Take a break; eat a cookie

Dear coordinators of the Peabody Institute’s winter concert:

Your concert last night, in which my brother was playing the viola (I know, right? Ha!), began at 8 pm. My train home from AU pulls into the BWI station at about 9:40, at which point my dad picks me up. My parents informed me they would probably be a little late, but would call when they were leaving. Until this time, I was to hang out in the station lounge. This closes at 10 pm.

My dad didn’t even call to tell me they were leaving Peabody – and please note you guys are in downtown Baltimore, at the minimum 20 minutes away – until 10:23 pm.

Yes, Peabody, your winter concert was almost 2 and a half hours long. Dude, BSO concerts usually clock in under 2. If I had not happened to be talking to my friend Elizabeth while on the train and made arrangements for her to pick me up so we could hang out, I would be VERY PUT OUT WITH YOU, Peabody. But since Elizabeth is a magnificent human being, you have been spared my ire. Indeed, to prove I bear you no ill will, here’s the recipe for the cookies that we made while watching Singin’ in the Rain, which occurred during the time that I WOULD HAVE BEEN STUCK ALONE IN THE FREEZING RAIN IF NOT FOR HER, PEABODY. ARE YOU LISTENING?!

Love,

Jenn

MUSICOOKIES

(excerpted from an anonymous clip out of Elizabeth’s mom’s recipe box,
so in other words I have no idea from whence this originates)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 egg yolk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 package of cake mix; we used dark chocolate but I’m sure you could use whatever flavor floats your boat

Directions:

Cream butter and cheese. Blend in egg yolk and vanilla. Add cake mix. Now the original recipe says to add it dry, but once we had finished mixing we found our dough to be excessively arid, so we ended up adding a quarter cup of water; use your judgment on this matter. But anyway, add the cake mix, 1/3 of the package at a time, mixing well after each addition. If you’re using a mixer, as we were, add the last third of the cake mix by hand. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

While you’re waiting, heat the oven to 375 degrees. Drop by level spoonfuls (or use Elizabeth’s nifty melonballer thingee) onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown. Now, we went with about 8 minutes, because here’s the thing about this recipe. If you bake it too long, you essentially end up with a tiny, slightly dry, cake. If you bake it just right, however, it’s all gooey and awesome in the middle. So if you’re in doubt, err on the side of less time. Cool slightly before removing from the baking sheet. We got a little over four sheet’s worth of cookies.

This makes an excellent gift if you’re poor like us! Bonus points if you match our presentation, and if you wanna be really slick, you could make whole notes out of frosting. Enjoy!