This story is brought to you by #CookieSaturday. Part of my family comes from southern Italy, specifically, Sicily. While I never had any plans to go there, when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped at the chance. My first sophomore semester of college I spent in Vienna. A friend and I planned a trip for our two-week fall break. We included Sicily in those plans. When we got to Palermo, we ended up in a street market where they were selling different kinds of cookies by the kilo. I found some that looked like the cookies my grandma made, and I had to have them just too see how close they were to my grandma’s recipe.

Cookie Heartbreak

I was sorely disappointed. Instead of soft and crumbly with a hint of anise, these cookies were hard and crispy with no center. It was a joke of a cookie, or possibly a commentary on popular culture. The outside looked amazing; there was nothing on the inside. Fortunately, I knew I would return to the U.S. soon enough, and when I visited my grandma, she’d have a batch of her cookies ready for me. I would have to figure out how to get her recipe, but that’s another blog post.

Cookie Saturday

If you’d like to participate in #CookieSaturday, simply bake some cookies on Saturday and post a photo of them with your favorite stuffed animal on Instagram with the proper hashtag. If you need a stuffed animal, check out our penguins that are ready for adoption. As far as we know, Cookie Saturday started with Checkers Penguin in New Zealand. Checkers has his own Instagram! Feel free to share your cookie experiences and help make the world a little sweeter and happier.