If I were their Chef: The Peace Cup 2009

Sometimes - fortunately not that often - I have a day or go through a passage, where being in the kitchen brings the inner peace I am so in need of. This week, a day like that happened after the Peace Cup final.

England's Aston-Villa side had triumphed over my Juventus (Italy) heartthrobs, but that didn't bother me. I just loved that I had the perfect muse for this week's story and recipe, and that "peace" was in the equation.

Conceived by a Korean organizing committee after the 2002 World Cup, the Peace Cup tournament started in 2003 and is held every odd year. 12 clubs are invited to participate. This summer's 2009 event was the first time it moved from Korea, to Spain. Included in the rounds were world-class clubs Real Madrid, Juventus, and Olympic Lyonnaise (France) - all for whom the matches equalled "pre-season" practice.

The grand intention of the Cup is to "build bridges across cultural differences through sports." One avenue is this biennial world competition which provides funds and resources for grassroots projects, especially for children in neighborhood communities.

I am especially in love with its trophy. It reminds me of Botticelli's "3 Graces" dancing around a golden ball. Its bronze, silver, and golden parts respectively, symbolize the 3 steps through which humans grow and mature:

"... overcomes pain through water (bronze), goes to the Universe symbolized by air (silver). Finally a peaceful world is created, through love (gold). Water, air, and love - the conjunction of world harmony."

In Sunday's final match at Sevilla, England's fairly-novice Aston-Villa side held their own against the relatively-veteran Juventus squad, until the 2nd-round penalty kicks shootout ended the match in their favor.

The young players were ecstatic. Their up-and-coming stars included 19-year-old Marc Albrighton and 3 other brave rookies. Their 'understudy' goalkeeper Brad Guzan is American, and even Juve's Gigi Buffon, 2006 World Champion goalkeeper, tipped his hat to the rising star.

Back on the note of my own desire for peace, I found the comfort I craved Monday afternoon in my kitchen. I thought about the beautiful young Aston-Villa players and decided to celebrate them with a new signature. Aston-Villa's jerseys are claret red shirts with sky-blue sleeves. Fine, this ought to be easy.

Just like I don't have anything to do with the world's most beautiful game being played by some of the world's most beautiful men, I am not personally responsible for the apparent truth that homemade cookies are always joyfully devoured by children of all ages. Even those who live in adult bodies. It just never fails.

Best to take one of my best recipes ever and twist it up with some new tricks for this occasion, I decided. Up until now, this said cookie dough requires refrigeration for several hours, is formed into balls, and baked into individual crispy, chewy perfections, studded with Euro chocolate chunks.

I needed peace and pleasure sooner than that. I kept the oatmeal cookie base, and added a tiny dose of cinnamon and nutmeg because nutmeg especially, makes people happy.

The claret and blue came into play when I stirred in chocolate-coated cranberries and yogurt-coated blueberries. The batter spread easily and perfectly into an 8-inch glass pan so now we'd have new cookie bars (which make wonderful gifts)! I imagined the coating of the berries would dissolve splendidly into the batter to create a brand-new flavor.

Voila! Ecco! In about 30 minutes, a fantastic giant square cookie (!) or, in fact for me, one tiny corner sample ... was just what the good cosmic doctor ordered - a whole new, incredibly delicious prescription for joy, pleasure and, peace.

I hope it offers the same for you and yours.

Peace Cup Oatmeal Cookie Bars, for Aston-Villa

1 cube unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup yogurt-coated blueberries
1/2 cup chocolate-covered cranberries or cherries
(any 1 cup combination of chips, raisins, or other dried fruit pieces may be substituted)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat 8" square glass baking dish with cooking spray.

In large bowl, cream butter with sugars, egg, and vanilla. In separate bowl, combine flour, soda, salt, spices. Blend well with butter mixture. Add oats and combine thoroughly. Stir in 1 cup coated berries or choice of chips, chocolate pieces, dried fruit pieces, etc.

Spread dough evenly in prepared baking dish (easiest done with clean hands). Bake for 25-30 minutes, until browned on edges and slightly firm in center (it will continue to set once it cools). Set pan on wire rack to cool completely.

Cut into 16-20 bars to serve, or store in airtight container for up to one week.