I have loved chocolate chip cookies as long as I can remember. Friends both young and old stop by my house on their way to and from work or school to get a cookie for the road. In 1993, when I began teaching at In The Beginning Fabrics, I noticed that people seldom brought a snack or dinner to class, even though many of my classes were from 6 to 9 p.m. and students came right from work. People smiled more when I started bringing cookies to class, so I've never stopped!

Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients, and mix well. (Taste the dough!)

Add 6 cups real chocolate chips (three 12-ounce bags!) (Taste the dough again!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Form rounded teaspoons of dough into balls and place them on a cookie sheet, flattening them slightly. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes. If you want your cookies chewy like mine, you want the cookies only slightly done when you remove them from the oven - just starting to crack on the tops. They will finish baking on the cookie sheet. Put only one cookie sheet in the oven at a time; the cookies will cook more evenly. Let the cookies cool for at least 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing them .