Cookies!

Hi everyone :)

Sorry for the lack of posts, I have been enjoying some extended time off from work by being uncharacteristically lazy.

Here's what we have accomplished since I last posted:

- We measured a possible yard site for the chickens, as the current coop is unsalvageable (and unsanitary!)  Based on our calculations, we can have 36 chickens in 4 runs, or 32 chickens in 6, if we do a permanent, year-round coop with rotating runs.  Next step: plan the coop.

- We measured the 'dip' in the yard for a potential garden: 30m by 55m, which works out to about 0.4 acres.  I thought it was bigger than that!  No biggie though.  New we'll just watch in the spring and see if that area drains well enough to feasibly put in a garden.

- I rotated the bins for the worms (yes, we have worms, for vermicomposting, they work quite well although on a very small scale).  Luckily, they're nearly indestructible - feed them, ignore them for 3 weeks, come back and feed them again.  My kind of pet :)

- I did more baking - three batches of cookies!  At my work, we do a cookie swap for Christmas (instead of trying to purchase little trinkets for each other), so I did 2 dozen for my coworkers in my department, with loooooooooots left over to give to others, and for us to eat!  In my opinion, these are the best oatmeal cookies ever - I usually make them with cranberries for the fruit and white chocolate chips for myself and for others, and with just semi-sweet chocolate chips for Jordan.  The recipe is below.

- We also have Doodle for an extended playdate right now!  He and Zim are having a blast running around outside, wrestling over the toys, and chasing each other through the house.

Zim and Doodle, wrestling in the snow

Other than that, it's been a quiet Christmas.  As it was just us two here, and we're not terribly big in to Christmas, we've just been hanging out and being lazy.  Jordan has had the sled out a few times, and we let the cats go outside Christmas day - something that they've been asking for for a while.  Mander was happy to sit in the snow for about 10 minutes, but Moly was thoroughly unimpressed and wanted to go back inside after just a minute.

Clockwise from top left: Jordan on the sled - that black blur right behind him is Zim; The kids curled up on the bed after we rearranged the bedroom so we could turn on the electric heat; Measuring the garden site; Mander quite happy in the snow; Molly wants in!  She's growling by this point; Zim is perfectly fine outside, of course.

Anyway as promised, the recipe:

Awesome Oatmeal Cookies!

Ingredients:

1 1⁄2 c flour 

1 tsp baking soda 

1⁄2 tsp salt 

1⁄2 tsp cinnamon 

2 1⁄2 c old fashioned oats 

1 c unsalted butter, lightly softened 

1 c light brown sugar, packed 

1⁄2 c granulated sugar 

2 lg eggs 

1 Tbsp honey 

2 tsp pure vanilla extract 

1 1⁄3 c dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, blueberries, apples, etc.) (optional)

1 c chocolate chips (white or semi-sweet) (optional)

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper (or use non-stick cookie sheets). 

3. In medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and oats. Set aside. 

4. With an electric mixer, beat the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. 

5. Beat eggs in to the sugar mixture one at a time. 

6. Add honey and vanilla to the sugar mixture and beat until blended. 

7. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture in two batches, beating each time until well combined. 

8. Stir in the cranberries and chocolate chips. 

9. Drop heaping Tbsp of dough on to baking sheets about 2 inches apart. 

10. Bake until the centers of the cookies are soft, about 9 to 11 minutes. 

11. Let cool for five minutes on the cookie sheets, then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.