Piece of Cake!! errr...... cookie. Yeah.

(If you're looking for the posts about the 2017 Family Reunion, just scroll down past this post. Or click HERE)

So, a Facebook memory cropped up, where I mentioned making Oatmeal Raisin cookies. It sounded tempting -- or maybe I was just hungry, so I decided to make up a batch.

It was a good opportunity to do some baking with Emma, and get a blog post out of it, to boot!

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So, when I was a kid, my mom used to collect recipes from all different sources - magazines, food packaging, church activities, whatever. She had several cookie recipes that she had collected, and she would use them fairly frequently -- which all used a cake mix for the cookies' base. I'm guessing they probably came off the side of the Duncan Hines cake mix boxes, since all the recipes specify that brand.

Off the top of my head, I remember there was a peanut butter cookie (yellow cake mix), cherry chip (using maraschino cherries), and chocolate drop cookies (devil's food cake mix). I still make the chocolate ones, too - with a couple of my own variations into chocolate-mint, or double chocolate.

But of the cake mix cookies, the Oatmeal Raisin ones are still my faves! And besides being really yummy, some of the other pluses are that they're super easy, they use few dishes or utensils, and I usually have all the ingredients on hand, so I can make them whenever I want.

Here we go!

There's the entire ingredient list.

This cookie doesn't use a mixer -- so just a metal serving spoon to stir it up.

And that big yellow Pyrex bowl -- well, that was my mom's bowl. When I make her recipe in this bowl, it kind of brings things full circle.

Emma and I had a good time making cookies that night:

It's so easy, because you just dump all the ingredients in the bowl. Cake mix, oatmeal, eggs, ...

... vegetable oil, milk, brown sugar, ...

(Whoever created these measuring cups that can be read from above deserves a place in heaven!)

... and raisins.

The recipe calls for nuts too (as optional), but I have absolutely never used them in these cookies.

A long time ago, when I was 17 years old, and getting ready to leave home, college-bound, I decided I was going to be super-organized, and I wanted to have some familiar recipes with me. So I took some 3x5" index cards, and typed out some of my favorites on my mom's antique typewriter. (I wrote about it HERE.)

This is one of those cards. With a lot of years between, and more than one cooking spill on it!

It makes into a stiff batter. Look at those muscles!

You can stand a spoon it:

Then drop by spoonfuls onto a greased (or SilPat!) cookie sheet. If you don't have a silicone baking sheet liner, then make sure that you grease the cookie sheet well, because these would stick.

Emma got to form the cookies, too. She was a quick learner:

(The tongue helps. It must be a counterbalance, or something!)

So, that cookie that's in center front is a little short on raisins. I'm a firm believer that food should look appealing, as well as tasting wonderful. So with these cookies, there needs to be some raisins showing on top of each one. (I'm the same way with chocolate chip cookies: there has to be lots of chips visible.) I fixed that one before the cookie sheet hit the oven. Perfectionism just may kill me one of these days.

This tray of cookies isn't quite done. The recipe talks about testing them with a toothpick, but really, all you're looking for is that they look dry (the batter is fully "set") on the tops, and are just starting to brown around the edges. They won't brown as much on SilPat mats.

So, the story behind this picture --- I knew Emma wasn't particularly enthusiastic about the raisins in the cookies, but I told her I wanted a picture of her tasting the cookie for the blog. So, I took the photo, and she finished the cookie. I asked her what she thought of it, and she shook her head, and said she didn't like it very much. (What??? Then why did she eat the whole thing?!)

I was bummed. I'd hoped she'd really go for it. She used to eat these A LOT when she was a toddler. I watched her snag a cookie off the cooling rack once when she was shorter than the countertop. All you could see was this little toddler-hand reaching up and grabbing it! And then at some point, she stopped eating these cookies -- I think the raisins were the culprits.

But ..... the day after we baked these ..... I asked what she wanted for her after-school-snack, and she asked for one of these Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

WIN!!!

