This past week, I stumbled on an article that prompted me to revisit my crochet “Peanut Blossom” cookie.

In 1957, Freda Smith participated in the ninth annual Pillsbury Bake-Off entering the now classic cookie that has a peanut butter dough topped off with a chocolate kiss.

A now lesser known cookie called “Accordion Treats,” won the competition, and the creator of that long-forgotten cookies walked off with $45,000 while Freda Smith, who is undoubtedly responsible for the sale of many millions of Hershey’s Kisses (not to mention millions of jars of peanut butter) won nothing for her efforts.

When I was working on my first cookieghan, I immortalized Freda Smith’s creation in crochet, and today I worked on perfecting this culinary gem:

While I spent some of this afternoon working to perfect my rendition of Freda Smith’s “Peanut Blossom,” I spent this past summer crocheting an afghan based on my grandmother’s life:

Like Freda Smith’s “Peanut Blossom” cookie, my afghan did not win any prizes or mention at the state fair. It did, however, catch the eye of Kathryn Vercillo, who (like me) blogs about her love of crochet, and she awarded my 2014 North Carolina State Fair project “The Best Creative Crochet Art Project,” for 2014.

It is an absolute delight to have my work recognized by Ms. Vercillo.

To say that she is tireless in her efforts to promote crochet is an understatement, and her encouragement is a reminder to me, in this season of giving, that sometimes the most important gift is the one where we acknowledge of the humanity and efforts of those around us who do the many things (large and small) that make it possible for us to carry on with our lives.