Oatmeal, Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Just had these for the first time today...amazing!

½ c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
½ c. (1 stick) butter, softened
½ c. peanut butter (preferably chunky)
½ tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 c. all-purpose flour
½ c. quick-cooking oats
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 pkg (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350F. Beat sugars, butter, peanut butter, vanilla & egg in medium bowl with wooden spoon until creamy and well blended. Mix in flour, oats, baking soda & salt. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute before removing from cookie sheet.

Rice & Fruit

Smells fantastic cooking!

1/4 c. unsalted butter
small yellow onion, minced
1 1/2 c. basmati rice
3 1/4 c. water
3/4 tsp. salr
fresh ground pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 c. raisins
1/4 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. dried apricot halves, coarsely chopped
1/2 c. pecans, toasted & coarsely chopped

In saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add onions & saute until soft (about 10 mins). Add rice, water, salt, pepper, cinnamon, allspice, raisins, cranberries and apricots. Bring to boil. Reduce to low, then cover & cook without stirring for about 20 minutes. Add pecans, stir & serve.

Moroccan style lamb chops

6 3/4-in. thick lamb rib chops
2 1/2 in. thick slices crustless French bread (or plain bread crumbs)
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. grated orange peel
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp. olive oil

Preheat oven to 500F. Grind bread in processor to fine crumbs. Add garlic, orange peel, cumin & cayenne pepper. Drizzle in olive oil & blend until crumbs are evenly moistened. Transfer crumb mix to plate. Sprinkle lamb chops w/salt. Dip both sides of lamb chops into crumb mix, pressing all crumbs onto lamb. Arrange lamb chops on small baking sheet & bake until crumb coating is golden and lamb is cooked to desired doneness, about 12 min. for medium-rare.

Madeira Biscuits

These are basically butter cookies with raisins. Hysterical when kids mistake the raisins for choc chips;)

3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
1 3/4 c. flour
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. raisins

Using electric mixer, beat butter, sugar & salt in large bowl until creamy. Mix in vanilla. Add flour & raisins; mix until smooth dough forms. Divide dough in half. Shape each dough half into 1 1/2 in. diameter log. Wrap log in plastic and refridgerate until firm; about 2 hours. Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Butter 2 large baking sheets. Cut each dough log into 1/4 in. thick slices. Place slices on prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake until cookies are golden (approx. 10 mins). Cool slightly on baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.