There isn't much a cookie can't cure

My Mom used to say that when I was a kid. It should be said that she was a mean maker of cookies, still is (when I get one). She made lots of treats and cookies were the most fun as a kid because they were so transportable. She made all kinds: hermits, chocolate chip, ginger snaps, butterscotch... all of them containing that wonderful magic that is only found in a home-baked goodie. I was a fortunate child.

Photo: Contributed

We mostly had homemade cookies in our house. The one store-bought cookie that sticks in my memory is OREOs. Mom always bought those for summer holidays camping. There's nothing better than a sandwich cookie for a treat, because it provides its own entertainment. You can try to pull it apart, and if you're successful in getting the top cookie off unbroken, then it becomes like a token. You can work to peel or lick the middle off the bottom cookie. You can double-up the bottom cookies with filling and feel decadent. (Just so you know, we did this long before some marketing executive spoiled it and started selling the "Double-stuffed" version.) OREOs even work in a game of checkers when one person plays with open-faced cookies. The only down side is that you can only play one game :) Those were the days, when eating a simple cookie could fill an entire afternoon.

My other experience with sandwich cookies was selling Girl Guide cookies. It was a daunting task the first time I went out with my unit. I was a Brownie, 8 years old, and I had only been door-to-door on Hallowe'en to trick or treat with my friends. I remember, the first house I went to, I had to run back to the leader's car to ask how much a box cost - I forgot the price! (They were $2 back then; it was a long time ago.) Not much has changed, interestingly enough. Nowadays I work with a unit of Rangers (girls aged 16 and 17) and they are selling lots of cookies to help raise funds for a Guiding trip to Australia this summer. The cookies are more expensive now, as are most things, but the girls still behave the same. They cheer when they sell a box, and they are crushed when people say no. We once went out with the young Sparks (aged 4-6) to help teach them the ropes of safe selling. One girl laid down on someone's lawn and cried the first time someone declined her cute request to buy a box (she had sold to four houses in a row, so it was a bit of a shock).

Girl Guides will be going out door-to-door starting this weekend with the classic sandwich cookies. (For those of you who are mint fans, those cookies come out in October.) If you can spare five bucks, the girls would appreciate your support. Camping and crafts and field trips and all that happens with cookie money. Guiding also provides another opportunity for girls to get the magic that comes from a role model like Mom, whether it's with a cookie that heals or just a listening ear. And just think, with a box of vanilla and chocolate cookies you can build customized cookies when you pull them apart! You can support Canadian traditions that are almost a century old, and feel like a kid again. How is that not a good idea?

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.