This post is for the Project STIR blog tour. Project STIR is a series of documentary films launching this fall on Kickstarter. The films will follow Abuelitas, Nans & Mamaws passing down heirloom recipes in kitchens around the globe including countries like: Panama, New Zealand, Turkey, Croatia & England. Learn more about how to get involved at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sarahshotts/project-stir-global-heirloom-recipe-films

It is no secret that I am a terrible cook. Not just bad, but awful. My roommates had nightmares of me burning down the apartment in college. Needless to say, my fiance does all the cooking.

Still, one of my fondest memories growing up was baking with my father. The cookies were pretty simple; we basically followed the instructions on the back of one of those Tollhouse Cookie chocolate chip bags. While I did learn how to make cookies (the only thing I could do if snowed into my apartment), I discovered something more exciting: rock ‘n’ roll.

Whenever we baked, my dad would put on one of his favorite albums. One day it would be Ziggy Stardust by Bowie (the song I am listening to as I type this post); another it would be The White Album by the Beatles. The music was not unaccompanied. Of course not. There was dancing as well. As Roy Orbison sang about a pretty woman or Elton John rocked about crocodiles, my dad twirled me around the kitchen in between stirring and baking. Sometimes we even went solo as we made up our own funny dances.

Now, whenever I hear some of those songs, I get really hungry. I can practically smell the delicious cookies that we consumed way before they were cool. Of course, we devoured our cookies to ELO.

So what are the ingredients to my favorite cookie recipe? Sugar, butter, salt, rock ‘n’ roll, and dancings. Lots and lots of dancing.