Caught in the Act

And they say cheaters never prosper, well, I managed to score, but was caught in the act.

It's all about cookies.

Last summer I bought a package of cookies from Walmart. They were pricier than most, but were baked fresh in the store and looked tasty. Of the many flavors offered I chose the salted caramel chocolate chip, which became a family favorite, a treat I often picked up for my son.

Occasionally, I bought a package for myself,  with the intention of sharing.

My brother likes sweets as do I, a trait we inherited from our father. Because his wife, (and we love her despite this strange quirk), doesn't like sweet treats, I often baked for him before we met for lunch. I figured, since he drove across the city to meet me at a half way point between our homes, he deserved having something to nibble on for the drive home. You know, in case he got stuck in rush hour traffic.

Back to cookies. I don't bake as often anymore, so when I purchased these very delicious cookies, I filled a container and gave them to him.

I got an e-mail that night, asking where I bought the cookies, did I bake them? The cookies were as big a hit with him as they were with my family. But the big surprise was when he went to have another, he found crumbs. Lo and behold, we had finally discovered a sweet that his wife couldn't resist. Which only proves that she is human after all. Just joking.

Oh yeah, cookies and cheating.

As a last minute Christmas gift, before we were meeting for lunch, I purchased a container of these cookies, for my sister-in-law, and some prize winning butter tarts from a local bakery for my brother.
But the night before we were to meet I had a sugar craving, and the cookies were sitting there on the counter, begging me to do a taste test.

So, thinking of others, I unselfishly decided I had better check out the quality of these cookies before gifting them. Selecting a couple at random, I conducted a taste test and found this batch to be worthy of my sister-in-law and wrapped the remainder in a clear bag.

We did our gift exchange and imagine my embarrassment when I opened a gift to find a package of our now favorite cookies. Obviously I got the whole container and had to confess I'd opened theirs and sampled.

Caught, with crumbs on my face. I did the right thing and tried to trade the full container for the bag of cookies, but she would have no part of it.

How was I to know that they had become regulars of the salted caramel?

It was a lesson learned. If you're going to share such a find as this, be prepared that others will adopt it as their own. And thereby know how it comes, the package and the number.

They understood, as these cookies are simply too good to resist.