Gingersnaps for Tracy

Traveling was always an ordeal for my younger sister Tracy in our prepubescent days. Car rides were pure treachery for all of us: would she puke? Would she get out of the car in time? Could we get to our destination before we had to stop so she could run out of the car and vomit on the side of the road? Oh shit, a bump! She doesn't look so good.

At some point, my parents, either too cheap or too skeptical for the dramamine and other drugs, decided the best way to calm Tracy's stomach was by force-feeding her gingersnaps. Ginger is well-known to be good for stomach ailments, and the only way they could get it into the kid's system was via cookies. From then on, travel days began with a box of gingersnaps on the kitchen table, and we couldn't leave until she'd eaten about a quarter of the box. The rest were toted along as puke insurance of sorts, and the moment she started looking queasy Mom would start stuffing them down Tracy's throat while she sat there with one eye closed (another "trick" for helping motion sickness). I don't know if it actually helped or not - you'll have to ask her, but she's off cavorting around eastern Europe right now.

I'd have been happy to never eat or see gingersnaps again, but there I was, all ready to make chocolate chip cookies, when I realized I had no chocolate chips. There's a deterrent if I ever had one. I started poking through Joyand realized I had everything I needed to make gingersnaps; given Tracy was leaving for Prague the next day, I figured I'd make some in her honor. They turned out a bit cakier than I'd have liked, but I still ate them for breakfast for the next few days.