Week #10- Dennis (and the snickerdoodles)

This afternoon I had to run an errand for work, so I thought I would make use of the mile walk back along Lake Street by searching for my new Give and Bake friend.  I knew I would find a lot of people in this area, so I wanted to carefully choose someone who looked like they had an interesting story to tell.  While there ended up being nearly one person for every block I passed (a bit of a sad realization), many of them tended to be asleep or ended up walking away as I neared his spot.  I was getting closer to my destination, and I found a man wearing a dark fleece top on this 95 degree afternoon.  This fella must have been having a rough day, so I wanted to see if I could make it at least a bit brighter.

My new friend's name was Dennis, and unfortunately it seemed homelessness wasn't the only trouble he has been facing.  Dennis wasn't able to chat with me very much or answer many of my questions.  I gathered that he had been homeless for about six months, and before that he had been in the hospital.  I couldn't understand what he said he was in the hospital for- he repeated it over and over and I eventually realized it was either a rash or psychiatric disorder.  Based on our brief interaction, it seemed to be the latter. 

Even though I couldn't get much of a story out of Dennis, I was very glad to see that he enjoyed the cookies.  He tore into them immediately and ate them so fast he ended up accidentally spitting some of the crumbs out onto me.  It was a bit of an interesting moment, but at least he realized and apologized.

I wished Dennis well and continued on my walk.  The next block, I found a very jovial homeless man singing to passerbys and dancing around a bit with a cane.  I was dying to know this man's story, but would have felt bad approaching him without anything to offer.  Hopefully I can find him again another week, but if not, today of all days has proved that there unfortunately is a seemingly endless number of homeless people in this city.  And even though Dennis may have not been the most chatty character, you definitely don't have to be talkative to need some cheer.  As my mom always says, "It takes all kinds!"




Snickerdoodles
- 1/2 c butter, room temperature
- 1/2 c shortening
- 1 1/2 c white sugar
- 2 3/4 c flour
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon

Cream together butter, shortening, sugar, the 1 1/2 cups of sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Next mix (by hand) in the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt until a well blended dough forms.  Shape the dough into balls, roll in the cinnamon and sugar mixture, and place 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake on 400 degrees for about 8 minutes and cool for a minute before transferring to cooling racks.  This particular recipe yields approximately four dozen cookies.