Marathon Update

I can't believe it's been more than a MONTH since I ran the marathon. Ok, so I'm catching up on everything but I did managed to run a PR - 3:50:28.

My running/training partner was having a fabulous day and put me to shame - she turned a 3:45:49 and managed to qualify for Boston! Absolutely terrific! I was one big cramp starting at mile 19 but still finished strong. Tired, sure. Stiff, yes. Sore - not so much. I'm back and running and my knees are almost in working order.

Time to get back to refereeing and yard work.

Oatmeal Cookies - v3.0

Experimentation continues - as always.

Version 2.0 was NOT great. It doesn't even merit posting. That being said, I marched on to version 3.0 (taking my co-workers' excellent feedback) and have settled on this recipe:

Cream together:

1/2 c shortening
1/2 c butter (softened)
1 c brown sugar, packed
3/8 c white sugar

Add:

1 t pure vanilla extract
2 eggs at room temperature

and mix at medium-high speed until light and fluffy.

Now add:

1 1/2 c flour
1 t baking soda
pinch of salt
1 t ground cardamom
1/2 t ground cinnamon

Mix at low speed until incorporated. Add

1/2 c dried cranberries
1/2 c white chocolate chips
1/2 c shelled, unsalted pistachios (you can roast these for a stronger flavor)

Finally, add:

2 c quick-cooking oats
1 c mixed grain quick-cooking breakfast (mix of barley, oat and wheat)

Now here's where it gets interesting. The size of the cookie matters - big surprise! The last few batches yielded <30 cookies and baking time was approaching 20 minutes. This time, I was closer to the 1" ball size and the yield was ~3 dozen (37 to be exact). Baking time was 15 minutes - and *perhaps* could have gone a bit longer - but not much.

Stick with aluminum 1/4 sheet pans - you can get about 14 cookies on them. One sheet at a time, middle rack - oven temp 350 degF.

These were awesome. I should take some pictures!