What it takes to make a strong impression: from holidays to house-hunting

What do homemade cookies and real estate have in common?

More than just the fact that they both need a kitchen…

While reflecting on the holiday season, expert Cambridge agent & local baker, Laura Palumbo-Hanson, does not hesitate when extracting a show-stopping recipe from her mental Rolodex.

Like a repetitive jingle in her ear, after trying the savory-sweet morsels, friends, family members, colleagues and clients ask her, could you kindly send over your secret recipe!

Laura does not worry about the outcome of the baking reenactment from her shared cookie-making-plan, although she knows that the lengthy list of ingredients may scare readers away from crafting a batch themselves. So, she reminds them to brave the storm of a multi-step process and believe in the trialed system! Their hesitation reminds her of a picture painted by some of her clients in the real estate space, carefully hanging up pieces of caution tape around a lengthy list of plans and procedures outlined for the best results in buying or selling a home.

But, that’s the beauty of a carefully curated achievement, Laura says, speaking to both baking and real estate transactional experiences. Sometimes you need to look past the tedious list of to-dos advised by the expert in order to indulge in your highly satisfying end result.

After all, there is a reason why most people settle into the kitchen of their newly purchased hidden gem without the advice or cookie sheet fueled by the store-bought Pillsbury doughboy. The shortcuts may be tempting, but trusting in the process while producing from scratch will always create a more custom and delicious treat.

A COOKIE- SHOWSTOPPING RECIPE FOR YOUR HOLIDAY (OR, ANYTIME) HOUSE PARTIES

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cup flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup softened unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 3/4 cup dried cherries
• 3/4 cup good quality (Ghirardelli) semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup English toffee bits (Heath Bits ‘O Brickle Toffee bits), NOT w/ milk chocolate
• 3/4 cup toasted chopped pecan

PROCEDURE

• Preheat oven 350*
• In medium bowl, sift flour, salt, and soda together
• Set aside In medium bowl stir together oats, cherries, choc.chips, toffee bits, and pecans
• Using an electric mixer, in a large bowl, combine butter and sugars until light and fluffy, add egg and vanilla mixing until fully incorporated.
• Gradually blend in flour.
• Stir oat mixture into batter.
• Place heaping tablespoon 2” apart on a greased cookie sheet.
• Bake 8-10 minutes.
• Allow to “rest” on cookie sheet ~ 1 minute, transfer to cooling rack.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.