A Moment in My Life – Tuesday, August 10, 2021
Jeannie Yee Davis
You never know what could make your heart sing until it happens. For me, it happened yesterday morning during my video chat with my buddy AS, aka Andrew Seid. The topic was cookies. Here’s a little backstory, AS and I met during our early Schwab days and remained buddies long after he left the firm to travel the universe with his father. We’re also fellow Trekkies and X-philes, and recently, we added tax guy to his title. It’s interesting when your buddy is your tax guy. All the usual rules don’t apply here. We’re free to make them up as we go. The best thing about working together again is that we get to kill two birds with one stone (disclaimer: we harmed no birds in this scenario). By this, I mean we get to share a meal while we talk business and catch up with everything going on in our worlds since we don’t live in the same area anymore.
AS is such a fun guy who is passionate about many things. I loved when AS and Globfly bantered away about all things Star Trek—they were like two peas in a pod—very entertaining and both just as knowledgeable. AS is also such a smile-maker in that I can’t go wrong with him. We’re just two buddies who share common interests, but we got it made in the shade with purple Kool-Aid when food is involved. I say this because it’s not every day that someone volunteers to be your food guinea pig which means, when AS is in town, I get to test drive my latest recipes on him. Little did I know that he would end up loving my dark chocolate chip cookies so much that instead of payment for tax services rendered, he requested payment in dark chocolate chip cookies. How could I say no to that? Especially when he said my cookies were the best he ever had. Here’s the thing about AS, he won’t say something he didn’t mean. Here’s the thing about me and chocolate chip cookies: they are my worst cookie, and I haven’t perfected them to my liking yet.
For starters, cookies weren’t my thing. I wasn’t much of a cookie eater and never had a desire to bake them either. Now, cakes, on the other hand, that’s my thing. Mm, have cake will travel. One day, I figured how hard baking cookies could be when, after all, kids could bake them. My first batch was a disaster and ended up on the floor. Good thing I test drove with store-bought cookie dough. Although, I later learned the store-bought cookie dough was the problem. Store-bought cookie dough never works well for me, which is fine since cookies from scratch are the better way to go. Since that disaster, cookies and I now have an understanding, and we get along fine.
A week ago, I baked the first payment of dark chocolate chip cookies and mailed them to AS in Southern Cal. I was thrilled when he said the cookies arrived intact and just as he remembered. He put a smile on my face since this was the first time I baked in many months. I was so excited when I finished baking that I packed the cookies and mailed them forgetting to take pictures of the finished product first.
As we talked yesterday, he couldn’t get a word in because I rattled off all the ideas I have on perfecting the upcoming batches, which surprised him. He thought he needed to ration the box of cookies, not realizing that I planned to make more for him. Since we hadn’t discussed the payment amount, I planned to keep him stocked in cookies for as long as he wanted them. Thus, there is no need for rationing. I am so excited I get to perfect these cookies and have someone else eat them for me. With every word that came out of my mouth, I felt my heart sing louder and louder as I realized I couldn’t wait to try my ideas. It is a win-win for both of us. AS floated from the earth after he learned that more cookies are coming, and for me, getting to bake again is the sweetest thing that happened to me lately.