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That's the way the cookie crumbles. Have you ever wanted to get even with some large corporation for having done you wrong? We all probably have at some point. I remember a few years back, a department store chain named Dillards wouldn't give me a store credit on a gift that I received. Only if the internet had been as popular back then...I would have gotten my revenge! It's feelings like these that are at the heart of this story.
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| FWD: Free Neiman-Marcus Cookie Recipe This message is sent to you with the hope you will forward it to EVERYONE you have ever even seen the e-mail address of. In the spirit of the originator, please feel free to post it anywhere and everywhere. Okay, everyone. . . . a true story of justice in the good old U.S. of A. Thought y'all might enjoy this; if nothing else, it shows internet justice, if it can be called that. My daughter and I had just finished a salad at Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas & decided to have a small dessert. Because our family are such cookie lovers, we decided to try the "Neiman-Marcus Cookie." It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe and they said with a small frown, "I'm afraid not." Well, I said, would you let me buy the recipe? With a cute smile, she said, "Yes." I asked how much, and she responded, "Two-fifty." I said with approval, just add it to my tab. Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement from Neiman-Marcus and it was $285.00. I looked again and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two salads and about $20.00 for a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said, "Cookie Recipe - $250.00." Boy, was I upset!! I called Neiman's Accounting Dept. and told them the waitress said it was "two-fifty," and I did not realize she meant $250.00 for a cookie recipe. I asked them to take back the recipe and reduce my bill and they said they were sorry, but because all the recipes were this expensive so not just everyone could duplicate any of our bakery recipes . . . the bill would stand. I waited, thinking of how I could get even or even try and get any of my money back. I just said, "Okay, you folks got my $250.00 and now I'm going to have $250.00 worth of fun." I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover will have a $250.00 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus for nothing. She replied, "I wish you wouldn't do this." I said, "I'm sorry but this is the only way I feel I could get even," and I will. So, here it is, and please pass it to someone else or run a few copies... I paid for it; now you can have it for free. (Recipe may be halved.):
Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey bar and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies. Have fun!! This is not a joke --- this is a true story. That's it. Please, pass it along to everyone you know, single people, mailing lists, etc . . .
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| This story is truly a classic. According to Jan Brunvand, a very similar tale was popular back in the late 1940's. The mistake this time was for a fudge cake that cost the victim $25 (roughly equivalent to our $250 recipe above). The 1960's saw this original fudge cake tale mutate into a red-velvet cake from New York's famed Waldorf Astoria hotel. The bill for this recipe was a whopping $350. This victim's way of getting revenge was to distribute the recipe from coast-to-coast. By the late 1970's this tale re-emerged with Mrs. Fields and her chocolate chip cookies being in the spotlight. This tale of Mrs. Field's cookies became so popular in fact, that Debbie Fields had to posted a notice in all of her stores explaining that the story was just a false rumor. Today, the tale has shifted yet again, this time to Neiman Marcus. As with most urban legends, a little footwork to verify the facts of the story cause it to crumble apart. According to Barbara Mikkelson, of the San Fernando Valley Folklore Society, several things listed in the story do not hold true: 1) There is no "Neiman Marcus Cafe" at any of the three Dallas area stores. 2) Neiman Marcus does not sell recipes from it's restaurants, they give them away in the department store. 3) Until recently, there was no Neiman Marcus recipe for chocolate chip cookies (they developed a recipe to post on their website in response to this urban legend). And lastly, 4) Neiman Marcus does not take VISA. If it's any consolation to those who have fallen for this tale...the cookies are really quite good. -The Folklorist |
Links & References:
The Vanishing Hitchhiker (Brunvand, 1981), pgs. 154-160 Curses! Broiled Again (Brunvand, 1989), pgs. 221-224; 219-226 Too Good to be True (Brunvand, 1999), pgs 257-261 |
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