Mrs. Fields & iVillage 30th Anniversary Cookie Contest (686 photos) My Own Creation (274 photos)

Campfire Cookies

1 cup shortening �� cup butter 2 cups brown sugar �� cup karo syrup 2 tsp vanilla 2 eggs 2 �� cup flour �� tsp salt 1 tsp baking soda 2 cups mini marshmallows 1 �� cups chocolate chunks 1 box graham crackers Beat shortening and butter Add sugar and syrup, beat Add eggs and vanilla, beat for several minutes Add flour, soda, salt, chocolate and marshmallows just until mixed Arrange �� pieces of graham crackers face up on a cookie sheet. Drop tablespoon sized balls of dough in the center of each graham cracker. Cook at 350 for 11 minutes Nearly twenty years ago, on my 8th birthday I received an Easy Bake Oven. Like so many young girls this was my most prized possession! But��� it wasn���t more than a few months later when it was sorrowfully taken away from me when I was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. I remember coming home from the hospital for Thanksgiving at my Grandmother���s house. My family didn���t bring a special family dish, instead we brought measuring cups and throughout dinner I measured the stuffing ��� 1/4 cup, the mashed potatoes ��� 1/2 cup, fruit salad ��� 1/8 cup, turkey ��� 1 cup. It took me a long time to understand why I was the only one measuring out my food, why I didn���t get to play with my Easy Bake Oven anymore, why when we celebrated birthday parties at school I had to wait in the principal���s office! Growing up with diabetes wasn���t easy, but the one thing I delighted in every summer was roasting marshmallows in my parent���s backyard. At the far end of my backyard was a 16 �� inch round trampoline, depressed 1 foot into the ground, with a deck built around it. As soon as the weather turned a little bit warm, my parents would move our trampoline up onto the deck revealing a secret circular fire pit. For 90 days straight, every summer, my family roasted hotdogs on wire hangers from the drycleaners over that pit, and then we ate s���mores until our marshmallow stash was depleted. That first summer after I was diagnosed with diabetes I silently wondered, would I have to wait inside while everyone else sat around the campfire and ate s���mores? One specific day in early summer I remember seeing my dad writing notes, all day long on this notepad he used to carry around. Later that same day my parent���s moved the trampoline while my brother and sister and I watched with excitement. Afterwards, my dad pulled me aside and showed me his notepad smiling, ���If you jump on the trampoline for 15 minutes just before dinner, I think you can eat two or three s���mores!��� he explained. I created this cookie because although I was only 9 years old - I decided on this day, when I grew up I wanted to give young children with diabetes hope. I want to do what my dad did for me. This cookie symbolizes that day.