Macadamia Oatmeal Cookies with Peanut Butter Filling

I made these tasty little sandwich cookies for a birthday party earlier in the summer. I haven't been baking all that much lately because it's been so darn hot and I'm trying to cut down on my taste testing, if you know what I mean. So here's a look back at a delicious cookie that I will be making again once the temperature in San Diego drops. 

This recipe is from Joy The Baker. I've given you the list of ingredients but you'll have to click through to Joy's blog to grab the directions. Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy these cookies!

This recipe yields about 20 cookies. 

Ingredients for the cookies

1/2 cup softened butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup oats (the original recipe calls for old fashioned oats but I use instant all the time. Use what you have on hand.)

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts (the original recipe calls for pecans but I didn't have those in my pantry)

Ingredients for the filling

3 tbsp softened butter

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup powdered sugar

3-4 tbsp milk

Back To School Clearance at Target

Skip Hop! I'm obsessed with this brand. I love them so much that last year, before my son was even school age, I bought the penguin backpack and lunch bag. Over the year he has used it for overnights with Grandma or when we would pack a snack to take with us to Disneyland or the Zoo.  Now, he takes his lunch bag to school.  :)

Today I went to the Mission Valley Target to buy milk, bread, and chicken. Of course I left with more than the groceries. The Skip Hop lunch bags were calling me. (And so were these uber cute leopard print smoking flats.) I couldn't resist and the price was right. Those bags were marked down to $9.78.

I also noticed that the snack containers that include ice packs were marked down to $2.78. I paid full price a couple of weeks ago. Go get one! Or two.

These were two of my favorites. I was good and only took one home, the puppy.

These containers hold up to two cups of treats. What makes these special is the ice pack in the lid. Neat-O! Only $2.78, not a bad deal. 

Saltbox

My sweet husband just celebrated his birthday. Upon recommendation, I took him to a restaurant called Saltbox, located in the swanky Palomar hotel in downtown San Diego. 

The food was all wonderful, very rich, and full of flavor. We ordered five or six things. I know... it seems like a little much. It's just that we get so excited whenever we try a new place. Saltbox has one of those menus where every item sounds unique and interesting.

I'm not going to make you look at all of my pictures, although I should. Here's a little highlight from that glorious meal.

What you're seeing here is a little fry basket of smoky and warm chicharones. That's right, fried pork skins. A little saucer of spicy aioli to dip those crispy little treats rounded out the dish.

If you tilt your head a little to the left, you'll be able to make this dish out. Sorry, I thought I was being so creative when I was photographing our food. Anyway, this is a short rib grilled cheese. It was crunchy, salty, warm, melty and heavenly. The homemade pickles were the perfect accompaniment. 

Bone marrow my friends! This is my new favorite food. As one of my foodie friends describes it, meat butter. My husband likes to say that it tastes like the most delicious steak drippings. That's all true. If you are a carnivore, you must try this. Seriously. You scrape your toast through the bone and drag up all the well seasoned marrow goodness. Perfection people!

Now go check out Saltbox's menu. I'm thinking I'm going to return for brunch in the near future and I'll definitely be back to enjoy a drink in the fab bar downstairs. Enjoy!