The answer is yes

The question? "Do you ever run out of ideas for your column?" I'm asked this whenever I speak, and while I usually have something bubbling on the backburner when I sit down to do the column every Monday, there are times when suddenly! It's Tuesday! And still no column!

STILL. NO. COLUMN.

In this case I'll just have to find something, anything, and noodle around with it for awhile until I can turn it into 500 halfway decent words. I've done it before so it's easier to have a little faith in the process. Still. Light a candle for me.

Meanwhile I bought a raisin-filled cookie from Parson's Bakery in Bountiful this afternoon and snarfed it down in a single sitting. I think I've mentioned before that raisin-filled cookies are one of my benchmark foods, along with potato salad, coleslaw, chili rellanos and key lime pie. Not many folks make them anymore. Parson's does a nice job.

And finally--I was in Bountiful to have my wrist checked. The brace came off today. SO YAY for that. I have limited motion, though, so it looks like lots of p.t. ahead.

YA lit (and raisin cookies)

Okay. I can't figure out how to create a link HERE to a recent piece in The Boston Globe called "Faith and Good Works" in which many Mormon authors (Chris Crowe, Shannon Hale, Julie Berry, Martine Leavitt, and Carol Williams) are quoted about the state of YA lit today. It's worth reading. I particularly like Shannon's take on why so many Mormons write fantasy--especially given the fact that many conservative Christians denounce it. She said our experience with angels, re-discovered scripture, and biblical literature makes us comfortable with the fantastic.

And now for the food part. I went into Backer's to buy a cupcake but walked out with a raisin cookie instead. Ah! Raisin cookies! I HEART THEM SO MUCH. And they're kind of hard to find. Why is that? Maybe because they're kind of an old-church-lady-fruit-cakey kind of cookie?

The Backer's cookie was okay--a tad too mince-meaty. The ones at Parson's Bakery in Bountiful are better. Bigger with more raisins. Sadly, though, the sugar cookie part is always too crispy. NO to crispy sugar cookies. The best raisin cookies EVER were found in the old bakery in the basement of the flagship ZCMI. Soft. Gooey. Raisin-y. M-m-m-m-m-m.

For the record, the old ZCMI also served a great hot dog. But if you wanted a good date-nut-cream-cheese sandwich, you went to Auerbach's.