Easy Oatmeal Cookies & Christmas in July?!?!?!?

It’s Foodie Friday over at Design’s by Gollum and I couldn’t resist throwing in my last night’s oatmeal cookies with my Christmas in July post for the fun blog party over at Coffee on the Table! Hang on a minute.(Christmas in July is right after Foodie Friday !)

First, I want to wish Michael Lee West the very best of creative writing days as the deadline for her new book is closing in! I’m reading her last book, Mermaids in the Basement and I LOVE it! I think I’ll do a little give away when I’m done so one of my blog peeps can enjoy it too! Anyhoo, happy writing Michael, I cheering you on!

Last night was Thursday night…on Thursday night The Husband brings home Moes! I love Moes…la – la- la love it!  I get chicken nacho’s in case you were wondering! And an oatmeal cookie! Today I thought I’d whip up some of my own oatmeal cookies to compliment our Mexican dinner. (to me there’s nothing better than a plate of warm oatmeal cookies and a glass of lemonade on a summer evening…ahhhhh, the simple things in life make me happy~)

I know everyone has a great oatmeal cookie recipe…mine is probably similar to yours. I adapted it from this great cookbook…

Easy Oatmeal Cookies

* 1 cup walnuts~toasted & chopped

(to toast nuts : set oven to 350* and spread nuts on parchment paper on a baking sheet, single layer…bake for 6 minutes)***Don’t leave out this step!***

*3/4 cup butter~softened

*1 cup brown sugar

*1 egg

*1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*3/4 cup all purpose flour

*1/2 teaspoon baking soda

*1/4 teaspoon salt

*3 cups old-fashioned oats

~Mix butter and sugar until creamy.  Add egg and vanilla mix well.  In another bowl whisk together, flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture and beat well. Add oats, mix just until blended. Stir in roasted, chopped nuts.

~Use ice cream scoop or lg. spoon to put cookie dough on baking sheet lined with parchment. (Place 2 inch’s apart) Bake at 350* for 10-13 minutes …

***I did 1/2 the batch like this and then added 1/2 cup butterscotch chips to the leftover batter and baked the same as above…you could add cranberries, raisins or chocolate chips***

Now onto our Christmas in July…Stop rolling your eyes…it’s a mere hundred and eighty something days till Christmas I’m told! Once upon a time, many years ago, the deep South had a very rainy July. It stormed for days. Gray sky’s and rain kept me and my little ones scrambling for inside things to keep us busy…I thought surely the sun would never shine again and  right before I ran out of patience I had an idea… Christmas in July !

I planned out little projects  and pulled out yumalicious recipes and for one week we made ornaments and baked like there was no tomorrow. The rain just added to the ambiance! It was a good memory for this empty-nester I tell ya! But since that long ago stormy summer month, I’ve not really thought of Christmas in July…until now!

Try to work with me Peeps… I love the holidays…I start decking the halls EARLY! (Okay, admittedly, not this early but you know!) I have several Christmas trees each with different themes. This is the one in my tiny Library, which is open to the den…so I suppose it’s the main tree. (My house is small so more than 1 tree is silly, but I’m nothing if not silly!)

This one brightens up the foyer…kind old school with the big lights!

This tree is in the dinning room and it’s kinda girly! I love this tree the best…

I have a new color scheme for the dinning room tree this year…I found this tree skirt and table runner at TJ Max after Christmas for cheap. The color just draws me. I’ve been gravitating to this scrumptious teal blue-green for quite some time…I’ve been buying things here and there to use this December in the dinning room to go with these different shades of teal…

This is the table all set last year~This year it’ll be softer .I’m getting kinda excited! How many days till Christmas again?

Here is my kitchen wreath…I stuck it in here for no good reason.  Other than…I like it

We have loads of traditions  but I’m only going to talk about a couple of them…I love this one Peeps…

My 3 daughters and I have a Let’s Do Dessert Party where we spend the day baking and making and decorating sugary things! We bake and cook up so much that we send all the confections with our men to take to the office…but this year we’re going to have a Christmas Open House the night after our crazy baking day !

Here’s Stephie last year making…something! She was pregnant with Ellie! This year Ellie will be at out Let’s Do Dessert Party!

Here’s Bethany! Last year Bethany wasn’t married…this year she is!

Here’s Emma…she’s a college graduate this year! Wow, lots of things change in a year! My Boy, Timothy doesn’t bake with us…but maybe I can get his girlfriend Jamie to help out this year !

I could go on and on and on Peeps…but I know you’re probably about to kill me … so just one more little tradition before I close, (this one is fun..)

I give all the girls P-J’s. Which I call : Pa-Jay-Jays by the way! Every year we match on Christmas morning!

Okay…I’m almost done. Just one more thing… here’s why I have loved thinking about Christmas right smack in the middle of July…

As you know, I love planning for our family times. Decorating and baking and traditions aren’t important in and of themselves. But as I’ve said before, those things set the stage for more important things. Things like showing those close to us how very much they are loved. Things like creating beautiful memories for family and friends. Those things are ways we live the legacy we will one day leave. Those things are the threads that make up this tapestry we call life. Yes, it’s a bit early. But I’ve so enjoyed allowing my creative self to get a little tickled with joy over the upcoming opportunities to love on my precious family and pass on a few traditions that my own mama started years ago.

Have a great weekend Peeps and thanks so much for stopping in! Merry Christmas in July!

Tagged as: Christmas in July