Ben Bakes No Bake Cookies

Ben turned 15 this past week on July 15th. He was away at Football Camp all week, so we couldn't even wish him a "Happy Birthday" or sing to him on his actual birthday. He got home today. Tomorrow we'll have a family birthday dinner for him. Grandma and Grandpa are coming over. Mormor and Morfar are in CA. Ben is such a fun part of our family. It's fun to see how he's growing up. He has a good heart and good sense of humor. He is constantly surprising us with his dry sense of humor. A little interesting tidbit about Ben is that when he was born, he scored a perfect 10 on his first APGAR test. Most babies score a 10 eventually, but it's unusual to have a baby get a perfect score right after they're born. The pediatrician commented that Ben was the first he had seen in the 400 births he had attended. So we tell him he was a perfect baby...which he was...SO cute, a real chunky monkey with the biggest, bluest eyes and dark eyelashes and round little head. He was baby #3 and Simon and Jon-Erik were both old enough to enjoy him, so he was very loved by all of us...still is. I was a vegetarian (except for fish) when I was pregnant with Ben and for a couple of years afterwards. I think this is the reason that Ben was a very picky eater as a young child AND I think it also accounts for his interest in food now. He is my guy that likes to cook and not just top ramen. One of the things that Ben learned how to make this summer is "No Bake Cookies". This recipe came from an old church cook book from our days in Newhall, CA, Cookin' from Scratch. Along with the Chocolate Chip cookie recipes on pages 93 and 119, this recipe gets the most use. Thank you Pam Castagna for submitting it. Here's the recipe:

NO BAKE COOKIES

2 c. sugar

4 T. cocoa

1 cube margarine/butter

1/2 c. milk

Bring ingredients to a rolling boil in a 1 1/2 quart saucepan. Boil for exactly 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in the following:

3 c. oatmeal

1/2 c. peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper and let stand for 10 minutes.

Here is Ben making them. As you can see we kind of use what we have by way of aluminum foil and the scooper.Once Ben realized he was being photographed he made sure he was flexing for the pictures. Please make a special note of his muscles.

Nice form, Ben.

As you can see,the recipe makes quite a few.

Important to leave a little in the pot to clean out.

They are pretty tasty and hey, they DO have oats AND peanut butter in them and go great with a glass of cold milk. AND for my friend, Megan, who is dying of heat in CA, you don't need to turn on the oven and heat up your house.

Well,we're off to CA on Monday to visit my brother, Andy and his family.

BTW, Simon has 27 stitches on his back, plus the one that we took out today from the tube that was draining his spinal fluid in the hospital. Just thought you'd want to know. He's doing really well.