Oh, baby! Gotta love oatmeal

Allow me to introduce my babies. Yup, I raise llamas. The black one is Sebastian - he's the best llama in the whole world. I started training him from day one when he was born at my next door neighbor's house, and we entered llama shows and parades together. For my tenth birthday surprise! My dad bought me Sebastian for my birthday! Almost eight years later, I still love him. (My dad too) On the left is Jericho. He's such a sweetie :)

Speaking of babies, I'm in the middle of knitting my third baby blanket. I adapted them from a basic pattern I found. Here's what I knit:

Baby Blanket

1. Cast on 108 stitches onto circular needles
2. Knit four rows
3. Knit four stitches, P10, K10, P10, K10, P10,
K10, P10, K10, P10, K10, K4.
4. Repeat step 3 for 10 rows.
5. Knit four stitches, K10, P10, K10, P10, K10,
P10, K10, P10, K10, P10, K4
6. Repeat step 5 for 10 rows.
7. Repeat steps 3-6 until it is as big as you want it! (I do 5 repetitions of each, creating 10 rows of boxes)
8. Knit four rows
9. Cast off

For lack of a real baby, Nikko volunteered to model my second baby blanket. They really turn out cute!




Well today I've been busy baking oatmeal cookies! Huzzah for oatmeal! My first batch were oatmeal raisin chocolate chip. I made them really small so they're little two-bites. But they're really tasty!

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar (packed)
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 ts. vanilla
1-1/2 c. flour
1 ts. baking soda
1 ts. cinnamon
1/2 ts. salt
3 c. uncooked oatmeal
1 c. raisins
1/2 chocolate chips (or more)

1. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy
2. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
3. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well
4. stir in oats, raisins, and chocolate chips; mix well
5. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet
6. Bake 10-12 minutes (or until golden brown) at 350 degrees.
7. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.

Monster Cookies

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 pound (2 1/4 cups) brown sugar
1 1/2 pounds Skippy* creamy peanut butter
6 eggs
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
4 teaspoons baking soda
10 cups regular oatmeal
1 pound M&M’s candies
12 ounces chocolate chips

1. Combine first 7 ingredients.
2. Mix very well.
3. Add M&M’s and chocolate chips.
4. Add oatmeal 1 cup at a time.
5. Store in refrigerator for several hours.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, depending on size of the cookie.
7. Dough freezes well and keeps well in refrigerator.

Note: I found Skippy to be the peanut butter of choice. Others seem to have too much oil.

I made these monsters MONSTER cookies! They're really big! For all of you in CF, you'll be able to find them at Barn Happy soon :)