Pamela Powers Lawson - Sample Stories

Instructions were specific, such as: "Bake in the garage for 2 days," or "put in oven 4 fingers hot and bake 1 minute."

Here's a recipe for cookie connoisseurs, complements of a young cook named Clay at Child Garden Learning Center:

3 chocolates
1 green bean
Directions: Bake at high enough for 4 hours.

If that doesn't dazzle your taste buds, try this suggestion by Jack:

3 pork chops
5 eggs
5 cups of sugar
Directions: Bake at 5 degrees for 5 hours.

While these fledgling chefs have yet to establish their signature cookie recipes, they certainly gave it a go when educators at the learning center assigned students in the 3-to-5-year-old category to share their favorite ingredients for a recipe booklet that was recently presented to their parents.

The project prompted the children to cough up age-old tips such as using "cookie wood" or adding "a little white stuff" or "some black stuff" to enhance the flavor, or "mushing" the ingredients together instead of stirring them.

These were cookie recipes that included 1 cinnamon, 2 cheese, 9 bacon and a "tiny bit of sour cream," or a "pinch of milk and a foot of sugar." Instructions were specific, such as: "bake in the garage for 2 days," or "put in oven 4 fingers hot and bake 1 minute."

But mostly it was a chance for the youngsters to whet their appetites for learning at the school on Barkley Road.

The school, in business since 1981 in the Conifer community, serves infants to 7-year-olds. It offers a planned curriculum at each age level in a secure environment. About 60 students are enrolled.

"Enrollment is increasing on a monthly basis; a lot of our new additions are families new to the area," said director Danita Seamars. "Half of the kids enrolled in the last six months have come from out of state."

Whether these students are homegrown or transplants, their cookie recipes will retain their universal appeal based on the following recommendation: "Put on a cookie cutter and then mix it like Mom."

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