A Christmas morning, waking up to the silence of the house as I realize I’m the first one to wake, I walk into the room where my parents are sleeping, excitedly tip-toeing to their bed so I can wake them up. My sister comes in, my parents are slowly coming out of their coma-like sleep.

As we walk down the stairs, my dad suggests we make pancakes for breakfast. Everyone agrees and we begin. My gluten-free pancake mix, chocolate chips and eggs, all being mixed together to form the perfect texture to make the perfect pancakes. The sound of the batter splattering on the stove reminds me of all the times I’ve had these sweet and delicious pancakes.

After breakfast, everyone decides that we needed to make something good to have to keep us until dinner. Then my sister comes up with the great idea that we should make cookies, and we love the suggestion. My dad says that his grandma had an old gluten-free cookie recipe. We make sure we have all of the ingredients: butter, chocolate chips, milk, etc. As soon as we find these, we start to create one of the most sensational treats we will ever have. As soon as they come out of the oven, we know we are going to love them; the melted chips shining and producing an amazing smell I had never experienced before.

The first bite, I feel the chocolate melting in my mouth, becoming a liquid that tasted like it couldn’t have come from Earth. The cookie itself is just a vessel used to hold the magnificent taste that are the chocolate chips. From this point on, we make these cookies every Christmas, with the exact same recipe.

by RYAN KING