First Day of Spring?

We saw a high temp today of around 33 degrees. Then this afternoon it dropped to 28 and at 4 o'clock started to snow. The forecast is for about 4" by 8 o'clock tonight. Spring? Sometimes up here we just can't go by what the calendar says.

Last week when it was warm and melting, I decided the birds wouldn't be needing any more suet this year. By the looks of things outside right now, it's a good thing I changed my mind and filled the two suet feeders one more time this morning.

I volunteered to make goodies for a function in town tomorrow and one of the things I'm making are these cookies.

They're called Orange Oatmeals and are basically an oatmeal cookie with raisins jazzed up a little. With the bit of frosting on top, they come out looking and tasting pretty special.

It's a recipe I've had for an age and a half but haven't made for a long time. Somehow, the old standbys like Chocolate Chips, regular Oatmeal, and Peanut Butter cookies get made more often. These are even better the next day when all the flavors have had a chance to blend.

ORANGE OATMEALS

3/4 cups butter, 3/4 cups honey, 2 eggs, grated peel of one orange, 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 cup quick oat flakes, 1 cup raisins, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional).

Blend the softened butter and honey in medium mixing bowl. Add eggs and mix well. Stir in orange peel. Add flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Then stir in the oats and raisins (nuts if you wish -- I don't usually add them when taking to a large group because so many people seem to be allergic to them).

Drop by tablespoonful onto greased cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Frost with simple Orange Icing: Put 1 to 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar in small bowl and add the juice from the one orange you grated. Mix well. This should be ample to frost all the cookies.

I don't take much time with the frosting. The cookies are lumpy-bumpy on top so I just plop a small amount on a cookie and push it around a little. Nothing fancy.

I'm glad I thought of making these cookies today. They have kind of a 'spring-like' flavor to them. (Even though it looks like I'll be driving through several inches of snow to deliver them tomorrow!)