Borrowing from other and homemade birthday presents

First let me say two things...

Happy belated Birthday to Wayne (Wanetta's hubby)!

and

Thank you Michelle at:
http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2010/04/potato-chip-cookies.html

You may well wonder why those two things go in one blog...easy to explain! 

Last weekend was Wayne's birthday and I was so bogged down with a political discussion group meeting at our house (thank you Todd Platts, PA Representative for coming!) and school and work, that I didn't have time to remember it was Wayne's birthday! 

But I did remember that he really loved a Pecan Sandies recipe I had made a few years ago.  It was an unusual but very good recipe that included crushed potato chips as one of the ingredients!  My sister had given me the mix nicely packaged in a canning jar.  I simply followed the instructions, made them and shared them with several neighbors, including Wayne.  Then awhile later Wayne wondered if I had anymore of them, he really liked them!  I didn't at the time and because the dry ingredients were all mixed up in the canning jar, the recipe only said what the measurements were for the wet ingredients and directions went from there. 

Last week I was checking out Michelle's site http://www.bigblackdogs.net for the latest HBin5 bread braid blogs and feeling sad because I hadn't had time to participate in the April 15th bread braid.   Michelle is a great leader of this wonderful group of bakers.  We bake recipes from Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois 2 times a month.  It will take us 2 years to go through the entire book.  You should check it out for some great interpretations!  http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2009/10/announcing-hbinfive-new-baking-group.html

 Getting back to the cookies lo and behold, there was the recipe for the Pecan Sandies using potato chips.  Michelle calls them Potato Chip cookies, I still call them Pecan Sandies, and Wayne calls them delicious!

So I bought a bag of generic chips (Lays potato chips), and pecans and made a double batch.  I decided to made a double batch because I knew my hubby, Ken, and I would like some also! 

But when I told Ken to keep his hands off the potato chips that they were for Pecan Sandies he looked at me like I was crazy!  "You can't use potato chips in cookies!" he said with a snort.  I smiled and said "oh yes, I can, and you will love them...matter of fact you had them 2 years ago and loved them."  He still didn't believe me and made several other comments.  I just shined him on...I know what I know.

So after a morning of volunteering with "Comcast Cares Day" (April 24th) during which we cleaned up, mulched, and painted over at Sunset Park in Dover, PA, I made two batches of the "potato chip cookies", aka "Pecan Sandies."

This is a great recipe to make with your children by the way, or grandchildren, or as a project with a scout troop, etc.  Have the child(ren) smash up the potato chips with all the gusto that they can!  What kid wouldn't love that?

I won't put the recipe here.  Instead follow this link to Michelle's blog for that!

http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2010/04/potato-chip-cookies.html

Below are the pics of the results...by the way Ken LOVES these and was happy to eat his words...literally!  LOL. 

Sandies ready for baking.  Michelle says to bake them until the Sandies are nicely browned...I found that to be about 10 minutes when I used a teaspoon to drop them onto the parchment paper.  Waxed paper didn't work as well as the parchment paper. 

Who wouldn't love this basket of cookies for a birthday present, belated or not!

Wayne immediately heated up a cup of coffee and sat down to enjoy his present. 

His wife, Wanetta, didn't wait...she just dipped her hand in the basket grabbed one and started eating!  LOL.