Tuesdays are "I Tried It Tuesdays" where I'll tell you about something I recently tried -- an item, a movie, an activity, etc.

Yes...I'm aware it's Wednesday. I've been on vacation...I'm still wading through the e-mail inbox. :-)

I tried: Oatmeal Scotchies. (Yes, folks...I baked!).

What happened: In case you missed it, it was cold last week and I decided to bake just to heat up the house a bit. I scrounged up a bag of butterscotch chips and found a recipe on the back for Oatmeal Scotchies. Usually the recipes on the bag don't turn out all that great, but...I was too lazy to dig out my Betty Crocker cook book & find a different one, so I tried it.

How did they turn out: Easily the best cookies I have ever made. Though, to be honest, the baking bar isn't set real high for me, so... Normally I can resist any and all sweets, but....these were irresistible. I'm convinced there are five or six of them that have taken up permanent resident on my belly (sigh...a reminder of vacation gone by...and something to work for at the gym, eh?)

The recipe: Can be found here.

The secret? These silicone baking mats that line your baking sheets. My mother bought these for me for Christmas. I scoffed, but I love them. They keep everything evenly cooked and make it hard to burn the bottoms (which was never a challenge for me before). Plus...they're much easier to clean than scraping those stupid cookie sheets clean.