Hi again- after a month of voluntary abstinence, have started blogging again. To be quite honest sometimes there can be periods of time when one has little to blog about that is sane or interesting and the last few weeks have been a very busy time for me professionally, socially and emotionally..

However, having noticed a return of weird and bizarre thoughts to that vacuous space that one housed a fairly normal sized brain and an excessive amount of giggling returning routinely to my days to boot, I know things are on the mend, so to speak…

Knowing of my current situation (a tad lonely… my daughter encouraged me to sign up to a dating site a couple of weeks ago for the hell of it- let me tell you they are scary places to be but that’s another story to share another day!!!) two guy friends of mine invited me out for the day (their treat) to attend the Spring Ideal Homes Show at Exhibition Park..it didn’t take me long to say yes! Matt did the driving and Adrian dished out fabby homemade Oatmeal and Raisin Cookies and as all good road trips should, we talked about a vast variety of topics from growing veggies and making beer to love and sex..

The show was great, in true Frugal and Greenish style I entered a variety of free ballots to win stuff like house painting to state of the art sleep systems and in addition grabbed a huge variety of literature on eco friendly products ( I do hope they were printed on recycled paper! )

AJ’s cookies were just so damn good that I had to make them myself when the recipe arrived in my inbox this morning!

AJ’s ‘Ideal Home’ Cookies

Do not overbake these cookies. The edges should be brown, but the rest of the cookie should be very light in color.

Ingredients

1 cup (1/2 pound or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, OR 1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large eggs, well beaten
1 Tbsp vanilla
3 cups rolled oats (We use Quaker Quick or Old Fashioned. Do NOT use instant.)
1 1/2 cups raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Method

1 Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two large cookie sheets or line with Silpat, parchment paper or waxed paper.

2 In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs. Add vanilla.

3 Mix flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in medium bowl. Stir dry ingredients into butter-sugar mixture. Stir in raisins and nuts. Stir in oats.

4 Spoon out dough by large tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie.

5 Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.