Gavin's birthday

On Gavin's birthday, we had friends over in the afternoon and the family over for dinner that night.



Gavin talking to Aunt Meg who lives in Seattle.


I went to Gavin's school party on Monday and it was really fun. They sang him Happy Birthday and the class got to ask him 3 questions. Afterwards, we had cookies and juice! Oh and in the middle we had a fire drill. It has been quite some time since I have been in a fire drill!


The cookies I made for his party were the "Doubletree Cookies". They turned out beautifully and from what I hear, they were good! We had just enough for his classmates, teachers and the last one went to the principle.

Doubletree Cookies

1/2 cup rolled oats
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
2 eggs
3 cups semi-sweet, chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups chopped walnuts (I left these out for Gavin's class in case someone was allergic to nuts)

Directions:
Grind oats in a food processor or blender until fine. Combine the ground oats with the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and lemon juice in another medium bowl with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and mix until smooth. Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture and blend well. Add the chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and mix by hand until ingredients are well blended.

For the best results, chill the dough overnight in the refrigerator before baking the cookies.

Spoon rounded 1/4 cup portions onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Place the scoops about 2 inches apart. Bake in a 350°F oven for 16-18 minutes or until cookies are light brown and soft in the middle. Store in a sealed container when cool to keep soft.

I made this recipe a bit differently than it suggests. I creamed the butter and sugars first and then just put my dry ingrediants right into the mixer bowl. I know you are not supposed to do that, but I always do and they always turn out good. And then you only dirty one bowl! I also used my stand mixer to mix the dry ingrediants as well as the chocolate chips even though it says to mix by hand.