Memories and Cardamom Cookies

It's very hard to loose someone you care a lot about. Even harder when you are faced with days you should be celebrating with them, but find yourself without them. I find one of the best ways to feel connected to them is doing something we both shared and enjoyed. For me, that is very often cooking. I treasure my grandmother's handwritten recipes, remembering the smell of fresh strawberries and the feel of her aged but deft hands teaching me to roll out pie crust. It feels like I'm celebrating her each time I make those recipes - and a bit of her is with me. The same goes for my dear friend Em, who left this world over a year and a half ago. We went to college together, were roommates then, and when both of our fledgling careers brought us to DC, we shared an apartment that we loved to fill with great food and laughter. We both went moon-eyed over cardamom and had a favorite cardamom cookie recipe from Deborah Madison's "Everything Vegetarian". In honor of what would have been her 26th Birthday, I baked a batch of these melt-in-your mouth beauties, remembering how much fun we had cooking together.