The first time I fell in love, it was with cookies. My admirer made me homemade Chocolate Chip Cherry Cookies and gave them to me at my work. I was a very chatty twenty-year-old barista who was left speechless. They were delicious and I made him a thank-you card. For the next week, I spent all of my free time in the coffee shop waiting for him to come in so I could give it to him. When he did, he sat down, we talked, and from that moment I was so in love I couldn’t breathe. I was young and happy, and as the years moved forward I just knew we would grow old together. And then we didn’t. He decided he wanted to be old with someone else. The heartbreak that accompanies the loss of first love is utterly devastating and hurts in a bright, raw, searing sort of way. Eventually, as everyone does, I grew and changed and could see that our end was a blessing, but I didn’t stop wanting Chocolate Chip Cherry Cookies. So I made my own. This is the first recipe I ever wrote. It was inspired by love and heartbreak and the desire to leave every experience a little bit better than how I came to it.