Coco Chanel



As we are both fascinated by the life of French fashion designer Coco Chanel, last week Nancy loaned me her latest book purchase "The Gospel According To Coco Chanel" by Karen Karbo.  Exploring Chanel's life and philosophy on a range of subjects, it is a lively look at a woman who was a visionary and lived, for better or worse, exactly as she pleased. 

Peppered throughout with aphorisms, a favorite theme of Chanel's was regarding time:  "There is time for work, and time for love - that leaves no other time." My darling, I would love to do the laundry/ironing/vacuuming but, alas, there is no time.  Or "Every day I simplify something because every day I learn something."  While this may be debatable, I do believe in a "less is more" approach - whenever I am struggling with a particular design challenge, once I pare it down to its essential elements, the answer is usually right in front of me.


In the spirit of "cut to the chase and don't fool around with the extra stuff", I am sharing a recipe for chocolate oatmeal cookies - also Nancy's - that uses a minimum of ingredients.  Flour and eggs?  Non.  Baking?  Absolument pas.  Try them with or without the optionals - I added dried cranberries this morning but have had no difficulty scoffing them down without the extras.


CHOCOLATE OATMEAL COOKIES

1-1/2 tablespoons cocoa
1-1/2 cups oatmeal
1/2 stick butter 
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup raisins, dried cranberries, nuts, etc. optional

1.  Heat in saucepan: cocoa, milk, butter and sugar.  Bring to a full boil; boil one minute.  Remove from heat.

2.  Add peanut butter, oatmeal, vanilla and optional bits if desired. Mix well.

3.  Drop spoonfuls of mixture onto wax paper, working quickly.  Cool.  Especially yummy when stored and eaten from the fridge or freezer.


Yield: 12-18 cookies, depending on size.

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