I like it on the stovetop

As you may have already caught on from the many provocative Facebook statuses gone viral, it is the month of Pinktober.

Beantown Baker is promoting a wonderful idea, and I've just learned she's been carrying it out for the past three years now. Her blog is holding a contest called "The Power of Pink," in which she challenges food bloggers to make something pink to commemorate this very important month where we come together to recognize the grave impacts of breast cancer around the world and join to find a cure.

I immediately caught notice of her chocolate cookies studded with pink M&Ms and couldn't resist making a batch of my own. Raising awareness can be decadently sweet.

Miss Strawberry approves

Let's get real though, we shouldn't create breast cancer into just some pink cliche.

The origin of the pink actually came from a 68-year-old woman by the name of Charlotte Haley whose daughter, sister, and grandmother all had breast cancer. During the early 1990s, she made thousands of pink ribbons to distribute to people with cards that read "The National Cancer Institute annual budget is $1.8 billion, only 5 percent goes for cancer prevention. Help us wake up our legislators and America by wearing this ribbon."

Did you know that a woman dies of breast cancer every 69 seconds...?

Thankfully, there are hundreds of organizations that work to raise awareness and/or research cures. The one most everyone is likely familiar with is Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which is an organization inspired by the late Susan G. Komen, who was a woman diagnosed with breast cancer but fought it with so much compassion that her sister vowed to continue Susan's fight by uniting people to raise as much funds as possible for research and to encourage prevention.

However, like I said, there are really hundreds of organizations that may not be as globally recognized and draw in as many millions of dollars but are equally significant in their activism.

A local organization here in Western PA called Adagio Health provides free screenings for breast and cervical cancer for uninsured women (along with a variety of other health services for women). Men and women are encouraged to get regular screenings; it's advised that you get one every three years after the age of 20 and every year once you reach the age of 40.

Pink desserts are lovely, but they're lovelier if they actually push you to dig deeper into the cause and push you to take care of yourself!

But...sometimes taking care of yourself can be treating yourself to cute and sweetlicious cookies (in moderation). *smiles*

Enjoy these and schedule that mammogram!!

Recipe adapted from one found on All Recipes.

I halved the recipe but kept the amount of vanilla to the full teaspoon, and I added half a tablespoon of coffee granules to enhance the chocolate. I used semisweet chocolate chips but may opt for milk or dark chocolate next time to tone down the sweetness. The pink M&Ms were only added on the top rather than mixed into the batter. P.S. These are the PERFECT cookies to be accompanied by a cold glass of milk!