My Very Own “Nestlé Toulouse” Moment

If you’re a Friends fan, you probably remember the episode where Monica begs Phoebe for her grandmother’s legendary chocolate chip cookie recipe. Phoebe, sworn to secrecy by her French grandmother “Nestlé Toulouse,” finally agrees to share it… only for a fire to destroy the recipe. Cue Monica trying to reverse‑engineer the world’s greatest cookie from a single frozen leftover, Joey eating the evidence, and the big reveal that the treasured family recipe came straight off the back of a Nestlé Toll House bag.

Well, I had my own “Nestlé Toulouse” moment recently.

I had baked a batch of my “famous” chocolate chip oatmeal cookies to take to game night with Kerry and Andy — mostly because I know Kerry loves cookies and I enjoy being everyone’s favorite snack‑bringer. A week later, Kerry texted me asking if I’d be willing to share the recipe.

I laughed to myself, walked over to the cabinet, and pulled down my canister of Quaker Oats. I popped off the lid, took a screenshot of the recipe printed right there on the inside, and sent it to her. I do tweak it a bit — chocolate chips instead of raisins (because raisins are objectively wrong in cookies) and a generous sprinkle of cinnamon before baking — but still. There it was. My “secret family recipe.”

Kerry seemed to be expecting something handwritten on a stained index card, passed down through generations of master bakers. And I had to admit, with a little shrug, that this is our family recipe.

I don’t come from a long line of culinary geniuses. I come from a long line of lovely, strong, big‑hearted women who tried really hard to cook something edible for the people they loved. Good baking seems to be a recessive gene in our family — one my daughter thankfully inherited, because she’s an incredible baker and cook.

So yes, my famous chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are brought to you by my “Uncle” Quaker’s recipe. And honestly, I’m not mad about it.

Here’s to all the Nestlé Toll House and Quaker Oats relatives out there — the ones who may not have passed down legendary recipes, but passed down love, effort, and the joy of feeding people anyway.

Do any of you have a "family" recipe that you'd like to share with us here at kicking the chaos?