It's a Memorial Day weekend tradition at our stores...Lobster Mania. We fly in hundreds of the red-clawed crustaceans, and present them ready to enjoy. We know lots of people who plan their weekends around this rare Northwest treat, and along with a chunky potato salad, some crusty garlic bread, and plenty of lemon juice and garlic for dipping...oh, probably a green salad, too, what could be a better way to spend the afternoon (unless you're under balmy, sunny, warm, cloudless, rainless skies...but we digress).

I have come up with a new treat for my Lobster Mania fete. I made peanut butter cookies and subbed out a bit of the butter (about two tablespoons) with bacon fat. I fried a few slices of bacon, and crumbled them into a peanut butter cookie dough, and added chocolate chips. I also added a smidge of chili powder to give it a mole kind of flavor (mole being the Mexican chocolate-chile-savory sauce).

How did they taste? Well, they looked pretty fabulous, and the taste was excellent. Not too sweet, but that great contrast Elvis discovered, the salty-sweet continuum (I think he did the peanut butter, bacon and banana route, but chocolate is definitely better) that made these cookies sing.

I ate two. I will eat some more later...after I claw my way through a few lobster claws.  Cheers!