MS&WF - and Cookies!

Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

Jim and I are home from the Wool Festival, the 38th Annual, tired and very satisfied.

My volunteer job this year was in the Hospitality Committee. We provided food and drink and a place to relax and eat it to the busy volunteers, committee members and staff of the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival for the last three days. Oh, yes, let's not forget the contest judges, seminar teachers, police, rescue workers, security guards and hangers-on who heard that free good food was available in the Fair Office building.

MK, who chaired the committee, mostly ordered pre-made food and we served it up, in many cases driving around in a golf cart (yee-hah!) and delivering it to workers in other buildings, and occasionally heating stuff up. But we did bake some goodies for dessert. Those who came in to the Fair Office to eat got to enjoy home-baked cookies or brownies, and we got lots of complements.

I made two full batches of my mother's oatmeal cookie recipe, each one for 10 dozen cookies (using a level two tablespoon scoop to measure out the dough) one with chocolate chips and walnuts and the other walnuts, raisins and spice.

Here's the recipe:

Oatmeal Cookies

For a busy Mom – Makes 10 Dozen!

Preheat oven to 350°

1 ½ cup butter or shortening

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

½ cup water

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 ½ cups sifted flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

6 cups rolled oats

Plus additional ingredients for different flavors – see method.

Place shortening, sugars, eggs, water and vanilla in a large mixing bowl, beat thoroughly Sift together flour, salt and soda; add to shortening mix, blend well. Blend in oats.

Separate cookie dough into three equal portions and add ingredients as below. Drop by 2 level tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet (I recommend parchment) and bake at 350° for 15 minutes.

These keep well in an airtight container for a few days or freezer for longer periods.

These are satisfying, but not dainty!

For each third, add:

• 1 cup chocolate chips and ½ cup chopped walnuts

• 1 heaping tablespoon peanut butter and 1 cup butterscotch bits

• 1 cup raisins and ¾ cup chopped walnuts - plus,

one teaspoon cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Besides my baking. I got a lot of compliments on my hacked Committee T-Shirt. Picture to follow.

MS&WF - and Cookies!

Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

Jim and I are home from the Wool Festival, the 38th Annual, tired and very satisfied.

My volunteer job this year was in the Hospitality Committee. We provided food and drink and a place to relax and eat it to the busy volunteers, committee members and staff of the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival for the last three days. Oh, yes, let's not forget the contest judges, seminar teachers, police, rescue workers, security guards and hangers-on who heard that free good food was available in the Fair Office building.

MK, who chaired the committee, mostly ordered pre-made food and we served it up, in many cases driving around in a golf cart (yee-hah!) and delivering it to workers in other buildings, and occasionally heating stuff up. But we did bake some goodies for dessert. Those who came in to the Fair Office to eat got to enjoy home-baked cookies or brownies, and we got lots of complements.

I made two full batches of my mother's oatmeal cookie recipe, each one for 10 dozen cookies (using a level two tablespoon scoop to measure out the dough) one with chocolate chips and walnuts and the other walnuts, raisins and spice.

Here's the recipe:

Oatmeal Cookies

For a busy Mom – Makes 10 Dozen!

Preheat oven to 350°

1 ½ cup butter or shortening

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

½ cup water

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 ½ cups sifted flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

6 cups rolled oats

Plus additional ingredients for different flavors – see method.

Place shortening, sugars, eggs, water and vanilla in a large mixing bowl, beat thoroughly Sift together flour, salt and soda; add to shortening mix, blend well. Blend in oats.

Separate cookie dough into three equal portions and add ingredients as below. Drop by 2 level tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet (I recommend parchment) and bake at 350° for 15 minutes.

These keep well in an airtight container for a few days or freezer for longer periods.

These are satisfying, but not dainty!

For each third, add:

• 1 cup chocolate chips and ½ cup chopped walnuts

• 1 heaping tablespoon peanut butter and 1 cup butterscotch bits

• 1 cup raisins and ¾ cup chopped walnuts - plus,

one teaspoon cinnamon and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Besides my baking. I got a lot of compliments on my hacked Committee T-Shirt. Picture to follow.

Wildlife Twofer Day

While swimming this morning I spotted my old friend, the Pileated Woodpecker at work on the huge bare oak visible from the pool's arched North window. Pileated Woodpeckers are HUGE, a raven-and-a-half or two robins at least. With no leaves out, the red and while head is easily visible climbing up and down and around the tree.

After a mostly-wasted day in yet another 'management workshop' I walked to the Co-op for fresh leeks and spotted - for sure - a muskrat. I thought muskrats only lived in the Great North Woods but it certainly was a muskrat. Pretty soon they will be frying them up in chruch halls through

Wildlife Twofer

While swimming this morning I spotted the Pileated Woodpecker that

ravioli for dinner

I made a batch of pasta today, one and a half cups each of all-purpose and semolina flours to four and a half eggs. Half of it I rolled out and made up into ravioli, the first time I have done so. It was pretty tasty, but Jim told me that he doesn't care for blue cheese, which it did contain. You'd think I'd have learned that more than two months before our 33RD anniversary.

My ravioli didn't look as nice as those pictured. Some were downright lumpy. I served them in Roasted Garlic broth with slivers of Roast Pork (from Saturday).

I used the dough hook on my mixer to make the pasta dough and it was quick and efficient. While it looks cool to whip this stuff together by hand on a bread board I think I'll use the mixer in the future.

Please excuse me. I need to go roll out the second half of the pasta now - and freeze it.

Chinese New Year

Tomorrow is New Year's Day for Chinese and those who celebrate the Lunar New Year - so if I was Chinese, I'd stay home today and stuff scores of dumplings for soup. Then I'd have lots of relatives over at midnight to eat the soup.

But - being who I am, I had to work at the library until 8PM, which doesn't leave a lot of time for dumpling-stuffing.

I'm also not Chinese, of course, and haven't got a lot of mobile relatives to gather to my bosom but I did flash on a Twenty-First Century maneuver for New Year's Dumpling Soup in a flash.

I microwaved a bag of veggie dumplings (mine were from Trader Joe - in some places they are called Mandoo) and carefully floated/sank them in 3 pints of canned chicken broth, then warmed up the whole shebang to just below boiling.

I flavored it with a little white pepper, but if I had had some sherry or yellow wine on hand I'd have added a ounce of that.

For dipping sauce I use mostly soy sauce with a little flavored rice vinegar (sushi vinegar) and even less toasted sesame oil for the base. I added a few drops of red pepper oil and one small, super-hot dried pepper crumbled into a portion (about and ounce) and a crushed clove of garlic to another portion. Hey, presto, three dip sauces!

Happy New Year, Spring Festival, or etcetera.

The Further Adventures of Onion Soup

This is the all-important rich brown crust that develops after caramelizing the onions.

Tastes SO good!

And the final product; rich and savory french onion soup.

Don't forget to cool the bowls after you remove them from the broiler. You WILL enjoy this!