The cookies that unite California's politicians, no matter their party
Michaelson gifts every guest who treks up to Fox 11's West L.A. studios for his weekly public affairs show 'The Issue Is' a box of the desserts. We're talking former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, billionaire Rick Caruso, L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman, Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi and dozens of other political heavyweights on both sides of the proverbial aisle. U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) once brought a bag of Porto's to Michaelson's team in gratitude for all the cookies and brownies he had received over the years. Former Congress member and current California gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter sent Elex's mom, Crystal, a handwritten thank-you note.
'Every single time I see [L.A. County Sheriff] Robert Luna, he brings them up without fail,' Michaelson said with pride in a phone interview.
One not-so-famous person who has been lucky enough to enjoy them? Me.
Elex recently gave me a box when I appeared on 'The Issue Is' just after U.S. Border Patrol sector chief Gregory Bovino, who took time off from bloviating about the border to accept the goodies because even la migra gets sweets, I guess.
Crystal Michaelson's cookies and brownies are worthy of a stall at the Hollywood farmers market, and I'm not saying that just so I can appear on 'The Issue Is' again soon.
The cookies last time around were blondies studded with chocolate chips and M&Ms. Slightly toasted on the outside, chewy on the inside, thick yet airy and spiked with an extra dash of vanilla, the blondies were beautiful. Just as delicious were the brownies, all about the firm, dark-chocolate-derived fudge that crackled with each bite. Both featured a generous sprinkling of sea salt, the crystals perfectly cutting through all the sugar and butter.
They didn't last the drive back to Orange County.
When Elex took his mom to a holiday party hosted by then-Vice President Kamala Harris some years back, most of the movers and shakers greeted her with the same enthusiasm they showed her son because of what she bakes.
'I'm not really a baker!' insisted Crystal, an artist by trade. She makes the goodies every Thursday afternoon, the day before 'The Issue Is' tapes, with an occasional assist by Elex. 'But it's turned into a whole thing!'
The tradition dates back to elementary school, when Crystal treated Elex's teachers and classmates to them as 'a thank you.' Elex took some to the first and last day of his college internship for Fox 11 to hand out to the newsroom, then repeated the gesture when he worked at XETV in San Diego and ABC 7 in Los Angeles before returning to Fox 11.
'Their first and last impression of me,' he said, 'were these cookies.'
Michaelson repeated the move every day for the first week of 'The Issue Is.' The inaugural guests were Newsom, then-Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff (now California's junior U.S. senator), and commentator Areva Martin.
'Everyone loved the cookies so much that they joked, 'We won't return unless we get more cookies,'' Michaelson said.
The crew insisted they get treated to them one more week, 'and my mom just never really stopped since then,' even baking and shipping them to regular guests during the COVID era as a Christmas gift.
'One of the only things that seems to unite Republicans and Democrats [in California] is these cookies and brownies,' Elex said. 'There's nothing like the unifying power of food to bring people together to not just talk, but listen to each other.'
Crystal gets a shout-out in the show's closing credits for 'cookies, brownies and moral support.' She learned the recipes as a teen, from a family friend. They're baked in a Pyrex baking dish, sliced into squares, then put in cardboard boxes that she decorates by writing, 'The Issue Is ... '
People have suggested Crystal sell them, but she declines: 'I'm not a baker.'
For now, she's flattered by all the attention — Newsom once wrote a letter on his official letterhead raving about them. The only issue she sees with them …is Elex.
'He eats them too much,' Crystal said. 'I've said before that maybe I should make them a little bit healthier. And everyone said, 'No, don't do that!''
Today's photo of the day is from photographer Tyler Matthew Oyer of a 200-person literary reading inside of a pool at the Korean Spa.
Jim Rainey, staff writerDiamy Wang, homepage internIzzy Nunes, audience internKevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorAndrew Campa, Sunday writerKarim Doumar, head of newsletters
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