Weekend En Espanol

this weekend was pretty interesting. i spent friday night, saturday, and sunday morning camping at lake Hemet with kelley and jesse and his family. and while most of what was said was in spanish, it reminded me a lot of Deutschlager, or german camp (that is, german language camp). the crisp air, the clear lake, and only being able to understand half of what was said. besides that, it was pretty fun, and a hell of a lot better than just staying at home, which was probably what was going to happen. it's really dark there at night, but it helps to see the stars better, and i noticed that the stars actually twinkle there.

i couldn't help but reminisce about Deustschlager while i was there, and then about german. sigh. it turns out that out of the eight of us who took the german 4 AP test, none of us passed (that i know of). where did we go wrong?! i guess there is something wrong going on when we have too much fun. and boy, did we have fun. THIS IS SPARTA!! in the end i suppose i don't care about that score as much as i should. some of the most fun i've ever had in high school were in that german class, and that's the most i could ask for. and we all know it's better to have tried and failed than to not try at all. for now though, i'm just worried about the next time i visit frau rovell.

a week ago or so i made these cranberry oatmeal cookies, just so i can finally get rid of our craisins (the crazy raisin!!). also, we had a lot of oatmeal at home, and i think we both know it's not that appetizing on its own. but in a cookie? yes. deeelicious.


the cookies were nice and soft, with a buttery taste and a tartness from the cranberries. mmm. while craisins are completely good on their own, it helps to have a somewhat healthy snack around the house to keep you away from the potato chips. it also helps me realize that there are other desserts out there besides cakes and pies.

so without further ado, the recipe, which i based off of another recipe and made a few modifications to.

Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 each eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3 c. oatmeal
2 c. dried cranberries (craisins!)

directions:
preheat oven to 350 degrees f.

in a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. beat in eggs and vanilla.

in another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. add to butter mixture and mix together until completely combined.

fold in oats and dried cranberries to mixture until distributed throughout the dough.

drop dough in rounded tablespoons onto greased cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes. makes 48 cookies. :)

you can add nuts to the cookie dough if you like, just minimize the amount of cranberries if you do. i've also seen recipes online that top the cookies with melted white chocolate, for more of a christmas-y taste.