Now, I have this young friend who loves to bake. She is always regaling me with tales of items produced the previous weekend. All sorts of stuff that sounds quite yummy, and also sounds quite complex. One day, she grilled me, asking what kind of cookies I liked.
I said, “Simple ones.”
She frowned. “What does that mean?”
I shrugged. “I’ll eat most cookies but I tend toward short bread, Lorna Doones, chocolate chip cookies that don’t have many chips, that kind of thing.”
She slammed her hand on the table. “I’m going to make you some cookies. What do you want in them?”
“I want it to be an expression of simplicity.”
She didn’t quite curse but I did present her with a culinary challenge.
Recently I was presented with a tupperware of her first expression.
Mexican Chocolate Cookies spiced with cayenne pepper and dusted with cinnamon sugar.
As I looked up from the cookies she said, “I’m still working on it.”
I’m looking forward to more containers filled with her simplicity. 🙂
Words + Images 
I had some good talks with your baker about the possibilities, which I enjoyed. I’m glad to see the first results. Such a deep, earthy creation.
[…] challenge of deriving expressions of simplicity continues … deliciously so. The latest expression from the young chef is shortbread cookies […]