For at least 10 years, I made Oatmeal Scotchie Cookies at Christmas. And then I forgot about them. Some other new cookie recipe came along and took their place. Oatmeal Scotchie Cookies were missing at our house for several years. I realize that there is absolutely nothing about these cookies that look a bit like Christmas. If you give them away as a gift, you have to make sure to choose a really special holiday container! You might help the situation by adding some Hershey Chocolate Kisses in the container!

By the time the cookies have disappeared, your friends won’t care if they looked like Christmas treats at all. These cookies are that good and that easy! I found the recipe a long time ago when Nestle Butterscotch Morsels first hit the grocery store shelves. It was on the back of the package and the recipe is still located on the back of the package. Still, Oatmeal Scotchie Cookies are just not as popular as the venerable Chocolate Chip Cookies.

However, they are very popular with my family and every friend who has tried them. I made Oatmeal Scotchies one Christmas for every employee at my husband’s office. That took way too long…especially after the search for pretty ribbon wrapped containers. But, it was a fun “way too long” time! Everyone likes special attention!

When I was teaching, I was always totally thrilled with homemade presents! Last year, I received two dozen delicious tamales! I was able to share them with my family, but I did have a couple of tamales on the long drive home from school! Messy, but great! No doubt, your friends will be just as impressed with Oatmeal Scotchies! I will admit that it is mighty difficult to compete with the two dozen tamales!

Yummy Christmas Cookie Recipe:

OATMEAL SCOTCHIES

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2  teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup (two sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats

1 2/3 cups (11-oz. pkg.) Nestle Toll House Butterscotch                                                      Flavored Morsels

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and morsels. Drop by rounded teaspoonful onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 7 to 8 minutes for chewy cookies or 9 to 10 minutes for crispy cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

ENJOY!!!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/missing/

Blowin’ in the Wind is a mesmerizing picture book for all generations…for all ages…for children…for grownups. Bob Dylan’s message of hope amid discord still resonates today. Perhaps the words to the song resonate even more  strongly today. Dylan’s word are beautifully illustrated by John J. Muth, a Caldecott honored artist. A CD of Dylan’s original 1963 recording of Blowin’ in the Wind is included with the book.

I happened upon the book in Barnes & Noble about five years ago. In 1963, my older brother liked folk music and played this song over and over on his “record player”. He played the song so much that I soon had it memorized, although I was too young to truly understand the deep meaning of the haunting lyrics.

As time went on, I realized that Blowin’ in the Wind was known as an anthem for the civil rights movement. There were protests and not all were peaceful. The lyrics to the song also reflect the serious questions that we still have regarding war, peace, justice for all, personal freedom, and freedom of speech.

How many times must a man look up

Before he can see the sky?

How many ears must one man have

Before he can hear people cry?

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind…

The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

Notes about Blowin’ in the Wind from Greil Marcus, Music Historian and Author of Mystery Train: Images of America in Rock ‘n Roll Music…

“Blowin’ in the Wind asks questions. When there is trouble in the world, in our own towns, in our own families, why can’t we admit that something is wrong, and try to do something about it? Why are some citizens treated unfairly? Why do some think they are better than  others? Why do we fight each other?…

The United States is a very different place today. It is not perfect. It still does not keep all of its promises. But because many men and women worked hard to answer the kinds of questions Bob Dylan asked in his song, our country is far more free than it was when Blowin’ in the Wind was written…

So today, whenever people feel that they are not free…  Whenever they feel they are being treated unfairly…  Whenever they know others only see what they look like, and not who they really are…

Whenever their lives are hurt or even destroyed by war or poverty…They can listen to Blowin’ in the Wind. They can say: Yes. I am in that song. That song is about me, too.”

Bob Dylan has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2016. It was stated that the prize motivation was…

“for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”.

What could be more fun for a child than riding a Barrel Train…especially one that was constructed at home!! The first time that I saw a Barrel Train was at our Family and Friends Thanksgiving Celebration about four years ago. Evidently, everyone else was more with the program than me…they not only knew about making the trains, but they had seen them at fairs and other events.

I suppose this is what happens when your children are suddenly grown up and the kiddie rides no longer hold the same interest! When I saw the Barrel Train being carefully unloaded from a trailer at Thanksgiving, I instantly wanted and needed one…for our future grandchildren, of course! This train was just too exciting for words. Far more exciting than the chocolate pies waiting inside the house.

All of the children rode the train off and on the entire day. First, someone had to volunteer to drive the four wheeler to pull it and someone else was needed to be the “crowd control” person. Barrel trains can also be pulled by small tractors and golf carts. I didn’t offer my own golf cart… the trails and bumps and hills have left it with a distinct lack of power!

After searching on the internet, I found many sites devoted to DIY people ready to make a Barrel Train. The following is a YouTube video that explains (easily…??)how to construct a kid’s Barrel Train! Have fun and I hope you are far more handy than me!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/construct/