This morning, I had planned to bake cookies for the Nelson County Library Brown Bag Book Club meeting at noon today and thereafter write a blog post about my first time attendance. Instead, I took our dog Freya to the Crozet Veterinary Care Center. Over the weekend, Freya tore a toenail on her right front paw, an injury which now requires medical attention.

Taking care of dogs is like taking care of children at times like this. All plans are set aside in order to seek treatment for all manner of severe cuts and bumps, limps and tears, bleeding, pain, fever, swelling, illness, wounds, rashes or infection. And while sitting in clinic waiting rooms, book club and other meetings happen with or without one’s attendance. As Robert Frost stated, “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.”

So life goes on. Waiting for the vet’s call to come pick up Freya, I write this blog post, neither baked cookies nor book ideas to share. But with much appreciation to my readers, I pass along this somewhat unusual, favorite cookie recipe, a gift to me from Keith’s Mother not long before she died.

It goes on.

Oatmeal Macaroons

 

½ cup shortening

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp molasses

1 cup sugar

1 egg (unbeaten)

 

1 cup flour

¾ tsp soda

 

1 cup rolled oats

½ cup raisins

½ cup coconut

½ cup chopped nuts (I prefer pecan chips)

 

Combine first 7 ingredients and beat well. Sift flour with soda and add to first, mix well. Add remaining ingredients and mix.

Drop level Tbsp of dough on greased cookie sheet. Bake in moderate 350⁰ oven for 10-15 minutes.

Double for 5+ dozen cookies

 

Happy Holidays, and thank you for reading!