Happy Anniversary and Kate's Cookies

Dear TBHITW:

Happy Anniversary good husband of mine. Here a few things I love about you:

You are kind. Even though you don't like to admit it, you are a softy.
You are generous. You give your time, your money, your attention and your knowledge to anyone who needs it.
You are an amazing dad. Kids everywhere should have a man as devoted to them as you are to ours.
You are funny. You make me laugh. Everyday. What a wonderful gift you give on a daily basis; the gift of laughter!
You are smart. You are one of the smartest people I know.
You are handsome. I still swoon when I look at you.
You love my cooking. I love an appreciative audience and you are my biggest fan!
You are sincere. You never put on airs and you always mean what you say.
You are humble. You never brag or boast even though your accomplishments are many.
You are fun. Not only are you a funny guy, you love to have fun.
You are adventurous. You never shy away from a new adventure.
You take care of yourself. You care about your body and want to be healthy for many years to come.
You take care of me. You care about my health and want me to be healthy for many years to come.
You put up with my dog. Even though you don't like her, you feed her and walk her and 'love' her in your own way.
You spoil me. I know it,  I appreciate it and I will never take advantage of it.
You let me spoil you. Everyone needs a project and a love object and you are mine.
You are tireless in your support of us, your family. You are the hardest working man I ever met, you supply us with all of our needs, cheer us on, are genuinely happy when we do well and always have our best interests at heart.

You are everything I ever wanted and more than I ever thought I needed. This is my short list, there are a million other reasons I am more in love with you today than the day we married. Like all couples, we've had our ups and downs, our quarrels and our rifts, but through it all one thing never changes, we are one; husband and wife. Happy Anniversary and cheers to the rest of our lives together! I can't wait to "be" the future with you.



Fellow Blogger Kate at New Life sent me this recipe of what she calls Ten Cup Cookies. I couldn't resist changing the name to Kate's Cookies - they are so good my family will always remember them as those cookies sent by the blogger Kate.

Kate tells me she actually resorted to pilfering this recipe. It originally comes from a restaurant (we are keeping the location secret for fear of reprisal and lawsuits). The story goes that a friend of Kate's worked in the (secret location) restaurant and Kate rifled through a recipe box to find the source of her heart's desire, Ten Cup Cookies. The original recipe was in restaurant format (i.e. bakes about 24 dozen cookies) so this one is scaled down for home baking and eating.

While I don't advocate stealing (unless it is someone's heart) - I have to thank Kate for giving my family a brand new favorite cookie. And secret restaurant, don't worry, your revenge is the extra two pounds I'm carrying around my hips, I just can't get enough of these cookies!

Kate's Cookies: makes a whooping 6 dozen cookies.

3/4 c.vegetable oil

1 c. butter (1/2 pound)

1 c. sugar

1 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1 t. coconut flavor (optional)

2 t. vanilla

3 1/2 c. flour

1 t. salt

1 t. cream of tartar

1 t. soda

3/4 c. oatmeal

1 c. chocolate chips

1 c. rice krispies

1 cup shredded coconut (optional)(

Cream the butter, oil and sugars together. Add the egg, coconut extract (optional and vanilla. Add all the flour, salt, cream of tartar, salt and soda. Mix well. 

Stir in the oatmeal, chocolate chips and rice krispies (Kate tells me this is the secret ingredient and I agree, they lighten the batter and add a unidentifiable ingredient to the finished cookies)

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheet (I always use parchment). Bake at 350 degrees for 9 to 11 minutes. (check at 9 minutes) Let rest for a minute or two on cookie sheet before transferring to wax paper or rack to cool.

*A Cook's Notes: The original recipe calls for a teaspoon of coconut extract. I wondered what the cookies would taste like with the addition of a cup of shredded coconut. I made 1/2 batch according to the original recipe and the other half with added coconut. OMG. My family LOVED both versions - so if you love coconut and want to add a chewy, more moist component to finished cookies, add the shredded coconut. 

Notice the empty spaces in the rows of cookies? That's called "sampling"