National Chocolate Chip Day

Today's holiday is a mix of two of my favourite things: useless trivia and chocolate...no, even better, useless trivia about chocolate. So, here's the thing. In the 1930s there was this chick named Ruth Wakefield who owned an inn in Massachusetts. And Ruth loved to bake cookies for her guests every day. One day, she committed the ultimate baking sin...she didn't check her cupboard to find out if she had all of the ingredients. So, instead of using her usual baking chocolate, she was forced to break apart a chocolate bar into her dough. Ruth thought that the chocolate would melt and mix with the dough during the cooking process (either she was a bit on the slow side or had a magical oven). Well, guess what? The chocolate bits did not melt and mix, but did get a bit softer. Ruth served the cookies anyway and her guests were estradic! Her cookies were so popular, she made a deal with Nestle...They would carry her recipe on the back wrapper of their semi-sweet chocolate bar. And ol' Ruth was thinking...instead of asking for money, she would in turn be given a lifetime supply of chocolate. I mean, it was the Depression, what would she do with a lot of money? But a tonne of chocolate...imagine the possibilities!!!
Personally, I think that this holiday has come just in time for my buddy, Cassidy, who seems to be hopeless at baking cookies. Maybe she just needs a little help from Ruth (whose original recipe can be found at www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/detail.aspx?ID=18476). You never know, Cass, it may be your recipe on the back of a wrapper someday.