After chocolate-chip cookies, brownies, and cheesecake come (logically or not) oatmeal cookies in the Zismans' sequence of America's favorite sweet treats. It might be a stretch for purists to even consider adding gum drops, tomato soup, bacon, or, more likely, chocolate to their oatmeal cookies, but this little book's 50 recipes span the gamut, from the traditional to more creative forms, such as constructing double-decker delights or adding oatmeal to a package of blueberry muffin mix. A few baking tips preface the collection of recipes, most of which were submitted in a nationwide contest. Sidebars about the world's attitudes toward oatmeal (e.g., former president Bush started his morning with hot oatmeal . . . topped with a crumbled candy bar) and several recipes from the "stars"--such as Willard Scott and Bill Blass--punctuate the rest of the offerings.
Barbara Jacobs