In 1958 I was a resident freshman at Vincentian Academy, an all-girls school in North Hills, PA. Dolly, one of my first roommmates who hailed from the South Side which was a neighborhood not far from my hometown, brought along a cylindrical tin can filled with the most amazing chocolate chip cookies ever made. Her mother was the proverbial stay-at-home mom who loved cooking and baking for her hubby and their five children. When the middle child decided to attend highschool out of town, Mrs. Matonak made sure she would have something comforting during her first few weeks of adjustment. About ten minutes into our getting acquainted, Dolly offered us (Barb, Cecilia, and myself) a cookie. Of course we eargerly accepted and from that moment we were hooked! The cookies were round, golden brown mounds laden with tons of chocolately goodness. Every bite just melted in your mouth. Luckily Dolly invited us to take more, and, of course, we grabbed as many as our grubby little hands could hold.
For the next few years my addiction was satisfied over and over again since Dolly's mom kept the supply coming every two weeks or so. But after graduation, the four freshman of 1958 left Vincentian to make their way into the world, thus leaving their home-away-from-home and those scrumptous cookies behind.
In 1968 I married and over time, set up a household, gave birth to three amazing children, and delved into cooking, baking, cleaning, washing clothes, ironing, shopping, and everything else that came along with being a wife and mother. I lost touch with Dolly and Cecilia, but remained close to Barb since we lived only a mile apart. We were very good friends until her passing in 2008. I miss her so very much.
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Over the years, I experimented with a slue of chocolate chip cookie recipes from the one on the Nestle's Tollhouse package, to the ones I found in my Betty Crocker cookbook, to the ones printed in the newspapers at holiday time, to the ones my friends and neighbors said were the absolute best. However none came close to the ones Dolly's mom made.
I tried using all butter, half butter half shortening, all shortening, but mine always came out either flat and crispy, or hard balls you could literally break a tooth on. My kids would eat one or two and then conveniently forget they were in the cookie jar. I usually ended up throwing them away. After years of defeat, I finally gave up and bought chocolate chip cookies from a local bakery, which by the way, were never as good as the ones I had at the academy.
About 18 months ago after 50 years, I reconnected with Dolly on facebook. After messaging back and forth, we decided to meet for lunch to talk over old times. Our first get-together was filled with laughter and tears, and we promised to keep in touch regularly. And although we talked at length about the tin can and her mom's famous cookies, somehow I never asked for the recipe.
By chance, while checking my Pinterest account last week , I discovered Karri from the Pacific Northwest and her Happy Money Saver blog and her recipe for Master Chocolate Chip Cookies http://happymoneysaver.com/the-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe-my-dreams-are-made-of/ At first I was skeptical since I'd been let down so many times. But when I saw the picture of her cookies, the memory of what Mrs.Matonak's looked and tasted like flooded all of my senses. I just knew my search was finally over. I printed out Karri's easy to follow directions, and after carefully completing each step, I was amazed at the final product. I filled a glass with cold milk and took my first bite and was immediately transported back in time to that day in 1958 when I first met three young girls and tasted the most amazing chocolate chip cookies in the whole wide world!
Master Chocolate Chip Cookies
I'm sure you'd agree that this one single picture is worth more than a million words! And speaking of words, if you'd like to learn more about our days at Vincentian Academy in 1958, I've written a book, Promises, which although set in the Fifties, deals with developmental and social issues tweens/teens face today. Any of you who were teenagers during that time, will enjoy reading Promises as well since going back in time can be both refreshing and theraputic.
http://tinyurl.com/nr2ntpx
Yes, I've finally found what I've been looking for! Whatever it is you need to find, my advice is to never, ever give up since it could be a mere second away from being discovered!
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