Ah, Christmas. The holiday when the sweet smell of baking fills the air, exquisitely wrapped presents sit under a lovingly-decorated tree, and children with the delicate innocence of youth watch quietly with wide-eyed wonder as they soak in the sights and joy of the season.
Or not.
Welcome to my house. :)
Things get a little bit crazy around my house this time of year. I attribute it to sugar. I’m not sure where my children are finding sugar (I’m trying to confiscate it on sight these days), but finding it they are.
Yesterday got wacky, and my plans to make some really exotic, Iron Chef-esque cookies went askew. Sooo…I dug around in my grandmother’s old recipe box.
I found an odd-looking recipe. Oh. She’d apparently made a to-do list. Okay. But the other side had a recipe. 
Yes, that’s a recipe. I could barely make it out, actually…pencil on really old paper.
I vaguely remembered eating these cookies when I was a child. They’re chewy cookies. And they were no-bake (just boil.)
Ideal for children to cook with their mother for Christmas memories that would last a lifetime.
Or not.
Since my children were running around like wild things, bopping each other on the head with empty paper towel rolls, I decided to make these cookies myself. And yes, I ate them myself. :)
Boiled Cookies
1/2 cup baking cocoa
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup peanut butter (either smooth or crunchy)
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cups quick cooking oatmeal***
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix cocoa, sugar, butter and milk together in sauce pan. Heat to a low boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add peanut butter and vanilla. Mix well. Add oatmeal and mix.
Drop by spoon on wax paper and let cool.
***You can substitute 1 cup of chopped nuts for 1 of the cups of oatmeal, if you prefer.
They may not be pretty, but boy, do they taste good.
Riley/Elizabeth
Pretty is as Pretty Dies –Elizabeth Spann Craig
Delicious and Suspicious (May 2010)—Riley Adams
http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com
Don’t forget that this is your last week to send us a suggestion for our January Iron Chef competition and enter our contest to win a Junior's Cheesecake! This time next week we'll be announcing the winner, so get your suggestions in soon!
