Dierdre had a late meeting with Miles in the conference room on Monday. The Boomers were long gone, headed for the 40th anniversary celebration over at Mr. Days Sports Bar in Clarenden. She was concerned about product placement in the Dailies and her role as bringing the old Vibrant Cuisine messaging stream that Jinny Martin had been doing with the Chairman up until her passing a decade ago.

Miles had not yet picked up his role as Section Lead, so Dierdre walked him through the history of the Cook Book. She clocked the remote and a trip-tique slide appearded at the North End of the Conference Room.

“These images are of Jinny Martin in her glamour years. She was one of American Airlines first Stews, and was featured in the Tulsa World. She was also involved in protecting animal rights. You can see that she had a fondness for the big cats. That picture with the cat was taken when she was married to Barney Martin, first head of the Naval Investigative Service, or what we know today as NCIS.”

“Barnie died in the 1970s, didn’t he?”

“Yep.” dee nodded slowly. “That is when the adventure with The Chairman started. She was dating Vice Admiral “Rex” Rectanus at the time. He was trying to get his book “Long Shadows to print. It was a cool tale of World War Two life on a minesweeper that flowed into the Cold War and his role as Bud Zumwalt’s intel chief in Vietnam.”

“So, she didn’t want Rex to be alone in his racce to rpint and she came up with a great idea. Her husband Barnie had been the Assistant Naval Attache in Moscow in the late 1960s, and she was responsible for coming up with good food when Barnie would say things like “The Romanians are stopping by for drinks tonight.Can you rustle sxomething up?”

Miles smiled. “If you could come up with some of Jinny’s recipes we might be able to do something with them. The 40th anniversary at Mr. Day’s could go along with the Double Doozie special at Great American Cookies. They have been doing their two fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies with a thick layer of vanilla icing in between since 1986.”

Miles smiled. “If you want to do a cookie recipe for The Daily we can het to that. But what happened to the Rex Book? He died in 2016, right?”

Dee slide the remote across the table in the general direction of Mile’s coffee mug, and rose to head for the Galley. “I’m on it for this edition of the Double Doozie. Stand by for Cookies!”

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ cup unsalted butter (softened)
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1½ cups chocolate chips

FILLING
1 cup vanilla frosting (store-bought or whipped in-house)
INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
Mix dry: flour, baking soda, salt. Set aside.
Cream butter + sugars until smooth and slightly fluffy.
Add eggs + vanilla, blend until glossy.
Fold in dry mix, then chocolate chips.
Scoop medium rounds onto baking sheet.
Bake 10–12 minutes until edges are golden, centers soft.
Cool completely (critical—this is structure, not improvisation).
Assemble:
One cookie down
Thick layer of vanilla frosting
Second cookie on top
Gentle press (command authority, not force)

FIELD NOTES
Best served slightly chilled—the frosting sets like purpose.
Pairs well with coffee, late decisions, and inherited responsibility.
Accept no substitutes for the center layer—it’s the story.
SERVICE LINE
From Moscow tables…
to Arlington conference rooms…
to The Daily.

Stand by for Cookies.

Copyright 2026 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com