Well, a little late but here is an outstanding oatmeal cookie recipe. In fact, my son says I should quit my design job and sell these on the street if I really want to be a success. And when dh took some to work with him one of his colleagues who tried them immediately proposed marriage to me. When dh pointed out that I was already married to HIM, his colleague said, "Yeah, but you gotta die sometime!" Oatmeal Cookies 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 1/2 cup butter (don't use all butter or the cookies will be too soft and spread all over) 1 cup packed brown sugar 1 cup white granulated sugar 2 eggs, beaten 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (NOT artificial) 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (this is the secret!) 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans Beat the shortening, sugar, and brown sugar in a mixer bowl until creamy, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well. Combine the flour, soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt in another bowl and mix well. Add to the creamed mixture gradually, mixing well after each addition. Fold in the oats and pecans. Drop by tablespoonfuls (I use a mini ice cream type scoop so they will be uniform) onto a baking stone (Pampered Chef or similar) or a nonstick cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes or til light brown. The time will depend on your particular oven. The trick is to get the cookies barely done but not so well done that they are no longer chewy. When cookies come from the oven they should be light brown and look a little bit shiny and wet in places. It should be almost impossible to remove them from the baking sheet immediately from the oven so cool the cookies on the stone or cookie sheet for 2 minutes. During that time they continue to cook a little and become firm enough to remove but they will still be very soft. Remove cookies to wire racks to cool completely. When the cookies cool they will be delicately crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside. Makes about 3 dozen....and your reputation!

This recipe is from the Aunt of a good friend of mine: Joan's Fruitcake Cookies 1/2 lb. candied cherries, chopped 1/4 lb. candied lemon and orange peel, chopped 1/4 lb. candied pineapple, chopped 1 lb. dates, chopped 1 lb. white raisins, chopped 1 lb. walnuts, chopped 4 cups pecans, chopped 2 1/2 cups flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp cinnamon 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 cup butter, softened 2 eggs Mix together flour, soda, salt, & cinnamon. Beat eggs. Cream butter and sugar. Combine everything really well... including fruit and nuts. Shape into walnut-sized balls with your hands. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet 10 (15) minutes at 300º F. Makes about 150 balls, which is why I usually halve the recipe. And, just for fun: Fruitcake Brownies 1 cup unsalted butter + 2 Tblsp. to butter pan 9 oz. semisweet Chocolate, chopped 1 1/2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped 1 cup plus 2 Tblsp. sugar 3 large eggs 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 cup all purpose flour 1 tsp. Baking powder 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1/3 cup chopped dried apricots 1/3 cup chopped dried figs 1/3 cup chopped pitted dates 1/3 cup dried sour cherries or dried currents Preheat oven to 350ºF Butter 13x9x2 glass baking dish (?) Combine 1 cup butter and both types of chocolates in saucepan. Stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool to lukewarm. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and 3 eggs in large bowl until very thick and pale, about 3 minutes. Stir in cooled chocolate mixture and the vanilla extract. Whisk 1 cup flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl to blend; then add to chocolate mixture. Mix in walnuts and dried fruits. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top. Bake until top cracks and tester comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, about 35 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Makes about 24 squares.

For soft, sugar coated/unfrosted sugar cookies I like to use this recipe: SYLVIA'S SOUR CREAM COOKIES 1 1/2 CUPS SUGAR 1 CUP SHOTENING 2 EGGS, BEATEN WELL 1 TEASPOON SODA 1 TEASPOON BAKING POWDER 1 CUP SOUR CREAM 1/2 TEASPOON SALT 1 STEASPOON VANILLA 3 TO 4 CUPS FLOUR, ENOUGH FLOUR TO ROLL 1 TEASPOON MACE ADDITIONAL SUGAR Mix soda in sour cream; set aside. Mix baking powder into flour; set aside. Combine all ingredients. Chill dough a few hours or overnight. Roll out and use your favorite cookie cuters. (I like to make little hands or simple rounds.) Sprinkle generiously with additional sugar and bake on greased cookie sheets at 350 degrees until lightly golden on bottem. These taste better with age. For sugar cookies that I want to frost/decorate I always use the following recipe. It's a little more work - but produces a thick, cake-like cookie with a butter flavor. This is the best recipe I've found for cutting cookies! TEA COOKIES 3 EGGS 1 CUP MELTED MARGARINE 1 CUP SUGAR 1 TEASPOONS VANILLA 2 TABLESPOONS BAKING POWDER 4 CUPS FLOUR 1/4 TEASPOON SALT Beat egg whites till stiff. Beat yolks till creamy. Combine gently. Add melted margarine, sugar and vanilla. Beat. Sift the dry ingredients and work in. Chill. Roll abour 1/4 inch thick and cut as desired. Bake at 350 degrees on ungreased cookie sheet. Do not over bake! I like to frost them with a butter cream frosting.

Recipe: 3 3/4 cup white sugar 1 1/2 cup light corn syrup 1 cup hot water 4 Cups creamy peanut butter Boil syrup water and sugar to 295 degrees. Spread peanut butter onto a large sprayed cookie sheet with sides. Pour hot syrup over peanut butter and fold in quickly. Turn out and roll with a rolling pin. Cut and cool completely. It seems like a simple recipe but I will tell you I have a hard time getting it too turn out right every time. I have found that using all brand ingredients works best for me: others use generic peanut butter. Also, it helps to have two people folding from opposite ends of the pan coming together. We tried making this past weekend and all batches didn't turn out completely right except one. Hopefully you are able to get it to turn out because I almost bet this is the recipe you have been searching for. Happy Candy making!