When the Chips are Down

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day happens every year on August 4th. Who knew?

The average person supposedly eats nearly 35,000 cookies in a lifetime! I wondered how many of those are chocolate chip cookies, a favorite of many since this cookie’s humble birth in 1937. Reportedly, 53% of Americans prefer chocolate chip cookies over others.

The chip cookie trail is traced to Toll House Inn in Whitman, MA. One story has owner Ruth Graves Wakefield intending to make her usual chocolate cookies, only she ran out of baker’s chocolate. She substituted chunks of a Nestle chocolate bar to her mix. Another story has Ruth being creative and deciding to try something different in her prized cookies. In any case, the Toll House cookie chipped its way into delicious existence.

Another story has Nestle approaching Ruth for her original recipe which the company added to their wrapper of chocolate chips (which they began producing for Ruth’s cookies). What was her compensation? She made the company considerable chip cash, while she received a lifetime supply of chocolate and $1.00! Hmm…is this true? Supply and demand economics does not always play fair.

An original name for Ruth’s chip cookies was Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie. If you want to read up on the entrepreneur who possibly sold her recipe for unlimited chocolate, there is a clever book about her:How the Cookie Crumbled: The True (and Not-so-True) Stories of the Invention of the Chocolate Chip Cookie by Gilbert Ford. Just so you know, it is a children’s book for ages 4-8, but it highlights a woman entrepreneur’s experience. Ruth’s Toll House Inn restaurant became a popular stop.

“When the chips are down” comes from gambling and not from chocolate chip cookies – when all the bets are made and there is no going back, the cards are about to be turned over to show who “wins.” It is a moment of seriousness. Some might even say an ominous moment.

We seem to be at such a time in our U.S. supply-and-demand economy. Who knows which stories will emerge from a current chaotic chain of events? It might be a good time to bake some chocolate chip cookies and give them to strangers. Listen to their story. Be compassionate. We need to pull together in the country.

Some bakeries give away a freebie on this trivial holiday. You could go bakery-hopping to taste-test variations, although I recommend making them yourself. The smell of wafting chocolate from the oven is worth it. An online suggestion places 3 chips on the top if it bothers you when all chips are down inside the cookie. Inevitably, some have more chips than others.

Anyway, there are so many chips that are down in our world today that are of greater consequence than cookie-dressing and counting chocolate chips.

Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz

417. What are your when-the-chips-are-down issues?

418. When is the last time that you baked cookies and gave some away?

Janis Johnston's avatar

By Janis Johnston

Janis Clark Johnston, Ed.D., has a doctorate in counseling psychology from Boston University. She has worked with children, families, and groups (ages 3-83) with presenting issues of anxiety, depression, trauma, loss, and relationship concerns. She initially worked as a school psychologist in public schools and was awarded School Psychology Practitioner of the Year for Region 1 in Illinois for her innovative work. She was a supervising psychologist at a mental health center, an employee-assistance therapist and a trainer for agencies prior to having a family therapy private practice. Recipient of the 2011 Founder’s Award for her dedication to the parenting education of Parenthesis Family Center (now called New Moms), and the 2002 Community Spirit Award from Sarah’s Inn, a domestic violence shelter and education center, Johnston is an active participant in numerous volunteer activities supporting children and families in her community. A frequent presenter at national psychology and educational conferences, Johnston has published journal articles, book chapters, and two books -- It Takes a Child to Raise a Parent: Stories of Evolving Child and Parent Development (2013, hardback; 2019, paperback) and Midlife Maze: A Map to Recovery and Rediscovery after Loss (2017, hardback; 2019, paperback). In addition to augmenting and supporting personal growth in families, Johnston is a Master Gardener and loves nurturing growth in the plants in her yard.

4 comments

  1. Yes, the world is upside down, and cookies do help. Especially chocolate chip oatmeal cookies! 🍪

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  3. When I am feeling down, I try to turn my attention to someone else. Perhaps taking flowers to them or helping them with a chore. Less calories! But I do I love those chocolate chips!

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