Kid Stuff

There's a first time for everything, and let's face it, at my ripe age of sixteen, first times are where it's at. This year I drove for the first time, got my first bank account, and got my first car. In nine days I'll even be allowed to drive all by myself! Can you remember the first thing you did all by your self?

All by myself.

What kid doesn't want to be independent. When you're a kid, you just want to get dressed, eat, walk to the bus stop, all. by. yourself.

The first time I did anything significant all by myself was at the not-so-ripe age of nine. I made oatmeal cookies from my mom's old Good Housekeeping cookbook. Classic right? It just might be the easiest recipe in the world, a good catalyst for and addiction to baking like mine, I gotta say.
I got all my ingredients out on the counter, I preheated the oven like the book said, and I even operated our dinosaur but trusty hand mixer. Things got wild with the mixer, but in the end I did something, everything to make those cookies all by myself.



Good Housekeeping Oatmeal cookies

1 cup quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup California walnuts
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Into large bowl, measure all ingredients. With mixer at medium speed, beat ingredients until well mixed, occasionally scraping bowl.
Drop by teaspoonfuls, 1 inch apart, onto cookie sheet. Bake 12 minutes or until lightly browned. With pancake turner, immediately remove cookies to wire racks; cool.


I guess I'm a big kid now, but I'll never forget my first time.