Author: tuplesandattributes

Oatmeal Cookies

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I’m not sure where this recipe came from, but these are the easiest and best tasting oatmeal cookies I’ve ever made. I’ve now made 3 or 4 batches and they have turned out wonderfully delicious every time.

The recipe as given calls for a food processor. Apparently, it’s for a much bigger one then I have, as there is no way all those ingredients would fit in mine. I used a mixer to cream the butter and sugars and then added the rest of the ingredients.

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Bars

2 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2-1/2 cups rolled oats
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups raisins
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

Line a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides; coat the foil with cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Pulse 2 sticks softened butter with 3/4 cup each granulated sugar and brown sugar in a food processor until combined. Add 2 1/2 cups rolled oats, 1 1/2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon each baking powder and salt; pulse to combine. Add 2 cups raisins, 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla; pulse until large clumps form.

Spread in the prepared pan or press in using damp or oiled fingers.

Bake until the edges are set but the center is soft, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely in the pan.

One of Those OMG, I’m Officially Not Even Middle-Aged Anymore Moments

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I was having a rather freewheeling discussion the other day with someone I had recently met and enjoying the interests and ideas we seemed to have in common. At one point, she casually mentioned her mother, who had just turned 60. And it hit me, I am 10 years older than this woman’s mother! It just didn’t and still doesn’t feel possible. I don’t feel that different than I did at 40; how in the world can I be older her mother?

Holiday Tradition

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A number of years ago I bought some “fake” Holiday candles. They looked nice with a rather real flickering candle effect. At the end of the season, I packed them up with all the other decorations and put them out in the garage. However, this was in Palm Desert, and even if they weren’t “real” candles, subjecting them to the heat of a desert summer in my garage was not wise.

When we pulled them out the next year, they had melted, as you can see. My mom looked at them and initially thought we would have to throw them out, but they still worked just fine. And after we stared at them for a while, we realized we actually liked the new look: they now appear to have been burning for a while, giving them an even more realistic effect.

Now every year when we pull them out of the drawer (no more garage storage!), we think about the serendipitous “mistake” we made. The holidays wouldn’t be the same without them.

The wreath, by the way, is one I made 4 or 5 years ago from paper. A true labor of love as it involved hundreds of leaves.

Best Baked Potatoes

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One of the sides I fixed for Thanksgiving was baked potato. I got the recipe from one of America’s Test Kitchen sites; their recipes and research rarely steer me wrong. In this case, these actually are the best baked potatoes I’ve ever had.

  • Salt and pepper
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 4 (7- to 9-ounce) russet potatoes, unpeeled, each lightly pricked with fork in 6 places
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Dissolve 2 tablespoons salt in 1/2 cup water in large bowl. Place potatoes in bowl and toss so exteriors of potatoes are evenly moistened. Transfer potatoes to wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet and bake until center of largest potato registers 205 degrees, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Remove potatoes from oven and brush tops and sides with oil. Return potatoes to oven and continue to bake for 10 minutes.

Remove potatoes from oven and IMMEDIATELY, using paring knife, make 2 slits, forming X, in each potato. Using clean dish towel, hold ends and squeeze slightly to push flesh up and out. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

These were soooo good. The skin crackled as I cut into them and they were the perfect texture. I used a temperature probe in one of the potatoes to track the progress and judge when to start cooking other items. Even my huge potatoes only took an hour or so to cook at that high temperature.