Oatmeal Raisin Cookies -- a new favorite

Story:

When we were young, my big brother and I used to make cookies on Sunday afternoons on a regular basis.  And if I remember correctly, I hated rolling the cookies on the trays, and he hated doing the dishes.  So that became kind of the deal: I would do all the clean up, if he put them on the sheets and and baked them.  I think that part just took too long for me and I hated waiting around the kitchen for each batch to come out.  This recipe was one that I remember making with him.  And I also remember occasionally delivering them to certain boys on Sunday evenings.  Heehee.  Fun memories.

This was one of my mom's recipes, originally called: Three-Way Oatmeal Cookies.  The idea is to, after you make the dough, divide it into three sections, adding 1 cup of raisins to one part, 1 cup of chocolate chips to the second part, and 1 cup of butterscotch chips to the third part.  So it's like you make three different kinds of cookies, with just one batch!  Great idea... but I've grown a little too lazy.  So I just turned the whole thing into one big batch of oatmeal raisin cookies... and I've added the measurements of cinnamon and nutmeg too, to meet my preference.

We recently found ourselves without chocolate chips on a Sunday afternoon, so we gave these a try.  Everyone liked them... and I think it was just kind of a nice way to mix things up after years of Ben's Triple C cookies on Sundays. Tasty little things.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C shortening

2 C brown sugar

1 C sugar

2 eggs

1/2 C water

2 t vanilla

2 C flour

2 t salt

1 t baking soda

2 t cinnamon

1 t nutmeg

6 C rolled oats

2 1/2 - 3 C raisins

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients in the order listed.  (I usually switch from the beaters to the kneaders when it's time to put in the oats and raisins.)

Spoon onto baking sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 11-12 minutes.

Note:

My husband and I have kept up the Sunday cookie tradition.  But now, when we put them away on Sunday nights, we divide them up into a bunch of sandwich baggies and stick them all in a container in the freezer so they are ready to throw into the lunchboxes in the mornings.  These cookies, in particular, thaw nicely.  We hope you like them too!