Chris has been out of town on a business trip all week, and Evelyn and I have really missed him. So, I want to welcome him home tonight! First thing on the agenda? Homemade oatmeal raisin cookies:
1 stick room temperature butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup unbleached flour*
1 cup organic oats (not the quick cooking!)
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat butter, sugars and soda until well combined with an electric mixer. Beat in half of the flour. Replace the mixer with a good old-fashioned spoon and stir in the rest of the flour and the oats. Fold in the raisins. Drop by spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 13 minutes. Enjoy with a lovely glass of cold milk!

*So what’s the difference between bleached flour and unbleached flour? Ummm…BLEACH! When flour is first milled it has a natural yellowish tinge that manufacturers assume will be unappealing to the ignorant masses. However, if flour is stored and allowed to age naturally for a few months, the color will fade (but who really cares about the color, anyway?!). Unfortunately, storing large amounts of flour for long periods of time is expensive for flour producers, so they choose to whiten their flour with a chemical bleaching agent, such as benzoyl peroxide or chorine oxide. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines chlorine gas as a flour-bleaching, aging and oxidizing agent that is a powerful irritant, dangerous to inhale, and lethal. Other agents also used include oxides of nitrogen, nitrosyl, and benzoyl peroxide mixed with various chemical salts.Yikes!!
My vote: buy unbleached flour, preferably organic!!!

Second item on the agenda? Homemade turkey meatballs and spaghetti for two:
Turkey Meatballs:
1 lb ground turkey (or chicken)
1/8 cup chopped onion
1/8 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup grated parmesean or romano cheese
1 large egg
1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Mix above ingredients by hand and shape into 1″dia meatballs. Heat olive oil in a pan and drop in the meatballs. Brown on all sides. No need to cook through, as you’ll finish cooking in next step.

Sauce:
1 clove chopped garlic
1/8 cup chopped onion
1 can whole peeled tomotoes
1 bay leaf
salt, pepper

Add olive oil to a heated pan and cook garlic and onions till translucent. Add in tomatoes and break up into small pieces. Add bay leaf, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.

Add meatballs and cook covered for 3 hours, stirring every 15-30 minutes. Yes, it is a long time to cook, but once you’ve come this far dinner is basically done!

Serve with spaghetti noodles and hug the one you love 🙂