p_world peace cookie

The Finer Cookie:
World Peace Cookie

The Proposal

By Kimberlie Robert

Sleep eluded you the whole night as you dreamt of touring different homes that you owned, none of which you had ever seen or lived in. The details were vivid: colours, forms, odours of abandoned furniture, dark and light. The theme however, seemed to be closed up kitchens. You spent your dreamtime reconstructing those kitchens to make room for answers to non-sequitur questions — questions that you’d never asked before, and that seemed unrelated to the events in your dream. By the morning, you woke feeling pre-occupied by the sensations of the night and somewhat unmotivated.

As mornings are often filled with routines, you find them especially comforting on this given day. The coffee, the computer, your Daytimer all refocused your energies and the now the habitual thoughts of your lover, dusted the dream clouds away. You mused at how loving changes a dark day into a sunshiny one, never giving a second thought to how love eclipses instinct.

Thinking of love again, the day seems infinite and world peace is the new order. Cocksure and emboldened, you decide to visit a jeweller that you’ve long admired in hopes of finding an engagement ring that possesses the tenor of your relationship.

Browsing the glass cases, you select four rings that you felt had possibilities, perceiving the merits of each, and imagining something similar for yourself. With each ring, you dream up a different proposal; and of course, the broad smile of acceptance that goes with it. Since committing to your lover, the wide spaces of your spirit swirl in fluid drifts of risk and resolution, a youthful recall that sometimes creates a fizzy enthusiasm in you. The ring you chose was artful, modern, and weighty, and had mounted in the center, one clean diamond.

Obviously, the proposal would follow the ritual established from early in the relationship; you would tuck the ring into a box of cookies: World Peace Cookies to be exact. The recipe was originally created by the great Pastry Chef, Pierre Hermé, but you found it in Dorie Greenspan’s book Paris Sweets. The words that fell from your lips when you first tried it went something like: “Oh my f#%* ——.” You see, the salt heightens the chocolate rush, and the texture is brownie-like, and just one cookie took all the fight out of you. These World Peace Cookies will soften the meanest heart, or change the mind of a psychotic sociopath. They will make your worst enemy love you. They will tear down your neighbour’s fences and unchain gangs. If everyone made just one batch of these cookies, and gave them away, the earth’s axis would shift and peace and love would be the new order. With the World Peace Cookie, you were sure this marriage proposal would be no contest.

The next day, with the cookies barely at room temperature, you boxed them up with the ring positioned perfectly in the centre, and rang for the Messenger Service to come promptly.

_ _ _

Meanwhile, your lover has the suitcase opened on the bed with the bureau undone and the closet virtually empty. The sins of the father, Alex’s reputation, the sister: it all seems like doomed destiny now. It’s no longer possible to be the person that’s expected. Breaking the silence, after Alex’s sister had doggedly outed it… your lover realizes that the whole truth should have been revealed from the start. Really though, how could anything else have been anticipated, since the shadows have been the only respite, and the private space for tender sentiments have been kept tightly sealed. But your friend was taken by surprise with feelings of genuine love — love that had been on account of a kind and thoughtful character — a character that had never seen how love can completely occupy a pair of eyes. It’s not your lover’s way to sully such a pristine visage, thus protecting it was an intrinsic act of honour that sprang from the purest intentions.

But everything is different now: black-white, all-nothing; the solution is self-evident. No good-byes; no lengthy explanation; Alex’s sister will fill in the details. Staying would only cause heartache; and then there’s the Press. They would catch wind: “Descendant of a Drug Lord Dating Legendary Photographer,” or “Legendary Photographer Dating Child of Infamous Cocaine Trafficker.” Such love scandalized? No, there is no way to regain the dishonour of that.

And so, your lover zips the final bag, locks the penthouse door, blows by the Doorman to hail a cab that by chance, arrives at the same moment as Alex’s messenger. The delivery man, with the box of World Peace Cookies and the precious proposal, hops the curb, and gets the Doorman’s signature. In concert, the cabby swallowed up Alex’s lover and tears away, motoring through the stale green light. With that determined attempt, the cab is finally consumed in traffic, down the boulevard…

 

Click here for the World Peace Cookies

The Finer Cookie: A Delicious Affair sequel:

Lemon Macaron with a Tart Lemon Curd Center
Sour Cherry Amaretti
Sesame Coconut Shortbreads
Panellete de Pinyon
Hazelnut Lime Sticks
Espresso Chocolate Fudge Cookies
Coconut Alfajores
Cinnamon Wafers
Sweet Ricotta Peach Cookies
Currant Caraway Shortbreads
Chocolate Pretzels
Orange Truffles
Churros with Cinnamon
Pecan Polvorones with Muscovdo
Flourless Peanut Butter with Bourbon Soaked Peanuts and Smokey Bacon
Corn Meal and Olive Oil Biscotti
Browned Butter and Red Wine Brownies
Elsa’s Rye Cookies
Sweet Sheep Sugar Cookies

Photographed by Kimberlie Robert


kimberlie robert

Kimberlie Robert is currently the Executive Cookie Maker at The Finer Cookie. As of recently, she has worked as an Executive Assistant for five years. Prior to that she was the Coordinating Director/Partner of an Advertising Agency. She has earned an MA in Art History and a BA in English Literature. She is also a writer and researcher, short story editor, pastry chef, tango dancer and gardener.



There are no comments

Add yours