Welcome Home Me!
For the last month
I have been in lala land
Otherwise known as Israel,
Or more accurately in my case..h
the land of many restaurants, my family, adventures with Tunie B.,
& the place I can conveniently take
A mini mind vacation…
I like to say…twice a year I make aliya..for my mind & soul ….& stomach
But alas with in a 24 hr. span of time…
I have gone from wearing flip-flops on the beaches of Netanya
To wearing boots to my local starbucks.
And like the cold wind that blew through me briskly as the planes exit doors opened
Reality has rushed in to meet me, her cold sign “you are back” displayed prominently at the arrival gate
No time to be wasted
in staking her welcome home claim.
But truthfully it is good to be back
I missed cooking in my kitchen
Really missed it….I know oddly you must all be sick of it
But this yom tov..
Nothing brought those lonely birds on faster…than realizing
I dont have a “family” too cook for
And Holidays as I have come to cherish and appreciate it…
Has just not been the same…as when I was married
So when I walked into my kitchen after
4 weeks of no cooking…
and saw my empty cookie jar …
The small creeping crack in its glass..
Reminding me of its shameful neglect…
I decided to welcome myself home…
Fill up my house
My cookie jar
My cold reality…
With the smell of sinfully chocolately delicious things.
All good things in life I willingly take in small doses…one cookie at a time
Chocolate +Peanut butter + Oatmeal = recipe for a happy welcoming home!

The Best Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Recipe EVER:

My mother gave me the Dorie Greenspan cookbook “Baking From My Home To Yours” a few years into having my restaurant Tastebuds. Admittedly many of her recipes ended up in one form or another in my pastry case.

These cookies were one of those that we could not make fast enough, and sold them by the dozen for parties and gifts. They are the perfect chocolate chip oatmeal cookie for dunking in a large glass of milk. The use of peanut butter in the recipe just make them all the more decadent and fantastically delicious.

Yesterday….I just had to make them. It was the first cookie recipe that came
to mind when thoughts of filling up my jar were a MUST – DO.
They freeze well and are very simple to make, but you must keep an eye on
them and take them out of the oven when you see them turning lightly brown (otherwise you will be eating burnt cookies)

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters
(from “Baking From My Home to Yours” by Dorie Greenspan)
Makes 24 large cookies 60 standard cookies

3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature ( I used margarine to keep things pareve)
1 cup peanut butter, chunky or smooth (but not natural)
1 cup sugar
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 1/2 cups store-bought semi-sweet chocolate chips

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, spices and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, beating only until blended. Mix in the chips. If you have the time, cover and chill the dough for about 2 hours or for up to one day. (Chilling the dough will give you more evenly shaped cookies.)

If the dough is not chilled, drop rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the baking sheets. If the dough is chilled, scoop up rounded tablespoons, roll the balls between your palms and place them 2 inches apart on the sheets. Press the chilled balls gently with the heel of your hand until they are about 1/2 inch thick.

(I used a standard ice cream scooper to make larger cookies – placing 3 scoops to a row)

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back after 7 minutes. The cookies should be golden and just firm around the edges. Lift the cookies onto cooling racks with a wide metal spatula – they’ll firm as they cool.

Repeat with the remaining dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

Storing: Wrapped airtight or piled into a cookie jar, the cookies will keep at room temperature for about 4 days. Wrapped and frozen, they’ll be good for 2 months.