With a Name Like 'Cookie,' It Has to be Good

With a name like "Cookie" it's only natural to be, well, a natural in the kitchen.

That certainly is true for 15-year-old Rebecca Treisman whose talents have taken off in the kitchen as well as in driver's education.

Rebecca has been cooking since she was 4, when she could manipulate her EZ Bake Oven, creating her first off-the-recipe creations.

“She first really started baking with her grandmother in Michigan, who was always trying to perfect the no-fat chocolate chip cookie for grandpa’s health regimen,” mother Ruth Treisman, who also serves as the Shorewood School Board vice president, said. "She has a good disposition to working in the kitchen, as she has a kind heart, and is very flexible. At the root of it all, she bakes for others."

Rebecca says she was dubbed "Cookie" at a young age.

"It’s sort of been my nickname ever since,” she said.

In addition to the nickname, Rebecca says there is a family legacy of talented chefs, with two uncles who are professionals and graduates of culinary schools.

A graduate of Mary Kay Anderson’s cake decorating classes through the Shorewood Recreation Department, Rebecca created the cake for the all-class Shorewood alumni reunion two years in a row, impressing the group with both her generosity and talent. 

“I finished the advanced decorating class last year, and have been a volunteer helping out other classes for the last 2-3 years,” she said. “Mary Kay Anderson was a really good teacher, and I learned a lot. I’m personally going to miss her. She was inspiring.”

Rebecca say she doesn't like the clean-up that comes with cooking.

“If I bake, instead of cook dinner or something, I can usually get away with soaking the pans," she said. "My mom will get sick of looking at them and will clean up for me. Plus everyone has something to munch on while they’re helping clean up.”

Rebecca adds her passion for cooking and creating health-conscious recipes to , Shorewood resident Kathy Papineau’s effort to bring locally sourced, nutritious food to tables in Shorewood and its environs. Together they are working on perfecting the recipe for a gluten free, soy free, vegan mushroom burger that would be delicious, and would finally offer vegans or healthy folks an alternative to the burger or the often high-soy and high-gluten veggie burger. 

Rebecca says she'll be driving around the MKE Localicious truck, after she gets her driver's permit in August.