Market Day... and Moose Tracks Cookies.

Visited the Daley Plaza market again today, and picked up so much great stuff!  Pickles, orange blossom honey (the local bees went for a winter vacation in Florida), 3 more bunches of asparagus, some cheese, and most importantly...

RHUBARB!!!

I looked for it last week, but they had already sold out by the time I got there!  So I got two bunches this time.  And I will be searching high and low for different ways to use this delicious vegetable... fruit?

...(going to Wikipedia)...

"Rhubarb is usually considered to be a vegetable; however, in the United States, a New York court decided in 1947 that since it was used in the United States as a fruit it was to be counted as a fruit for the purposes of regulations and duties."  What duties do fruits have, exactly?

Anyway...

The farmer who sold me the rhubarb told me that it freezes really well, and I told him thanks for the tip, but I'd rather stuff myself silly with something when it's in season (even if that's only 3 weeks a year), and then wait for it to come around again.  He looked at me with that look salespeople get when you talk to them more than they wanted you to, and I continued to the next stall to make someone else uncomfortable. 

Keep your eyes peeled for rhubarb-laden recipes in the coming days (and please share some if you've got good ones!), but in the meantime, you should probably make these!

Moose Tracks Cookies!

I came across this recipe yesterday as I was scanning my favorite blogs, and as soon as I read the words "pudding cookies," I knew I was a goner.  As far as I can tell, there are nearly limitless flavor combinations for these cookies, but the Coppertop Guy loves Chocolate Moose Tracks ice cream, and I wanted to do something nice for him.  And I wanted not to have to eat all the cookies myself.  And I had bought this little container of mini milk chocolate peanut butter cups at Trader Joe's this weekend.

So the Moose Tracks cookies were born!  And they are goooooooooooood. 

Chocolate Moose Tracks Cookies

(about 40 cookies)

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 3.9-oz. package instant chocolate pudding mix

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

3 Tbsp. chocolate sauce (I used Hershey's Special Dark)

1 12-oz. container mini milk chocolate peanut butter cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Beat butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until fluffy again.  Add vanilla and pudding mix, and beat until combined.  Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda, and add to the butter and sugar mixture.  Mix well.  Drizzle in the chocolate sauce, and mix well again.  Gently stir in peanut butter cups.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet, press down slightly to flatten, and bake 10-12 minutes.  Pour yourself a glass of milk.  Eat, baby.