St. Jude's Cookies

Last year, I found these very festive Nestle Holiday Swirled Morsels at our local grocery store. Having been a total impulse buy, (the marketing experts at Nestle will be happy to know at least one consumer totally fell for the scheme of Christmas colored white chocolate morsels) I was uncertain what I would make with them and they sat on my baking shelf for a few weeks.

As Christmas neared, enchanted with their merry colors, I pulled them down again and noticed that on the back of the package there was a recipe for traditional Snowball cookies with one special addition-the Holiday Morsels. I was game. The cookies were easy to make and with the coating of powdered sugar over the warm cookie filled with melted white chocolate bits, they were a hit with everyone-but especially my husband.

So this year, purposefully looking for these seasonal treats, with intent to bake, I couldn't find them anywhere. No grocery, no corner store, not even the granddaddy of them all--W*l-Mart had them. I was growing discouraged. Not to mention the children, who were growing weary and somewhat resentful of my quest. I was almost ready to give up the fight when we passed by one last mega-mart. As I cajoled the children to offer up their blistering feet once more for the sweet cookie mission, they scowled at me and hobbled into the store.

Right inside, on the Christmas baking display, I spotted an entire section of boxes covered with the familiar yellow Nestle logo. Hopefully, I walked toward it and scanned the selection: semi-sweet, dark chocolate, white chocolate---even butterscotch, but NO Holiday swirls. Discouraged (and not wanting to turn and face the angry mob that had accompanied me in for another round of defeat), I stood up, as something caught my eye on the top of the display. Right on top of the display was a small holy card. (I have no idea where it came from as this secular big-box doesn't carry such things.) Standing a little taller, I stretched out my hand to read the card.

"St. Jude: Patron saint of hopeless cases"

was written across the top and a simple medal was attached below. I was re-energized. "Okay, St. Jude," I thought to myself, "If those morsels are here. You're going to have to show me." As I set the card back down on the display, just off in the distance, on an end of aisle display I caught sight of the same Nestle-logo laden boxes. I turned to the children and said, "You don't even have to follow me. I'll be right back," and quickly made my way through the oncoming shoppers. I looked back only once to see my children hurriedly racing to catch up with me and shooting each other looks like, "Has she finally lost it?" Just as they arrived, out-of-breath next to me, with a smile on my face and a quick "thanks" to St. Jude, I held up several bags of the Holiday morsels and made my way to the check-out.

Nestle may call them Swirled Holiday Snowball cookies, but from now on in my house, they'll be known as St. Jude's Cookies.