Ooh, this sounds like a toughie.

Unless, maybe ... is there a clue in your last line?

Hmmmm. Something just popped into my mind, involving a plant that they may have discovered. May be all wet on this, so will wait for more clues.

TM

I see where TM is going and will see what response he gets from, Cynthia.
My first thought was erosion and that leading to a more utilitarian invention. Like TM's trail better.

Well, not exactly, although there is a clue, but not in the last sentence unless you add an unspoken thought to it.

Time for another warm drink. I am out of tea and the sweetener I normally use, but everyone says I shouldn't use that artificial stuff anyway. Maybe hot chocolate and a treat while I watch Broadchurch. I can't figure out how to stream the Green Bay game on the tv. So sad.

Cynthia

Hmmmm......

Nancy.

OK, was thinking of papyrus and paper. Now I'll think again.

Hot chocolate twice must mean something.

TM

Shoot, I was thinking along the same lines as TM, back to the drawing board.

Annette

Well, Broadchurch is no happy Muppets show, is it? Wow.

Hot chocolate isn't the clue. There is a distant connection though to crossword puzzles which so many of us enjoy. A frequent answer is an example of the trivia answer

Cynthia

Does it start with an 'S'?

Annette

This is a sweet little puzzle, isn't it?

Why, yes, Nhbabs, it certainly is!

Not an 's' Annette. Oh well maybe partly actually come to think of it.

Cynthia

We are still thinking and discussing ideas. My brain is all fluff.

Frequent crossword puzzle answer makes me think of Oreo, which is a sweet treat for sure. Which makes me think of cacao pods, which aren't found in the middle east, are they? So that can't be it, can it?

TM

Think category, TM, not ingredients! You are there and you just haven't realized it.

I have decided that I need to eat a more rounded diet. That does not necessarily translate to healthier, though!

Cynthia

Hmmm, I was thinking sugar cane, are we talking a plant or a product?
Annette

That is exactly what the soldiers discovered Annette and I realized that was what you were probably thinking. Now, can you tell me what the Persians created after that discovery? Bet you can, especially if you team up with TM!

Cynthia

How about rÃÂhatol holqum :).

Annette

Something sweet no doubt. :-)

TM

I know our guide in turkey drank tea that had been boiled forever with sugar in it.....anything there?

Nancy.

From the clues it appears that they found sugar cane and how it could be turned into sugar and later sugar was turned into cookies.

Cookies it is. Our word for cookie comes from the Dutch koekje which translates to "little cake" and is related to the German kek. The British and French biscuit comes from the same root as the Italian biscotti (Latin=bis coctum= twice baked). There are many versions of cookies, but we all got them from the 7th c. Persians. Those soldiers found "reeds which produce honey without bees." The sugar cane was used by bakers in creating what was termed small cakes which spread to Europe during Spain's Moorish era. The British shortbread cookies are one of the simplest forms to make. Cookies came to North America through colonization. The first recipes for "cookies" were printed in Amelia Simmons 1796 cookbook, American Cookery. The types of cookies popular then are still popular today-shortbread cookies, gingerbread cookies{{gwi:807}}, and macaroons. As a side note, brownies were popular throughout the 19th c., but the first printed recipe appeared in the 1897 Sears{{gwi:807}} and Roebuck catalogue.

So for Bobbie, four stars. For Annette, Nancy, TM, and NHbabs, for knowing sugar cane (at least, it sounds as though you all had that), three stars.

Oh and Annette, had to look up your guess of Turkish Delight. Never heard the proper name for it! Thanks for improving my vocabulary!

These stars look exactly like the cookies my grandmother used to make. She had cookie cutters in the shapes of the suits in a deck of cards and she rolled them out so thinly-my favorites!

Have a wonderful week everyone. We have a two-hour delay this morning, so now I need to get moving{{gwi:9241}}!

Cynthia

This post was edited by cyn427 on Mon, Jan 12, 15 at 8:14

Good one Cyn, LOL cookies did come to mind but discarded that thinking cookies was too simple an answer. Good on you Bobbie for coming up with the correct answer. Thanks for the fun, see you all next weekend.

Annette

Thanks for the stars and fun. Was thinking of marshmallows until the Oreo and round clues. No cookies :-( at our party Saturday but 3 kinds of quick breads and crustless pumpkin pie. :-).

Bright and sunny here with cool temps but above zero and heading to the mid thirties by the weekend!

Ha, thought my Muppets clue would get you all thinking of the Cookie Monster!

Cynthia

Cookies! What a surprising and fun answer. I didn't really have sugar cane until Annette wrote it and even when I read cookies in Bobbie's answer it sounded too simple to be true. So maybe I deserve two stars, if that, but thanks for being charitable, Cynthia.

The weather people are predicting -14 F for us tonight. Brrrrrrrr.

TM

Totally missed the round clue. Not sure I deserve stars, but I was thinking of sugar - lol. Thanks for the fun!!

Nancy.