BCR Case 30
Ken’s verse
Issan wove a tale about a secret recipe
For chocolate chip cookies.
He would share it if you helped in the kitchen.
Of course I helped.
We all helped.
It was like a promise.
Everyone did.
How could you say no to Issan?
After we’d put on our aprons
After all the ingredients had been found
Dry stuff from the pantry
Butter from the refrigerator
Lots of it
Sugar from the top shelf
Neat brown bags with chocolate
And chocolate chips
Carried in from the back seat of the car
The oven was preheating.
He was a stickler about the temperature
The cookie sheets laid with parchment paper.
We each had our bowl and task assigned
None was burdensome
Though some were more fun than others.
When the time came we each took
What we had and Issan directed us
Towards a big mixing bowl
And we folded them together
Not rushed or with a lot of jerky motion
Big globs of butter stood out
From bits of Hershey
Putting them on the sheet with the correct spacing
Because he was always generous with the portions
This was perhaps the most difficult of the operations
Issan said watch me.
He used his thumbs to push and adjust
So that they didn’t stick together
Too much
And everyone would get a taste.
Totally ordinary
Everything from the Safeway
Humble
But they were magic
And the smell!
So much better if the party were
Drag and laughter.
This recipe is now written in my DNA.
Thank you Issan.
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