Recipe: Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

I made these for FHE tonight and since I was serving a crowd, I times the recipe by 4.  That's a LOT of cookies.  I specifically made these because I do not like coconut in cookies (and I am trying to de-squishify myself) but the crowd at FHE gobbled them up!  Recipe adapted from this one here.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

Yield: about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. ground cinnamon (I ran out of cinnamon and added some Pumpkin Pie Spice as well)

¼ tsp. salt

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

½ tsp. vanilla extract

1½ cups old fashioned oats

¾ cup shredded coconut - toasted

½ cup butterscotch chips

¼ cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.  In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Stir to blend, and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugars and beat on medium-high speed until light and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.  Beat in the egg until incorporated.  Blend in the vanilla.  With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated.  With a spatula, fold in the oats, coconut, butterscotch chips and chocolate chips until evenly combined.  

Drop scoops of dough (about 2 tablespoons each - mine were a bit smaller) onto the prepared baking sheets, a few inches apart.  Bake for 12-15 minutes (my oven ran hot and they only needed 9 minutes), until just set and light golden, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Let cool on the pans about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

105th Rhododendron Festival Parade

On May 20th, we drove down to Florence, Oregon to watch Max as he marched in the Rhododendron Parade.   Max participated in marching band this year with the 7th and 8th graders.  Because he started band in 5th grade in Minnesota, he was ahead of the 6th graders here who cannot start band until middle school.   Switching band classes also meant he had to go to health/gym with 7th and 8th graders and he had to take Algebra this year.  It made for a very homework heavy year for Max and a little TMI from the older health class.

This school year, the band marched in two parades - Florence was the second and Max took the whole thing very seriously.  He memorize his music and marched exactly as he was was told.  I offered to drive him down to Florence the night before, but he was very excited to travel down in the fancy buses with the rest of the band.  They left Beaverton at 6:00am - yikes.  After the two hour parade, the kids were shuttled down to a state park on the ocean with miles and miles of sand dunes where they played for hours before heading home to Beaverton.

Peter happened to be in town visiting that weekend so we left soon after the bus to make our way to Florence.  It is a LONG drive down there and I slept through most of it as I am incapable of staying awake on road trips when I am not driving (and it was raining). I was fighting an eye infection and had to spend two weeks in glasses which did not make me the happiest of campers.  My glasses give me a headache and I just do not feel like myself without my contacts.

Here we are on the parade route.  It rained until the start of the parade and then it stopped for the entire parade!  The kids were still in their pajamas and decided not to change as they were cold (and Sophie was sick - I found out a few days later that she had walking pneumonia).

 Here comes the marching band!

That's Max's band teacher on the left.

There he is!

 

There he goes!

 

This was one of those parades where the people on the floats throw lots of candy and stuff which made Calvin and Sophie quite happy.  I was happy because we found a place to sit that was close to a coffee shop with take-out hot chocolate available.  It was kind of chilly.

 

We had a good time watching the parade and I'm glad we were there to support Max this year.  However, next year we are staying home.  It is too far to go for a day trip.

Happy Birthday Mom!

On Friday of last week, my parents left the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo, UT bound for an 18 month mission for our church in Lisbon, Portugal.  On their first night in Lisbon, they were reassigned to Porto, Portugal working with the single members of the church.  I am so happy for them and so excited for the adventures they are sure to have in Portugal.   My Dad is a diligent writer and has been sending emails every week updating us on their mission.  He wrote to me every single week of my own mission in Brazil.  I can't tell you how wonderful it was to receive those letters from home every week.

 The kids and I have made a goal to go and visit Grandma and Grandpa in Portugal at the end of their mission.  We have been collecting cans and bottles to return for little bits of cash and the kids found a jar that they are using to store the funds for our trip.  I think we have about $30 saved - clearly we need to get creative and find more ways to raise some traveling money!

Happy birthday Mom!  I hope you have a wonderful day exploring your new home!  We love you and miss you!  My sister -in-law Amber is having her fourth baby this summer which they will miss and my younger brother Scott just announced his engagement to his long-time girlfriend Carmen this week.  We love Carmen and are so happy for them!  Going on a mission is a sacrifice, but I know our entire family will be blessed from their service and example.

This Child

It is Saturday night and I have each of the kids take a shower before bedtime.  This child of mine comes out of the shower all wet and wrapped in a towel and wants to snuggle on my bed.  As I hold him on my lap, I notice that his hair - though wet, does not smell clean.

Me: Calvin, did you wash your hair with shampoo?
Calvin: I got it wet and I think some soap got on it.
Me: Uh, Calvin, that is not good enough - you need to wash your hair with shampoo and get it really clean!
Calvin: (sitting up to look at me in the eyes) Mom, I have not used shampoo since we left Minnesota.

Just a reminder - we left Minnesota in June of 2011.

Awesome.

Portland Summer Bucket List

1. Newport Sea Lions Caves
2. Seattle Mariners Game
3. Crater Lake
4. California Redwoods
5. Rhododendron Festival Florence
6. Oregon Garden Silverton
7. 4T Hike through Portland
8. Go to a First Thursday
9. Shakespeare Festival in Ashland
10. Opera in the Park Summerfest
11. Trip to NY
12. Buy a grill - host dinner parties
13. Lighthouses tour of the coast
14. Find good fried scallops on the coast (and clam chowder)
15. Sea Kayaking
16. Camp in a yurt
17. Visit hot springs in Bagby
18. Weekend in Bend
19. Run a 5k (note to self - start running)
20. Oregon Coast Aquarium
21. Jet boats in Grants pass
22. Tide pools at Yakima Head
23. Stay overnight in a tree-house in Cave Junction
24. Walk to the Farmers Market in Beaverton
25. Take the kids to play in the fountains at Beaverton Library

What do you think?  That should keep us busy.  Anything I've missed?

Triple Falls Hike

Last Saturday we headed up into the gorge for a hike with friends.  We started at Horsetail Falls and hiked up to Triple Falls and back.  It was a beautiful day to be outside!

This is Horsetail Falls - the kids love waterfalls where they can hike behind the falls.  Can you find Calvin in the photo below?

It is always more fun for the kids when we can meet up with other friends with children for our hikes.

Sophie has taken a fancy to the Oregon slugs and tends to collect them as we hike.  She has learned the hard way to pick them up with a leaf to avoid having to scrub her hand with salt to get the slug slime off.

Max collects sticks and pretends he is Harry Potter.

Triple Falls.  We stopped here for lunch - not a bad view!

This is the new bridge above Triple Falls.

The kids loved to explore down by the waters edge.  We were quite close to the top of Triple Falls and the water was very fast.  People ask me all the time if it is really that green here -yes, yes it is.

 It is always a challenge to get a good photo of all three kids at the same time!

On our way back, Calvin decided to take a quick shower which meant Sophie had to join the fun!

 Beautiful Hike and another wonderful trip up to the gorge.