The View From Mrs. Sundberg's Window

Patience brings good things

August 8, 2011

Listened to the show Saturday and it was not bad. Mr. Sundberg is away on a fishing trip to Canada and won't be home til the weekend. We'll have a few days together and I'll get on a plane for my own fishing trip to Alaska with my father, who has been going halibut fishing every summer for a week in the Gulf of Alaska these past few years.

I'm no experienced fisherperson, to be sure. I fished with cheap poles and bobbers in the lakes of my youth, and know how to bait a line, cast, set the hook, reel it in, and remove the fish. Even if it's swallowed the hook. But I have never pulled in anything bigger than 18 inches or so, as I recall. I'm not sure how successful I'll be reeling in a halibut, especially one as big as I am, which I plan to catch, but I'm not losing any sleep over it. Seems there is much more to fishing than the fish, anyway.

Like cultivating patience. Good fishermen and women seem to know this. You sit and wait, and wait some more. And you develop defense mechanisms to ward off insanity while you wait. Distractions. I imagine this is why fisherpeople drink beer. And why conversations turn to the big questions, and why there are so many jokes told and stories shared. Patience brings good things, I tell my kids. My father taught me that. And so did Mr. Sundberg, bless his heart. Waited for him all my life.

These aren't Mr. Sundberg's favorite cookies, but they're right up there on the list of The Best Things to Eat. Serve 'em on a sunny afternoon with lemonade. Or beer, even. Why not. It's August in Minnesota, which means winter's on its way.

Cocomia Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 sticks salted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
6 ounces shredded, unsweetened coconut (about a cup)
7 ounces whole macadamia nuts (about 1 1/2 cups)

Preheat oven to 300º F. In a medium bowl, combine flour, soda and salt. Mix well with a whisk. In a large mixing bowl, blend sugars. Add the butter, and mix to form a grainy paste. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add eggs and vanilla. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture, coconut, and macadamia nuts to the sugar mixture, and stir until combined. Do not over-mix. Drop batter by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets, 2 inches or so apart. Bake for 22 to 24 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen.

Enjoy!