Chow

Mount Blair is known for its hospitality and fresh baked goodies, so I thought I would allow others to peek into our kitchen to see what's cookin'.  I would love love LOVE to one day be a food critic, but for now I'll take pictures of my own food before woofin' it down.  Below is spaghetti with clam sauce.  This was a really simple, but delicious and fulfilling meal.  To add flavor to a boring jar of pasta sauce, I simply sauteed onions, green peppers and garlic and then added a jar of baby clams followed by the jar of sauce.  Having a hearty sauce adds texture and flavor to a dull pasta dish and it takes about five extra minutes.  Topping the dish off with fresh bread also makes the meal. I would love to say I baked the slice seen in the picture, but I didn't, so big up to  Super Fresh.

After dinner is desert; if you didn't know that, be ashamed.  My roomie Ginny is a desert queen.  She is constantly thinking about, cooking and eating desert.  We decided to combine our powers one night and make chocolate chip, walnut and oatmeal cookies.  I'm glad we did too, because shortly after the buzzer rang we found ourselves standing in the kitchen with about ten hungry men.  One great thing about company is they eat all your sweets so you don't have to.  I'm not sure if most people enjoy that benefit, but I do.  If I ate everything I cooked.....

This recipe is not only scrumptious, it is easy and vegan friendly-so everyone should give it a whirl.

Chocolate chip, walnut and oatmeal cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a few cookie sheets.

In a small bowl mix:

1 1/2 c flour

1 t baking soda

1 t salt

If you're a lucky duck, mix the following ingredients in your KitchenAid; if you don't own one, I'm sure your arm will be tired-but proceed with dignity..:

3/4 c vegetable oil

2 Tbs milk-I used Soy milk

1/2 c sugar (this is the bare minimum-you can add up to 1 1/3 c)

2 eggs or make egg substitutes like this: Mix 1 Tbs flax seed and 3 Tbs water (makes one egg)

1 1/2 Tbs vanilla extract

2 1/2 c oatmeal

12 oz chocolate chips

2 big handfuls of semi crushed walnuts

Mix all the dry ingredients then add them to the wet, then fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Plop some spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and slide them in the oven.  We make big cookies, so they baked for 17 minutes, but depending on the size you may need more or less time.  Your best bet is to time them for about 12 minutes and periodically check on them from there.