Ah, The Times. Often, so behind the times. Oh, sure, I'm still an avid reader. But occasionally I just shake my head, like: they're just now discovering this phenomenon? (See: hipster librarians, Philadelphia's awesomeness, and the latest: Insomnia Cookies).
Insomnia Cookies is the brainchild of some UPenn students who smartly thought that college kids, up late cramming for finals, might crave warm cookies delivered to their door. Bam, the company was born. It has now expanded to thirteen campuses and offers more than just cookies (brownies and cookie cakes, anyone?)
Of course, being the non-furry, female version of Cookie Monster (actually, scratch that: aren't all the Sesame Street puppets sort of androgynous?), I was an avid orderer of Insomnia's treats during college. Sadly, this consumption of delicious cookies usually was prompted by a desperate sugar craving, always followed by a crazy binge and a resulting stomachache and guilt. ("Insomnia Cookies - now with a free side of guilt!")
Eh, but I digress. Binges aside, these are some darn good cookies, if you don't mind occasional glitches in service. One night, nearly two hours after I'd ordered - and nearly given up - there was a knock at my apartment door. A sweaty, bearded boy on a track bike stood outside, holding a small pizza box. I tipped him well - maybe the poor thing could save up for a car! - and settled down in my pjs to consume my bounty. The cookies, from being boxed right out of the oven and then jostled around en route to my place, were slightly dented and sorry-looking. But somehow, as I savored the decadence of peanut butter, double-chocolate chip, and white chocolate-macadamia nut, this made them better. I
A fraking amazing Battlestar Galactica cake
Iced Tea 101
Pierogies + cheese + onions + kraut = Parmageddon!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-02-2008 @ 5:37PM
tohster said...
It's not like this was really an original Insomnia brainchild either -- back in the early 90s there were two competing cookie delivery services at Cornell, and Dan's delivered the cookies with rich milk fresh from the Cornell Agricultural College's own dairies. I still have cravings for this combo on occasion.
I think the NYT's radar was belatedly piqued by the expansion beyond academia into the wilds of Manhattan. It's a local paper, after all... :)
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4-02-2008 @ 5:37PM
Big John said...
The Insomnia on my campus is awful. Horrible service, often screw up the order and are leagues less than 'friendly'. It's too bad, really.
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4-02-2008 @ 8:02PM
Liz Petty said...
I'm a senior at Syracuse University -- we have an Insomnia Cookies place on Marshall Street, our big college stores area. It's combined with TastyDelight, which serves ice cream. You can order both cookies and ice cream online at campusfood.com. I think Food Network did an episode of "Unwrapped" that featured Insomnia Cookies. It was reported in the school newspaper, The Daily Orange, that the group would be coming to Syracuse to check out our Insomnia store, but I don't think they ever did. Bummer.
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4-02-2008 @ 9:46PM
julie said...
There's an Insomnia Cookie at Michigan State and it's kind of terrible. The cookies are awful and when you order them on campus food, it's ridiculously expensive.
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4-02-2008 @ 9:48PM
Ellen Slattery said...
Wow, I guess I just assumed that they used the same recipe and baking time on every campus, but apparently there's huge differences!
Thanks for the feedback, everybody.
Ellen
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4-07-2008 @ 10:25PM
B.L.M said...
We had one of these while I was at the University of Illinois (not sure if it is still there). The cookies were spectacular and perfect for those late nights.
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4-28-2008 @ 12:59PM
cookiemobster said...
The NYU franchise took FOUR HOURS to arrive. I'd think it a fluke but I see all over the boards that they're really bad.
When we called, they said, "On its way" about three times before we just gave up. Really frustrating and totally disappointing.
I bet they're tasty, but I don't think we'll be giving them our business anytime soon.
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