Monday, February 3, 2020

OATMEAL FRUIT-NUT DROP COOKIES


We are “as well as usual,” blessed phrase! – Ina Dobson, January 1935

With his left arm in a cast, Mike can do almost everything for himself except buttoning buttons and tying his shoes. Saturday night, we discovered we had no hot water, and he managed to light the pilot, though it wasn’t easy. But – he does have pain, and that wears a person down.

Another pseudo-holiday has come and gone. Super Bowl Sunday doesn’t matter much to me – I’m just there for the snacks, the commercials, and the associations – but it has become a benchmark in my year. It’s time to get on with things.

There’s no question but that the groundhog saw his shadow. Moderate temps on Friday and Saturday turned colder on Sunday with a hard freeze overnight. It’s sunny but cold today, so let’s turn on the oven and bake some cookies.

Mother wrote this recipe for “Oatmeal Fruit-nut Drop Cookies in pencil on a piece of scratch paper, so it’s faded and yellow. I don’t know – if you’re going to copy down a recipe, why wouldn’t you write it on a card? Maybe she hadn’t tried it yet and wasn’t sure she wanted it on record in her recipe box. At any rate, I’ll give it a try and see what I think.

I say that, but I already know what I’m going to think. I find that most – I say, “most” – oatmeal cookies are rather heavy and tasteless. Maybe I’m in the minority here because oatmeal raisin cookies are in demand at our P.E.O. cookie sale. Still, I make them now and then, and I do feel that oatmeal cookies have more food value than some others. Don’t they?

OATMEAL FRUIT-NUT DROP COOKIES
Barely legible
·      Mix thoroughly:
1 cup soft shortening (like Crisco)
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
·      Stir in:
½ cup sour milk or buttermilk
·      Sift together and stir in:
1 ¾ cups sifted flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
·      Stir in:
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup cut up raisins or dates
½ cup nuts
·      Drop rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned.
Temp: 400
Bake 8-10 minutes
About 5 ½ dozen

I baked at 400 for 9 minutes.

“So, what do you think?” I asked Mike as he tried one of these cookies.

Not one to mince words, Mike said, “Tastes like every other oatmeal cookie you bake.”

Hahaha! Isn’t that what I just said? Most every oatmeal cookie comes back to the same slightly sweet little mound. I must add, though, that the batter was lovely. KW

4 comments:

Chris said...

It looks like a date in the lower right corner--10-18 thirty something. What a find! Yes, most oatmeal cookies taste just about the same, I do like mine with some pecans in them. Or chocolate chips. I used to make oatmeal choc chip peanut butter cookies when the kids were little. I kind of mashed a couple of recipes together, probably negating any healthiness from the oatmeal! Haha!

Hopefully Mike's pain will be gone soon! The cast is probably here for a while though.

Kathy said...

I cropped the bottom off the recipe. It says, "10-18-36-45." Whatever it meant back in the day, I feel quite confident it's no longer meaningful today.

I put raisins, dates, and walnuts in these cookies, but I prefer pecans to walnuts. I think peanut butter would constitute a nutritious addition to a cookie, and chocolate chips are my all-time favorite addition -- that and toffee bits.

Hallie said...

Some of the worst moments of my life have been thinking an oatmeal raisin cookie was going to be chocolate chip.

Kathy said...

Yes, I used to divide the dough and make some with raisins and some with chocolate chips, and it was easy to mistake one cookie for the other.