This week marks my grandma’s 82nd birthday. I know this because I received pointed reminder calls/emails/letters from my parents and siblings.

Grandma Mary is Swedish Lutheran, which means that she would never be outwardly upset that I’d forgotten this hallowed day, but I’d definitely be in her prayers because who would forget her grandma’s birthday? And NO grandchild wants to be “in her prayers.” It’s a precursor to being in BIG TROUBLE.

In honor of her birthday, I’m sharing her long-held secret to baking cookies.  

Chocolate in every bite. Source: Archaeobaking

Grandma always made chocolate shaving cookies instead of chocolate chip cookies. Grandma reasoned that if you shave a chocolate bar into cookie dough batter, the shavings are more evenly dispersed throughout the cookie than a bag of chocolate chips. She always reminded us: “Chocolate in every bite.”

I believed and repeated this “truism” until my mother recently pointed out that a candy bar cost 1/6 of a bag of chocolate chips.

Like many grandparents, my grandmother grew up in the Great Depression. While this does mean that she keeps EVERYTHING indefinitely, it also means that she regularly examines her budget and often tightens her belt.

I’m hoping I’ll adopt a few of Grandma’s habits. More chocolate shaving cookies, fewer $4 lattes. More comic pages as gift wrapping, fewer $5 gift bags. More reusable shopping bags, fewer plastic bags.

What Great Depression-era habits have you adopted from your parents or grandparents?