Saturday, June 25, 2011

Not so secret Family Recipe...Oatmeal Cookies

My mom had two cookies that, in my opinion, she was famous for. [She also had a fabulous Blueberry Muffin recipe that cannot be rivaled--I will post that recipe another day.]

So, for your eating pleasure, here is her oatmeal cookie recipe. I have some in the oven right now and Bob's mouth is watering because he LOVES oatmeal cookies.

OATMEAL COOKIES

2C flour     
1 C  brown sugar       
1t baking powder
1/2t  baking soda  
1t cinnamon
  
3C rolled oats
1C raisins
   
1C oil
     
2 eggs
1/2C milk

Sift together first 5 ingredients, then add oats and raisins. Add the wet ingredients all at once and stir with a wooden spoon to wet all ingredients. Scoop out in Tablespoon fulls.  Bake at 400° for 15 minutes, till golden brown.  [Used greased cookie sheets or parchment paper]


(My mom used to put a walnut half in each before baking and so do I.)




Enjoy,
Jill

Thursday, June 9, 2011

ICED TEA...

I am an iced tea lover. When the temperatures soar, I break out my iced tea pot and get busy making fantastic un-sweetened tea. I have to mention that it is unsweetened because southerners might get the wrong impression. I like my tea strong and black--no sugar, no lemon.

I have had a Mr. Coffee Iced Tea maker for years and I still really like it, but for my birthday, my friend Linda gave me a gift certificate to Amazon. I didn't even know they existed, but I am here to tell you it is a fantastic gift. Thanks Linda. :)

At any rate, I had just been telling Bob that I needed another iced tea maker to keep at the the farm when the gift certificate came via email. So, I went to Amazon and found a Hamilton Beach maker.  It is awesome. I highly recommend it.

It doesn't take a filter--- there is a built in screen type, which I love. It is also very slim, so it fits better in the fridge than my old one. The pitcher also fits up the tower better than the Mr. Coffee one so it won't leak if it gets bumped. It is quick and works well with tea bags or loose tea. My favorite is about 3-4 T of  loose decaf English Breakfast and 1-2 T of peppermint leaves. If you are from the south, you could add your sugar into the filter basket. :)

I keep mini blocks of ice in my freezer for making soap, but they come in handy for making iced tea. Just fill a small plastic container with water, put on the lid and freeze. Then when you want ice, you have a nice block. I use containers that  1 lb.to 24 oz  of sliced frozen strawberries came in. It works great and saves using so many ice cubes if you are getting low. {I don't have an automatic ice maker. I used old fashioned ice cube trays.}

So,  if you are looking for the perfect summer beverage, get yourself a Hamilton Beach Iced Tea maker and let the fun begin. I am keeping this one home and I took the Mr. Coffee one to keep at the farm. [And no, I am not paid by Hamilton Beach!]

Take care,
Jill