ArtChix

Last night I had a good dose of art and culture. Joe's aunt Barbara founded the ArtChix. A sort of book club geared to art. She presented a wonderful slide show with works of art from the Victorian Era. Then we headed to the Dallas Museum of Art, where we enjoyed painting and photography from the mid 1800's. It was very interesting to see a painting right next to it's photograph counterpart. The artist would simply leave out things they didn't like. For some reason it never occurred to me, that they would do that. And have always silently wondered where they found these wonderful empty landscapes. Silly me.

We all shared some of our favorite foods, mine being Monica's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Everybody was raving about them (which is not surprising), and asking for the recipe. So I got it from Monica's blog, so everyone can make these fabuless cookies.

Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies (makes about 4 dozen)

2 1/2 c. blended Oatmeal (measure after it's blended)
1 c. Butter
1 c. Brown Sugar
1 c. Granulated Sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
2 c Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Powder
12 oz Chocolate Chips
4 oz grated Hershey bars (or white, butterscotch, M&M's or any other chocolaty goodness)
1 1/2 c. Chopped nuts

1. Blend oatmeal in a blender, making 2 1/2 cups of fine powder.
2. Mix the Butter and both Sugars until creamy.
3. Add eggs and vanilla, and blend.
4. Mix the Flour, Baking Soda, Salt, and Baking Powder, and add to the above. Mix quickly. Don't over mix.
5. Fold in Chocolate Chips, Hershey bars, and Nuts.
6. Place cookie dough balls 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.
7. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges.

If you don't want to bake all of the cookies, make a dough "log", and freeze it. Then, when you want quick cookies, slice off 1/2" slices, and bake for about 15-17 minutes.

I just love how you get the nuttiness of the oatmeal, without having to chew on big chunks of it. Plus, these are very crunchy (they remind me of those super expensive cookies you can get at grocery stores, like Pepperidge farm)

Thanks again for the recipe, Monica! These are my favorite chocolate chip cookies of all time.