Dee went on a Civil Rights Pilgrimage during the Summer of 2005. One of the most impactful moments was visiting the Edmund Pettus Bridge. And though the late John Lewis (the star of what we publicly know about the Selma to Montgomery Marches) is one of her personal heroes, she has never forgotten that it was the women who got the job done. This month marks the 59th anniversary of the series of marches we have come to refer to as Bloody Sunday.
So we have made a cookie in the style of an Ebenezer (literal meaning Stone of Help, figurative meaning memorial stone). The cookie is meant to call to mind of the monument of stones at the foot of the Edmund Pettus bridge in memory of Amelia Boynton Robinson, Marie Foster, Annie Lee Cooper, and the many nameless women who made the movement possible.
The carving on the stone installation is from a passage in the Hebrew Bible in which the Israelites had just crossed the parted Jordan River on dry land. It reads as follows
When your children shall ask you in the time to come saying, "What mean these 12 stones?" Then you shall tell them how you made it over. (Joshua 4:21-22, paraphrased)
The Ebenezer Cookie is a shortbread to which we've added pulverized roasted black sesame seeds and dried lemon powder. The cookie has a subtle earthiness and enough of a punch to surprise and uplift you all at once. While the Ebenezer Cookie intentionally mimics the aesthetic of stone, it brings a brightness intended to remind us that the women of the movement sacrificed everything to help our country see who we truly were and to give us the opportunity to overcome the bonds of oppression that were doing devastating harm to both the oppressed and the oppressor.
sold by the half dozen
pairing suggestions: sweetened whipped cream, Kahlua, unsalted butter, honey
Ingredients: Flour (Organic Unbleached Wheat Flour, Organic Unbleached Barley Flour), Sugar, Butter (Cream, Natural Flavors), Eggs, Roasted Black Sesame Seed, Limoncello, Cornstarch, Lemon Juice, Lemon Oil, Lemon Zest, Citric Acid, Sea Salt. Contains Wheat, Eggs, Sesame and Milk May contain vanilla