These cookies are not your typical, large flat cookie (like the ones from Costco -- although I love those, too). These are definitely a cake-like cookie, domed, and they excel at my top two cookie requirements: they are SOFT and CHEWY!!! No need for salt, spices or extracts, because all the flavors are right there in the cake mix.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 Box Spice Cake Mix, any brand
2 cups oatmeal (can use rolled oats, or quick-cooking)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups raisins
 (1 cup chopped nuts -- if you're into that sort of thing)

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together with a metal spoon (for scraping power and leverage). Drop by teaspoons onto greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350̊ for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are done in the center and starting to brown around the edges. Try to get the timing down so you don't overbake or underbake them. Cool on cookie sheets one minute, then remove to racks to finish cooling. Store in airtight container.

Todd likes to eat them upside down, with a smear of butter on the bottom. Apparently, that's a thing. I take mine plain!!

2017 Huffaker Family Reunion, Part 3. Fun!!

Read more about our 2017 Reunion in Part 1 and Part 2.

Honestly, family means a lot to us, and we really do love getting together with the ones we love so much. Being in the great outdoors is a great bonus! We wanted to make the most of our time there, and do all that we could. Almost every morning, Alyssa & Darcie and I would either exercise, or go for a hike. There were some great views!

(A lot of our fun moments were captured with the phone camera, because that's what was handy!)

We took Stella with us, and she's one pup who can pull you right up the mountain. The flip side is trying to put the brakes on when heading back downhill.

Darcie (and Alyssa, too) is much more of a risk-taker than I am. I have to say that my heart was pounding much harder from seeing her live life on the edge, than it was from just the uphill climb.

Part of Emma's 17 Adventures (here and HERE) were fulfilled when we went 4-wheeling. Once Todd got hold of a topographical map of the area, we went out often:

(That's Shelly and Andy in the side-by-side behind me.)

Only 3 machines, so we doubled up on riders....

This shot of Alys and Emma is so classic. Alyssa is absolutely covered in trail dust, and Emma? Well, just like her siblings used to do when they were small, Miss Emma fell asleep on the ride!

Helmets are heavy!

We rode up to an old fire lookout tower. Wish the local wildfires might not have blocked our views with the smoke that day. (The guys had a better view, earlier in the morning.)

See the haze?

When we weren't out and about, we hung around the campsite, ....

Playing games, swapping stories, doing meal prep.

The girls did some crafts ...

... and we laughed a lot.

Todd checked the map for additional ride options.

In addition to our favorite card games, we played other things, like ladder golf ....

And I loved watching my girls play a little catch again:

One morning was the horseback ride ...

When they came back, they fed the horses some snacks. Darcie was the Horse Whisperer:

Some of our meals were straight out of my kids' childhood camping trips, like our traditional foil dinners, s'mores, and Dutch Oven enchiladas:

(No leftovers after that one!) We also tried some new-to-us camping foods ... like Chicken-Bacon-Ranch foil dinners. And Campfire Cones (s'mores in ice cream sugar-cones). Yum!! We found two new winners here!

Stella finally had a puppy playmate in Sophie:

And she got some lessons in how to be a calm doggie. Calm was way hard to learn, but she definitely made great progress.

On our final night, we took some family pictures, and reminisced around the campfire about family memories. It was just a really, really nice evening!

We loved having Kerry and Shelly there -- they are the ones who live the farthest away, so we enjoy every moment we get with them!

The whole group:

Here's a clip of Weld, telling his story of going floating on the Selway River - about 20 years ago. The water was really cold, and he was attempting to get launched on the innertube -- while wearing swim flippers:

(Turn up the volume, it's not real loud, and hit the full-screen icon, too.)

And finally -- one more story of floating the Selway river. This is Shelly telling of the time she got dumped out of her innertube, and got tossed underwater:

(Wish I'd kept the video going longer -- I don't know what Jason was about to say!!)

We wouldn't trade these memories for anything.

LOVE our Huffaker family!!!