Psychologically speaking, these girls may have baked their brains, too

"It certainly seemed like a reasonable idea to us," said the middle-aged woman, sitting across from a counselor at a small table in the corner of the room. "So we did something that you say no other family in America would consider doing. Big deal. Maybe more people should be that dedicated to a family project. Just deal with it. That's what I say."

"It wasn't just a family project," replied the counselor. "It's a disturbing obsession that's far beyond a healthy line of thinking. You need proper perspective on this matter."

The aggravated woman stood up, turned away from the counselor and began to shuffle across the room toward the doors she had entered. Her feet were in shackles separated by a short chain, and her hands bound together in front of her. When she neared the doors, a man in uniform took her by the arm, turned her around, and led her back to the table. "Sweetie, you need to listen to this fine gentleman," he said.

It is difficult to blame the woman, who finds herself in surroundings she has never experienced. This is a home for lunacy, madness, insanity, mental illness -- phenomenons that twist the mind into executing outrageous behaviors. The woman is accused of just that as she and her three daughters now spend their days in a mental health institution miles from home.

"Holiday baking with family should mean dozens of cookies, not thousands," the counselor told the woman. "We've discussed this. You're not a global manufacturer of cookies and fudge. You're a single family baking in a small kitchen. Your name isn't Sara Lee."

The woman and her children produced a staggering total of 2,438 goodies in 14 varieties last weekend, breaking their record of 2,084 from last year. The insane quantities finally caused state mental health officials to raid the house Sunday night and take the girls into protective custody, as well as several platefuls of peanut butter blossoms, butterscotch drops and buried cherries.

"Aside from trying to talk some sense into you," the counselor said to the woman, "the reason I'm here is to inform you that your family is being released today. The physical evidence confiscated from your house has strangely disappeared. Our officers say they don't know where all the cookies went, but there are crumbs all over their guilty faces. You're free to go."