Livin' Lavena Loca

So the Garden Club saga continues...

One of the very cutest ladies of the whole group is named Lavena. She stands at about 4' 9 and weighs in at around 80lbs and has the sweetest voice you've ever heard. I can remember the first day I ever saw her. I just thought she was so cute and I wanted to be her friend.

I had heard about her cookie making skills. She's famous around the 'hood for her delicious cookies. One week, she brought some to one of our meetings. I FELL IN LOVE. I asked her for the recipe. Within the next few days, not only did she give me the recipe, but she made me a batch of the cookies.

A month or so later, I was ready to make her cookies myself. But I couldn't find the recipe anywhere. I had misplaced it somehow. I could either do without, or call her and tell her the truth and ask for a replacement. I felt so embaressed that I had lost it. I made her a batch of my favorite cookies (2nd to hers) and gave her the recipe and explained about my needing a replacement from her. She wasn't feeling well that day and when I called her on the phone to see if I could drop the cookies off to her, she said she wasn't up and could I just leave them on the porch. So I did. I knew my cookies were going to make Lavena feel better.

Oddly, I didn't hear back from her. At first I was a little worried. I heard news about her through the grapevine. She wasn't doing well. But then, she got a little better. So I stopped worrying, and I forgot about the cookie incident.

Forward about 6 months...

Last week, after our Garden Club meeting, I got a message from Lavena saying how glad she was to see me at the meeting earlier that day. She said she had meant to bring me her cookie recipe for so long but just never got around to it and that she was "embaressed and just so sorry." (Oh, and she should be!) She asked if she could stop over and drop some cookies and the recipe off. I didn't get her message until pretty late that evening so I called her back the next morning.

She came over later that day and brought me THE COOKIES!!! And now I have the recipe too! I put it in a very special place and I will NOT loose it this time. But even better than the cookies, I got to visit with Lavena at my house for about 15 minutes. I learned that she has a LOT of back pain. And guess what brings on that back pain? Cookie making! OH NO. Lavena says she just can't give it up. It's one of her favorite things to do. Making her delicious cookies and then giving them to her friends. I told Lavena that I would LOVE to help her make the cookies. I could do whatever part of the process hurt her back. I hope she'll take me up on my offer. Think of all the recipes I'd learn! And think of all the other things I might just learn from her too!

So at the end of the weekend, between Fermin and I, we polished off all of those little cookies. Livin' Lavena Loca!!!
Here's the recipe she gave me...ENJOY!

ALMOND MACADAMIA COOKIES (A.K.A. Livin Lavena Loca Cookies)
1/2 c. butter
dash salt
1 c. flour
6 T. powdered sugar (plus at least one cup for dipping)
1 t. almond extract
2/3 finely chopped mac nuts
Cream butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add flour and salt gradually. Continue beating after each addition. Add almond extract and nuts. Beat until blended. Take 1 t. of dough and shape cookies into crescent shape. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake in moderately hot over (350*) until delicately brown. When cool, or still slightly warm, dip cookies in powdered sugar to coat entire cookie.

Variation:
May use vanilla, omitting almond extract. And chopped pecans, rather than macadamia nuts.