Wednesday, April 11, 2018

A Victorian Farm, and Herbs for Granny Marigold!

If you like tips about good TV shows to watch, here's one: BBC's "Victorian Farm." It's on Youtube (free!!), is interesting and educational and well-made. Imagine those old U.S. Frontier House or Pioneer House shows, except minus all the petty drama, with professionals who know what they're doing, and best of all ... British accents.

Two men and one woman, all experts on Victorian farm life, spend a year rebuilding a Victorian farm and all its work.

Today I've painted a little --

And I baked cookies. I've taken great liberties with my mother's Oatmeal Cookie recipe. I suppose I'd call mine Oatmeal-and-Friends Cookies.
Perhaps it's yummiest just like this.
 I prefer a chewy cookie with lots of texture, and as much as possible, a healthier cookie. I'm enjoying a couple with my late-morning tea.
Here's the recipe, with my changes:

2 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup of golden raisins and dried cranberries in whatever proportions you like

Mix these ingredients in your stand mixer until the fruit is coated. Then add:
2 large eggs
2 Tbl. honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup of butter/oil. (I prefer butter, so I use 1/3 cup of butter and 2 Tbl. veg. oil.)
1 cup of chocolate chips (or however much you like) -- I prefer a mix of milk chocolate and semi-sweet.

Mix well. Put on ungreased cookie sheets in rounds and flatten a little. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

I cut down the sugar in this recipe to the bare minimum, but sweetness is added from the honey, raisins, and chocolate chips. There's much complexity of flavor and texture in these cookies.

I did a little knitting this morning too. And in addition to binge watching "Victorian Farm," I made a little video for you all. Granny Marigold asked for a bit more info about drying herbs for tea, so here it is!

There's also info on the video about the scarf pattern I'm knitting and the homemade lotion I use. 

Thanks for visiting, friends. Our weather is improving today. Adam is whacking away outside. And guess what? I have a broody hen again! Yes, I do!! She drifted into that comatose state a couple of days ago and has spread herself out over some eggs in the nesting box, bless her heart. Her name's Sylvie, and she's half silkie.
Ta-Ta for now!

6 comments:

Carol Blackburn said...

M.K. your cookies look yummy. I like to dip chocolate in my tea and let it then melt in my mouth. Mike has 23 days left before retirement. Today he got me to indulge in some eggplant parmesan sub and onion rings. Oh boy, I will need to have better will power once he retires to stay more on my new way of eating or all of that weight I lost will creep back on. Enjoy the remainder of this beautiful Spring week.

Gumbo Lily said...

I didn't watch the entire video about your herbal tea, but I did enjoy listening to your voice. You are very easy to listen to, MK.

Granny Marigold said...

Lovely lovely post! I'm all enthusiastic now about drying Lemon Balm and Mint ( which are just showing new growth at this time). I had not thought of mixing herbs with regular tea but that's another thing I will try. We make a pot of tea in the evening using a thick slice of lemon, a good sized lump of frozen grated fresh ginger and sometimes I add a lemon tea bag to the pot. It's going to be fun experimenting.
I noticed in the video that you have the book Story of Babar. I used to like him and all his friends but to my disappointment not one of my kids was interested in either the books or videos of him.
Thanks again for taking the time to make the video.

Lisa Richards said...

I used to make a similar cookie that I called COP cookies. I managed to wedge some peanut butter into the recipe, so: chip/oatmeal/peanut butter. I was trying to mimic some healthy cookies sold at the local health food store. Oh, I also added some wheat germ. I'm sure they weren't very healthy, but it felt like it, lol. The videos aren't coming up for me. Mine sometimes disappear like that. They're not very "sticky". Why does Mr. Mouse need to loosen the car wires? Just to be pesky? Ha ha! :)

Henny Penny said...

Oh my gosh! Wish I had time this morning to sit and watch that Victorian Farm show. I LOVE things like that! Thank you for this post! I'm definitely going to make the cookies, and will come back and see a little of the video too...a little at a time. I am so behind with blogging, my friends have probably given up on me. Have a good day. It's supposed to be warm and pretty! :)

happyone said...

I like a nice chewy cookie too and these look delicious.
We had a sunny day and it actually felt like spring today.