My daughter and I had finished a salad at the Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas and decided to have a small dessert. Because our family members are such "Cookie Monsters", we decided to try the Neiman-Marcus cookie. It was so good that I asked if they would give me the recipe. The waitress said with a frown, "I'm afraid not." "Well, " I said, "would you let me buy the recipe?" With a cute smile, she agreed. I asked how much, and she responded, "Two Fifty." I said with approval, "Just add it to my tab."

Thirty days later I received my statement from Neiman-Marcus and it was $285.00. I looked again and remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two salads and about $20 for a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, I saw the entry, "Cookie Recipe - $250.00." Boy, was I upset! I called Neiman's accounting office and told them the waitress said it was "two fifty" and I did not realize she meant $250 for a cookie recipe. I asked them to take back the recipe and reduce my bill, but they said they were sorry, but all recipes were this expensive so not just anyone could duplicate the bakery recipes, and the bill would stand.

I thought of how I could try to get my money back. I just said "Okay, you folks got my $250 and now I'm going to have $250 worth of fun." I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover will have a $250 recipe from Neiman-Marcus for nothing. She replied, "I wish you wouldn't do this." I said, "I'm sorry, but this is the only way I feel I can get even and I will." So here it is, please pass it on to someone else or run a few copies...I paid for it, so now you can have it for free!!! 2 tsp. baking powder 2 tsp. baking soda 24 oz. chocolate chips 4 c. flour 1 (8 oz.) Hershey bar, grated 5 c. blended oatmeal 1 tsp. salt 2 c. brown sugar 4 eggs 2 tsp. vanilla 3 c. chopped nuts 2 c. sugar

Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey bar, and nuts. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies (recipe may be halved).