Airing grievances and Graham Cracker Sandwiches

I don't normally make snide comments towards other people; I am usually a kind person. However yes, I can be a little judgemental at times and I am capable of making snide remarks about others but forgive me, I am after all human and female. I am certain that there must be some unidentified gene built into the female DNA to compare and judge others, especially fellow females. So I apologise now if I offend anyone, but I must get this off my chest; confessing is the only way I can allow myself to move on from this one peeve that has irritated me for years.

The thing that has always irked me a great deal are women who wear incapacitating shoes. I mean, for the love of Manolo Blahniks, please stop! Now this is coming from a girl who loves her shoes; the kind of love that knows no monetary bounds and the kind of love that causes you to lose all financial self-control. As one who has worn and traversed many a footpath in anything between ballet flats to stilettos and as one who has learned her lesson after being beset with blisters, I don’t know why women still walk around in debilitating footwear. Now this is nothing against stilettos or anything over three inches; I am quite short so I will take every inch I can get but if you can’t run from a gun-wielding manic on the streets in your stilettos, please don’t wear them. Consider something with less altitude.

If you are thinking this is coming very left-field; yes it is. And some might be under the impression that the only reason this blog exists is to facilitate and air my vexations. well yes, there might be some shred of truth to that but usually most of my complaints are accompanied by pretty pictures of food so really what are you complaining about? So yes I am talking about incapacitating shoes but here are some photos of cookie sandwiches, happy?

Back to the shoes- this is how the whole matter exploded and came to be poured out onto this unsuspecting blog (and audience). I was running late for work and was hurtling in and out of traffic making some really good time considering I was already a good fifteen minutes late. I reached a traffic light and the light turned green, so of course speeding off was the only thing on my mind. But to my intense frustration I could not go because a woman carrying two full bags of groceries had decided that she would cross the street, in the middle of a green-light. Not only did she cross in mid-green (for motorists) and during peak hour traffic, she also took her sweet time.

It appears that crossing the road carrying two bags of groceries whilst wearing a pair of wedges only permitted her the slow gait of a kimono-clad Geisha. So not only was she crossing the road at the most inopportune time but she was also wearing footwear that was severely inhibiting the length of her stride. I don’t know if she just didn’t have the adeptness or dexterity to walk in those shoes but please do not wear shoes with a high difficulty rating while shopping for groceries, particularly if you are planning on walking home. You will not only imperil yourself but also impede the people around you. So please women (and perhaps some men) I ask you, I even beseech you to consider common sense when it comes to footwear. You will not only save yourself some time but also help others not to be so late.

It seems that shoes and cookies are a recurring theme on this blog but now that I have aired my grievances and hopefully saved a lot of people from seeking the services of a chiropractor, I will move on to the cookies. Just like shoes, I have this thing for cookies, especially when transformed into a cookie sandwich it becomes a double delight. Lately I have found myself searching the archives of this incredible blog and using it as a resource for unique and classic recipes. So understandably when I found a post about Heidi’s nostalgic longings for Graham Crackers in her archives I knew I had to try them immediately.

The recipe does require some time to complete as that the dough needs to rest in the fridge and there is quite a bit of rolling, shaping, cutting and pricking that needs to be done to the cookie dough before they go into the oven, but if time is in your favour do give this recipe a try. I started off making rectangular ones, although they turned into these amoeba-like figures so I used a round crinkle cutter instead. The results were much more favourable using the cookie cutter but I think this is just because I couldn't cut straight rectangular shapes.

Heidi’s grandmother’s Graham Crackers were filled with cream cheese frosting, although right now I have this fixation on mascarpone cheese, so I replaced the cream cheese with mascarpone. This variation still worked well and they still tasted divine. Now I feel I must warn you, these cookies are fairly heavy duty especially when they are filled, so don’t go too gung-ho on them as you might feel very ill afterwards. This is the time to apply the adage less is more. After one or perhaps two cookies they are the perfect way to satisfy a sweet tooth, so make sure you share the rest of them, the recipe yields enough for a small army. With a hot cup of thick creamy hot chocolate, these cookies sandwiches are a luxurious treat for the senses.