When we were younger, my older sister used to make me and my other sister chocolate chip cookies from scratch. I used to eat the batter and then eat the cookies once they were done. They were always soft and gooey in the middle and perfectly golden on the top.

My sister has always been the ultimate homemaker. She’s thrives at making everything from scratch and she does it so easily. I, on the other hand, was not blessed with this gift. I have a great appreciation for all things craftsy and cute. I spend my Saturday mornings pinning all of the things that I’d love to make and bake in my spare time. Of course nothing gets made or baked. I keep looking at all of the pretty pictures on my board thinking one day the homemaking gene, or what I call the mom gene, will kick in.



You can I imagine my anxiety when I found out that we were expecting. For the entirety of my relationship with my husband he did all of the cooking and I washed the dishes. For a good portion of my pregnancy I worried about whether or not I’d be able to cook and bake for my daughter like my sister did for me. In case you’re wondering, our mother was very present in my life, but just isn’t a baker like my sister.

When Baby Popcorn was born, my sister came out to help me with the transition. She did the things that come natural to her – cooking, baking, and cleaning. She has other natural talents but these were the things her baby sister needed most. She made quiches, soups, lasagna, her famous apple pear cranberry crumble, and her chocolate chip cookies. She was a gift.

She has always wanted to teach me how to be a Julia Childs Betty Crocker type, but I was never interested… that is until our baby came. I finally asked her how to make the chocolate chip cookies. I was so surprised when she told me that it was the Nestlé Toll House recipe with two modifications – scoop the flour into your measuring cup so that it doesn’t get densely packed in and undercook the cookies on parchment paper. If you take them out 9 or 10 minutes after they’ve been in the oven, they cool with a gooey middle. Here I was thinking that she had her own recipe that would take me hours to learn and another few hours to perfect.

I make these cookies all the time now and I feel like my mom gene has officially kicked in. While on my maternity leave I started making dinner for Mr. Popcorn and me while Baby Popcorn slept. Now, I feel less intimidated in the kitchen and better equipped for meal planning!

I can’t wait until our LO is old enough to eat the batter and gooey golden cookies. By that time I hope to have many more recipes perfected and ready for memory-making consumption.

What yummy things do you plan to make for your LOs that they will always remember? Feel free to share recipes or share links!