Grandma Duvall's Monster Cookie Recipe

Grandma Duvall always had these cookies available when I was a kid. If the cookie jar was empty, there would be some in the freezer, probably right next to the ice cream. According to Grandma, children should only eat one (very large) monster cookie before "supper", and be sure to save room for ice cream after "supper".

Ingredients:

2 cubes margarine
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups granulated sugar
6 eggs
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 tsp. soda
9 cups oatmeal
1 12 oz. pkg. chocolate chips
1 cup flour
1/4 cup milk
3 M&Ms per cookie

1. Preheat oven to 325-350 degrees
2. In large dishpan, cream together margarine and sugars. Add eggs and cream again.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, except M&Ms, and mix.
4. Use tablespoon to generously drop batter onto cookie sheet and slightly flatten. (Monster cookies are traditionally quite large, and who are we to break tradition?!)
5. Press 3 M&Ms onto each cookie before baking.
6. Bake 6 large cookies to a sheet 10-12 minutes, or bake 8-10 smaller cookies 8-10 minutes.
7. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on cooling rack.

Solano County Fair

Yesterday we went to the Solano County Fair, in Vallejo. We actually live in Yolo County, but this fair is multiple times bigger than our local fair. We had a great time eating totally unhealthy fair food, looking at the livestock, watching Allie and Ashley go on rides, and just enjoying the atmosphere.

Chris, Matt's mom, had entered 4 pieces of her art into the fair (she lives in Solano County), and 3 of them won prizes! One of them even won the "Best in Show" award for the amateur fine arts division! We are so proud!

Jackson, Ashley, and Allie especially enjoyed playing in a makeshift sandbox, made of straw bales and dried corn kernels. In fact, they happily played in it for close to 1 1/2 hours! The most amazing part was that Jackson only tried putting straw and corn in his mouth a few times. Thank goodness he seems to be slowly leaving that stage where he wants to put every microscopic thing he can find in his mouth!
But 3 things were VERY different from the Skagit County Fair that my family and I went to when I was growing up. #1. It was so big that we didn't run into anyone we knew (at the S.C.F--Skagit County Fair--it was like a big reunion for everyone in the county) #2. There wasn't a wide variety of animals that were there to be shown. There were just cows, goats, llamas, and sheep (at the S.C.F. I always looked forward to seeing the wide variety of poultry, rabbits, horses, etc.). #3. We had to go through METAL DETECTORS to get into the fair! Yes, METAL DETECTORS! What's the world coming to when you have to go through metal detectors to enter the county fair?! (Obviously, Vallejo is a bit more gang and crime-ridden than Skagit County, but still . . . )

I have to say though that we all had a wonderful time, and felt completely safe the entire time we were there. We had such a good time that we all decided we should make it a family tradition to go to the Solano County Fair every year.

Mommy's Little "Helper"

This afternoon I started wondering why I hadn't gotten more done around the house today. I was actually motivated and energetic (could've been the 3 cups of coffee), but I just hadn't gotten much done and I was feeling a little frustated. So I thought about it, and I decided to take a few pictures of the wonderful little reason why it takes so long to get anything done.

Here's Jackson "helping" me fold the laundry (he loves climbing onto and into the pile as quickly as possible, while laughing madly):

Here he is "helping" me load the dishwasher (I have to remove him from the dishwasher door every time I open it):

And here's Jackson "helping" me organize the cupboards, while I finish the dishes (no explanation needed):

It's lucky that my "helper" is so adorable and charming, because it helps me be okay with the fact that I have a tough time getting my house as tidy as I would like it to be.

All Hail King Jackson!

Yesterday, as we were walking to Manor Pool, Allie, Jackson's four year cousin, informed us that she is going to be a veterinarian when she grows up and her sister, Ashley, is going to be a firefighter. "What's Jackson going to be when he grows up?", asked her mom.

"Jackson's going to be . . . a king," was Allie's wise reply.

Berry Berry Cool Pie Recipe

I found this recipe in an ad for Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk and adapted it slightly into the recipe below. Since it's red, white, and blue I thought it would be a great dessert for the 4th of July, and it was! It's super easy to make, there's no baking involved, and it was the favorite dessert of the adults who tried it (I think it was a little too tart for the kids). Everyone thought it was key lime pie.

Ingredients
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 cups assorted fresh berries (raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries)
1 (8-ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (6-ounce) ready-made graham cracker crust

Instructions
In large bowl, mix together sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice; combine well. Mix in berries. Fold in whipped topping. Spoon mixture into crust. Freeze 5 hours or until set. Let stand 30 to 40 minutes before serving. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers covered in freezer.

4th of July

Jackson and I had a very nice 4th of July. "Didn't Matt have a nice 4th of July?", you ask. Well, Matt celebrated our country's independence by helping his brother, Dave, move from Turlock to Valley Springs, and Jackson and I weren't invited. Darn. :-)

So Jackson and I spent the afternoon with my friend, Joy, and her family at her aunt and uncle's house. We had a nice, relaxing time playing in the pool and bbqing. Then Jackson and I headed to Community Park, here in Davis, to picnic and watch the fireworks with the Mollos. Joy and her family found us there and were able to sit right next to us for the firework show.

We were all wondering if the firework show would be shorter or less exciting because of the bad economy, but it seemed to be more amazing than ever. We sat close enough to the fireworks that I was able to wrap up in a blanket and lay on the ground to watch them. Some of them seemed to explode right over our heads! Beautiful!

I was excited for Jackson to see his first firework display. I just knew he would be fascinated by the colors and sounds. Well, Jackson fell asleep about ten minutes before the fireworks started, and he slept through the whole show. I thought for sure he would wake up once the fireworks started exploding, but he never stirred until we were on our way back to the car. Oh well, there's always next year.