The Cookie Lady

Flour, eggs, sugar is recipe for kindness

By Jillian Brackett / Special to The Independent Friday, Mar. 28, 2008

Wherever she goes, Dorothy Narinian, barely 5 feet tall, leaves a big impression.

And usually a batch of cookies.

Walking through the corridors of the Clovis Senior Center, 84-year-old "Dot" stops every couple of steps to greet or joke with fellow seniors.

Several quip along the way, "You watch out for that one," or "She'll keep you on your toes. That Dot's a feisty one."

And it's her feisty way that seems to win the hearts of nearly all who know her.

"She is highly respected among her peers," said Lynn Bawdon, community services manager at the senior center. "Dorothy is seen as a community leader who gives from the heart."

And Narinian's favorite way to give: bake cookies.

In fact, her cookie-baking services to the senior center, the fire department, the Clovis City Council, the police department and the Clovis City Round-Up, among others, won her the official title of "The Cookie Lady" earlier this year by a City Council resolution.

She brought her cookies to that meeting, too.

And she's still shocked by the recognition. "A name of my own! Imagine that! Gosh!" she said, delivering a hearty pat on the leg to her questioner. Bawdon said Dorothy is a reminder that, "volunteerism is still strong. It's deep within all of us, it's a way to give back. It's what makes Clovis such a special community."

Bawdon said the council and the senior center were anxious to recognize the many people who serve. And Dorothy was among those at the top of the list.

"She's made cookies for every special event at the senior center," Bawdon said. "What's really special is that she makes cookies for those behind the scenes, for people who make deliveries to the center or to people who provide transportation."

Dorothy can't seem to stop herself when she gets her hands on eggs and flour and sugar. "I can't say no!" she said with a mixture of humor and exasperation.

Among her specialties are crescents, persimmon cookies and peppermint stripe brownies. "Baking cookies keeps me busy, and besides, everyone loves my cookies!" she said.

It's those small gestures that Lee Kraft, Clovis fire department battalion chief, said make a big difference.

"I think we're a little spoiled," Kraft said. "It really makes the guys feel good when people make cookies for them. It means the community appreciates the job that we do. It makes the guys feel like we're connected."

Dorothy first started coming to the senior center five years ago at the prompting of her nephew. After the death of her husband and sister, she had no one left to care for. But the senior center had plenty.

"I remember thinking, 'She's a little firecracker,' " Bawdon said of their introduction. "She didn't want to come at first, but after a while, she fit in quite well."

Dorothy now spends most mornings at the senior center helping out in any way she can. She serves milk, helps decorate for the holidays and leaves plenty of time to joke with the staff.

"She watches over them," Bawdon said of her caring for the many seniors at the center.

Born to immigrant Armenians, Dorothy's father was a baker and she remembers working in his Boston bakery bagging unleavened cracker bread and pita bread for delivery.

She tells the story of her father, then living in Armenia, saving the lives of five friends by bribing Turkish soldiers with his pita bread during the Armenian Holocaust.

She tells her own story of getting caught in a snowstorm that forced her to walk miles to safety, barely evading frostbite. It's why she loves mild Clovis winters, she said.

Before anyone knows it, she's off again.

Back to the kitchen.

"She's one of those special people who loves to do things for others. It gives her energy," Bawdon said.

RECIPE: Dorothy Narinian’s Crescents

1/2 pound (just a little less) sweet butter

1 cup sour cream

2 cups flour

1 cup crushed walnuts

1 cup sugar

Cinnamon to taste

Powdered sugar

Cream together butter and sour cream. Add flour and mix thoroughly. Divide dough into five parts and roll into balls. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight. The next day open and spread balls as thin as possible into circles.

In a bowl mix together crushed walnuts, sugar and cinnamon. Brush circles of dough lightly with butter and sprinkle with the walnut mixture. Cut each circle into eight wedges. Roll each wedge from widest side to smallest, like a crescent roll. Brush tops lightly with butter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Top with powdered sugar and serve.

Friendly Faces is an occasional series about people in Clovis who make it a great place to live. To nominate someone to be profiled in this series, please e-mail Patti J. Lippert at plippert@clovisindependent.com.