Are We Really In Week 17

I can't believe we are already this far into 2018. This has been the fastest year of my life, of course I am older than I have ever been and the ratio of time lived vs. 365 1/4 days has decreased substantially, so in simple math terms it makes sense. In my walking around life though I don't understand how days, which use to seem so long (particularly when there were babies to be fed and kiddos underfoot) disappear so quickly. And weeks? They zoom by before I know what is happening. I am having company the next couple of weekends so I need to get the house deep cleaned and ready.

Our very beautiful niece, K is coming to go to a family wedding in Tuscaloosa (about 45 minutes from Birmingham.  She and my sister in law were going to stay at a hotel there, but did not realize the wedding is the same weekend as The University of Alabama's graduation. No room in the inns! TheHub and I were going to the wedding anyway and it will be fun to have them here. In addition to K, she is bringing her 5 year old son, JP, but just found out that children are not welcomed at the wedding.  Instead of ruining her plans, I told her to come on and I will stay here  and play with JP while they do wedding things. I think it is probably good that they couldn't find a room. I still would have stayed with him, but much prefer to have him here rather than babysitting in a hotel room.

Anyway because they are coming and the upstairs is in shambles, I need to concentrate on cleaning rather than cooking this week. That's right we are going to have basic and not very tasty food this week, but I still needed to try a new recipe. This one feels somewhat like cheating, though I have never made it before. (But I have come pretty darn close)

Evidently back in simpler times preachers would walk about the neighborhood and call on their members at their homes. This was before the days of the mega churches when people worshiped very close to home at churches in their neighborhoods. So the preachers would walk about and call, often unannounced Supposedly any good church member/hostess would have some coffee or tea and  little nibble for the visiting clergy.

When Brother Bill knocked on the door, he could be greeted warmly and Papa would talk about old war stories while Mama ran into the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee. In the time it took for the coffee to perk (old fashioned coffee for you younger ones)  Preacher Cookies could be made, plated, and ready to serve in just a few minutes. This would insure that Brother Bill not only thought Mama kept a perfect house, but also that she was a perfect wife because she had tasty goodies on hand. I wonder if they believed a clerical seal of approval concerning coffee and cookies  guaranteed admittance through The Pearly Gates for both of them?

I figured if something could be made and on a plate in 5 minutes I had enough time to give it a try so here is the extremely easy slightly altered version of the old Preacher Cookie.

1 cup

sugar
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter (Called for creamy but I only had chunky)
1/1/2 cup quick cooking oats (I only had regular oats)

1/4 cup chocolate chips
2 1/2 teaspoons butter

Before beginning place a parchment sheet on a flat heat proof surface. I use a gigantic cutting board, but a stone counter top or a cookie sheet would work equally well.

Put the sugar, butter and milk in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil while stirring and boil for 1 minute stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and add the peanut butter and vanilla. Mix well then stir in the oats.

Drop the mix by tablespoons onto the parchment and let it cool  slightly. If you are not afraid to touch food, wash your hands a lightly pat them to flatten them out. If you prefer put on some food grade plastic gloves and flatten them out that way. I prefer to live life on the edge and use the bare hand method.

Melt the butter (I use a coffee cup in the microwave) and add the chocolate chips to it. Stir to mix then swirl the chocolate on each cookie top. This made about 3 dozen little cookies. I figured they must have been OK because TheHub ate about 1/4 of them before I even got the chocolate on them.

These really are not a bad bite, though I think they taste more like fudge than cookies. They are still a tasty little treat that is insanely easy to make. If I make them again I will take the time to whirl the oats in the blender, just to get a little finer consistency in the finished product.

Of course I think the probability of our minister coming over unannounced is slim to none, but this might be a fun thing for JP and me to make Saturday afternoon. We will see!