Warm Cookie Alert

It's been a dark, rainy day in San Francisco, a bit atypical for May in this city. I love the change of weather though because we so rarely see rain here, especially rain that is heavy and dark enough to satisfy my East Coast longing.

Rain still makes me tenderly nostalgic for the spring afternoons in Buffalo I used to love as a kid...coming home from school to my mom leaning over the hot oven...the sharp realization that the windows were open for the first time. The open screen door would let in the distinct smell of wet grass and worms, a smell that had been buried under the snow for 6 months.

Rain also makes me crave soft chocolate chip cookies. There's nothing quite like a plate full of just-baked chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk to unwind the day. I love that my mom has used the same Tollhouse cookie recipe since I was 5 (you can also find it on the back of every bag of Tollhouse chocolate chips). In my opinion, it is the best recipe out there. Tollhouse cookies are the perfect combination of squishy and warm but crisp along the edges.

Since I'm now a city gal now without a personal cookie baker at my discretion (mom), I was overjoyed to discover the new Warm Cookie Alert feature on Specialty Bakery's website. Just as it sounds, the Warm Cookie Alert will inform you of the closest bakery location near you that has pulled cookies out of the oven most recently. They update it to the minute. "Third and Mission: White chocolate macadamia nut...23 minutes ago." I kept an eye on the Specialy's at Sansome and Clay all afternoon, waiting for the right moment to dash out into the rain and scoop up a bag of melty chocolate chip cookies for the perfect Friday indulgence.

Yes, there's an economic meltdown and wide-spread pandemic going on, I know. But the truth is, I can't fix those things. What I can do is sign up for my Warm Cookie Alerts, run through the rain with them cradled in my arms and share them with friends and coworkers. Who knows, that alone just might transform some of this darkness into light.