Chocolate Chip cookies

In the quest for a chocolate chip cookie that doesn't taste like something to stick chocolate chips together, I've come up with the following. Louise and John say the cookies are great. So does Bernie, but then, he'll eat almost any cookie that can be dunked in coffee. Lila doesn't get to taste these, as they're made with wheat flour.

1/4 cup sucanat (can use brown sugar instead)
1 tsp honey
1/4 cup butter
2 Tblsp olive oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs (get free range or at least free run)
1/2 cup rolled oats (can use up to 1 cup, but the texture will change. Half a cup may not be noticed by picky eaters.)
3/4 cup chocolate chips (real chocolate, not "chocolaty" -- and pay more for fair trade -- it's usually organic and tastes way better.)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup flour (can be unbleached white or whole wheat, can be reduced to as little as 1/2 cup if rolled oats are increased to 1 cup)

Cream the butter with the sucanat. Stir in the honey and vanilla. Mix in the oil and eggs.
Add the oats, chocolate chips, baking powder and flour, stirring each ingredient in. Be willing to add a little more oats or flour if the dough is runny like cake batter. If the dough is too stiff, add another teaspoon of oil.
Drop spoonfuls of dough on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 F till almost done. Slightly chewy is better than stiff and burnt.

Local Restaurant

Living in Victoria means being as surrounded with great restaurants as a birdwatcher on a migration route is surrounded by birds. And like a birdwatcher, I'm sometimes just an observer of these restaurants from a distance. But I think it's worth mentioning odd little places that Do Something Right when it comes to food. The big fancy places can take care of themselves, eh?
The Tropical Island Restaurant on Shelbourne Street at Church Avenue does something great with rolls -- as well as egg rolls they make a tropical fruit cocktail roll that's sweet without being cloying. Very nice to share. Whenever we've eaten here, the service has been quick, the food fresh and tasty, and we've all enjoyed bites from each other's meal. The building's in a bit of an odd location. If you're driving, you have to park behind it and walk round to the front if you don't find the back door. It's an excellent location to reach by the #27 Gordon Head or #28 Majestic bus, and only a two-block walk from the #24 Cedar Hill.

Dining Out in Victoria

Here's an opportunity to try some of the finer restaurants in Victoria at a responsible price. Tourism Victoria's website gives more information as per below:

Victoria’s most mouth-watering dining event of the year will take place from February 19th to March 8th, 2009. Victoria boasts the second highest number of restaurants per capita in North America. Over 50 local restaurants will be participating in 2009.Tourism Victoria and the Victoria branch of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association (BCRFA) invite you to attend the sixth annual Dine Around and Stay in Town event.Participating restaurants offer three-course menus for $20, $30, or $40 CDN per person and are all paired with BC VQA wine suggestions. To make a good thing even better, some of Victoria's hotels and accommodations will be featuring rates of $79, $89, $99, and $129 CDN.View menus from 2009's participating restaurants.