Santa Buddha & Coconut Cookies

My husband came home from work tonight and laughed out loud when he got to the front porch. There sat my happy green Buddha, wearing a Santa hat. The unexpected... makes everyone smile. I got that green three-foot-tall Buddha last year at a yard sale, for the tiny sum of one dollar. I couldn't resist him... he has such a happy face. He's been on the screen-porch since last year and today I thought he needed a change of scenery. And of course he needed a Santa hat to keep his head warm in this 78-degree weather.

Now... the cookies....... I was watching a program on the Food Channel late this afternoon. There's a little TV in the kitchen and while I'm making a simple three-ingredient meal, I like to watch someone making a 37-ingredient feast. Tonight's show was "30-Minute Meals." I think the cook's name is Rachel Ray. She makes easy, good, mostly healthy food that is fuss-free, and tonight she was making coconut cookies. I forget what her main dish was, because I was interested in the cookies.

I had just looked in my Mrs. Field's book this morning... saw a recipe for coconut macaroons and didn't have the marzipan paste that the recipe called for. (Does anyone have that in their pantry?) But Rachel's recipe didn't call for that... and she mixed that batter together in minutes. Into my pantry closet I went, and I had all the ingredients she was using. I put a lid on the salmon I was cooking and started the coconut cookies.

Easy recipe: 2 egg whites, beaten till stiff and glossy. (I added a pinch of cream of tartar.) Add to that 1/3 cup sugar (I used Splenda). Beat together till good and stiff. She added almond extract... I used vanilla-- just a teaspoon. She added a pinch of nutmeg... I left that out. Put the mixer away, and now use a spatula--- She added one and one-half cups shredded coconut... I added that, and mixed in about half a cup of chocolate chips. (Just because I had that small amount left over from the chocolate chip-pecan cookies of the other day.)

Rachel used an ice cream scoop to form about 8 snowball-shaped mounds of coconut. I used a teaspoon to make bite-sized cookies for the party. Into a 325-degree oven, for about 10-12 minutes. You want to watch them because they cook fast and you don't want the bottoms to burn. The tops should be a light brown. I let them cool on a wire rack before arranging them on the platter for the party.

Of course I tasted one... delicious. I left out a few for my husband. He doesn't usually eat coconut cookies, but he said these were great. Now this gives him even more cookies to search for. When I tell him my hiding place, he won't believe how easy they would've been to find. This morning, I told him I should hide the cookies underneath all the paperwork on this desk. (Hint, hint! Clean that desk off before the party!.... Buddha is watching........)