As a kid, my lot was cast with about 70 distinct personalities five days a week, 36 weeks a year, for twelve solid years.  Among those strong personalities were Chedder and Rand.  Sometimes it was a bit of a burden, but most of the time it was pure entertainment.  I have lots of stories, but somehow, I missed the Cookie Caper, and it’s a tale worth telling.

Brent and I went out to see Lois and Rand the other day and he told us about the time he and Chedder decided to bake cookies.  Back in the good old days Lola Beeton was Queen of the Lunchroom and she and her crew made the best chocolate chip pan cookies in town.  They were called pan cookies because they spread the thick batter out on a giant cookie sheet and then cut squares with a pizza cutter after the batter was baked.  Clayne Jensen’s mom had the recipe and Chedder talked Clayne into getting it.  So, you had a fifth-grade kid and his buddy (Rand) with the best recipe in town and they decided to bake.  There wasn’t a lot of baking experience between the two of them.    

As they got started, these two decided if one batch was good a double batch would be better, so they doubled the recipe.  They measured carefully, knowing if you were doubling the batch everything in the recipe needed to be doubled.  These two were using their math skills.  Well, that was good to a point.  Four cups of flour became eight and so on.  The batter was ready, and they dumped it on a cookie sheet…one cookie sheet.  They didn’t think about doubling that.  Then, the recipe said 350 degrees and they doubled that, too.  There was a problem here because the stove only went up to 500.  They decided that would have to do, so into the hot oven they carefully balanced the sheet, filled to the top with batter.

It didn’t take long for a burnt aroma to waft through the house, and when they checked, smoke was coming from the oven.  Upon opening the oven door, they witnessed volcanic cookie dough pouring over the sides of the cookie sheet with smoke billowing.  About that time Helen, Chedder’s mom, was coming up the sidewalk. If you didn’t believe in Divine Intervention before, this should convince you.  Rand decided this was a family affair and he beat it out the backdoor.  By the time Helen got in the house there were flames.  She put out the fire and did not kill Chedder, both modern day miracles.  He said this was the day he knew she loved him.  Unfortunately, we all missed out on the double batch of chocolate chip pan cookies the next day.

I was chuckling about the whole thing and realized it is a Good Life when you jump in and try new things. Being engaged in life is what it is all about.  Sometimes the cookies turn out and sometimes you just get a good story.  The significant lesson here is that mom showed up in the nick of time and the kid learned just how much he was loved.