Barred Cookie Book" by Judy Rosenberg