when our family goes on vacation, it is an ~~ordeal~~ fun way to spend great time preparing and planning and enjoying our time and each other. over the years, due to family size, money constrains and now just plain tradition, we have several things we do each and every time.

with exception of taking the family on a cruise last year for christmas, we typically go to the beach.

now that we have chuck in our lives (have you read before that he hates--i mean HATES sand?) we go to the mountains when we can as well.

this year will be both!

i used to cook ahead as much as i could to save on work at the beach. one year--don't remember why, i just couldn't.

the place we stayed had a grill and we planned our meals around that.

it was divine...and a divine inspiration, i might say

every meal was cooked on it....outside, on the sand, overlooking the beach, which typically coincided with sunset time.

i never knew what i was missing...boy, now i know. and i won't be missing a sunset due to being in the kitchen again.....if i have anything to say about it.

one of our traditions became these cookies. i wanted something that we could fix there, eat fresh and not spend a lot of time making.

so.

i made the dough for these cookies, froze the balls, put them in a ziplock and voila. fresh, hot out of the oven cookies each night for dessert (ok..except for the nights we had key lime pie, and homemade ice-cream and roasted marshmallows.).....

um...i think we may have had all of the above on our last night of cleaning the frig out.

these cookies are so so good. my friend, alicia, is a great baker. she found this recipe on top-secret recipes website. these are the cookies that the Doubletree Hotel used to leave in your room at the bed turn down. not sure if they still do, but it doesn't matter to me now ;)

Doubletree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup rolled oats
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
2 eggs
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. Grind oats in a food processor or blender until fine. Combine the ground oats with the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. 3. Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and lemon juice in another medium bowl with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and mix until smooth. 4. Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture and blend well. Add the chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and mix by hand until ingredients are well incorporated. 5. Spoon rounded 1/4-cup portions onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Place the scoops about 2 inches apart. You don't need to press the dough flat. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until cookies are light brown and soft in the middle. Store in a sealed container when cool to keep soft. For the best results, chill the dough overnight in the refrigerator before baking the cookies.