With dreams of jumping out of airplanes, Christy Schultz was just 16 years old when she enlisted in the U.S. Army. High school graduation was looming, and she was trying to decide what to do.

“Unsure where my path would take me after high school, a recruitment video of an airborne operation caught my eye. The recruiter asked if I wanted to serve and I said I want to do something different and adventurous and told him that I would enlist if he could find a job that guaranteed that I would be able to jump out of airplanes,“ Schultz said.

After basic training and jump school, Schultz trained as a parachute rigger, and then was deployed to the border of Saudi Arabia and Iraq for the Gulf War.

While deployed, Schultz said she realized how far she was from home and everyone she knew. That’s why, when she received a care package from her mom, she knew that someone was thinking of her back home.

“My first care package came with reminders from home like letters from friends and family, but also a tin of cookies from my mom. Peanut butter cookies were my favorite, but I asked her to add chocolate chips,” said Schultz.

Unfortunately, the cookies didn’t make it intact, as they were no match for military transport and the hot desert sun.

“I opened up the tin to find the cookies to be melted crumbs. They were still delicious and I and the rest of my squad appreciated every last morsel,” Schultz said.

Schultz’s cookie, “Mom’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies,” is one of 37 recipes in the 2021 We Energies Cookie Book, which celebrates military service. The book includes featured recipes from members of the U.S. armed forces and special sections from Wisconsin’s own 128th Air Refueling Wing and other organizations that support our troops.

During her deployment, Schultz received cookies from home numerous times, but she says the cookies never made it to her in one piece, despite her mom’s best packing efforts. We encourage you to bake her cookie this holiday season; we hear they are delicious, either in crumbs or intact.

This year marks the 93rd anniversary of the Cookie Book’s first publication in 1928. There have been more than 50 versions of the Cookie Book over the years. In 2020, we distributed Cookie Books to nearly 200,000 customers.

Download this year’s book and find our distribution schedule and more.