My sweet hubby seemed a bit down today. The winter weather here in Tennessee has him somewhat captured inside. It’s cold, damp, cloudy and under thirty degrees. A few pieces of snow scuttle by the windows every so often, but they’re just kidding. I know because I see them lean toward each other, whisper, and then I hear them laugh right before they disappear. They know they'll never amount to anything, but they keep it a secret between themselves. Put your head outside next time it snows in pieces and listen. You'll see.

It appears that when I feel captured I bake. At least that’s my defense for cooking up something scrumptious today that health conscious people shouldn’t eat. But that’s not us.

In searching for a new recipe for spice cake this morning (that's a whole 'nother story), I ran across one for pecan cookies. Brent (my hubby) loves cookies with nuts and I thought it might cheer him up if I baked some for him.

I printed it off, added my own spin to the ingredients and got busy baking. Within thirty minutes, I had a fresh batch of what I am calling Cranberry Pecan Crunch Cookies ready to sample. I poured Brent a cold glass of milk (I realize now it should have been coffee in these temps), grabbed him a couple of cookies and headed out to his workshop.

His eyes lit up when I walked in. I’m pretty sure it was because he spotted the cookies. Rather than stay in the shop to eat them, he chose to bring the cookies into the house where it was warmer; and where there were more cookie friends. He ate the two I gave him, and then sampled a few more. How many is a secret between him and me, but he seemed full of cheer again.

I looked at the clock and realized it was time for lunch. He decided he’d already had lunch. It was cookies.

Yeah, I took the long way around to get to this point, but here it is. We love retirement! It’s Saturday, but we don’t even think about that. Or care. We’re trying to make each day count and make it productive, but fun. Like having cookies for lunch.

BTW, Brent declared the cookies amazing. They're crunchy, but chewy too. And Lakeisha, he wanted me to tell you that I didn’t go and ruin them by adding chocolate chips. Inside joke? This recipe is so good no chocolate was needed.

If you like nutty cookies without chocolate and would like this recipe, email me. I’ll be happy to email it to you.

Life’s a cookie! Have them for lunch. Stay warm and enjoy!

Cyn