Cookie Jar: Crunchy Oatmeal Cookies

Whew. . .I'm glad today is a holiday!  I was running around like a chicken without a head this past week.  The Ds had so much going on.  D2 had an intermediate school registration meeting on Tuesday.  D1 began work at the hospital that same day.  She had games on Tuesday and Friday, and both Ds had dental appointments on Wednesday.  D1 doesn't drive, so I'm still chauffeuring her around.  Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. . .one less thing to worry about.  AND less to pay in car insurance.

Our school was visited by a team made up of district people and a bunch of frequent flyers from Oahu.  What a bunch of sorry ass losers.  They were okay with me, but in one class, the students felt threatened when one of them started firing questions.  When the teacher tried to intervene to calm the student, the Oahu lady flew her hand down to wave her off.  Unreal.  One of the ladies who observed me had her foot up on a chair!  That's something even my students know better than to do.  That's rude!

Similar visits took place in the school district where I worked previously.  Teachers there saw it as a good thing and were looking at the visits as an opportunity to rat out the principal.  They were under the assumption that the visit would lead to the principal getting canned.  None of the visits led to that. . .I know because the same inept principals are still in their positions.  At my school, the faculty seemed to band together and wanted to protect the administration from these nefarious alien invaders.  To me, that says a lot.  People LIKE coming to work.  Students LIKE attending school.  I don't know of any school in the other place where the faculty and students would say that.

Someone said these unannounced visits were for evaluation purposes.  #anylaborattorneyslookingforwork  #lawsuitwaitingtohappen  I hope not because the individual classroom visits were unannounced.  One of my colleagues got into it with one of the brass from Oahu.  I think the Oahu lady behaved in an unprofessional way.  And if we're on the unprofessional tangent, sharing evaluative information with some staff members was also unprofessional.  If these people were respected, it would be a different story.  But a title and a few extra bucks does not garner automatic respect.  The only saving grace is that these idiots are not the ones in the classroom!  I would rather eat wasabi than have my kid be taught by one of these morons.  

Speaking of trash. . .this past week, I threw out what was left of the mini M & M cookies (its long after Christmas, so no point in trying to pass green & red M & M cookies as freshly baked), the ones LA didn't manage to eat.  I needed something to put into the cookie jar, so The Help suggested oatmeal cookies.

Now The Help would much rather eat cookies which are soft and chewy.  To me, soft cookies are either underbaked or stale (its part of the package when you live in such a humid place. . .you WANT cookies which are hard and crunchy).  But I told The Help that if he wanted soft cookies, he could either leave a some cookies out on the counter for a few hours or microwave them til they are warm (they will get soft).  Problem solved.

This is the oatmeal cookie I bake when I want oatmeal cookies.  The dough is sturdy. . .no refrigeration necessary, and the cinnamon-cranberry combination reminds me of my favorite bread machine bread.

click on recipe title for printable recipe
Crunchy Oatmeal Cookies

     1/2 c butter, softened
     1/2 c shortening
     3/4 c brown sugar
     3/4 c sugar
     1 tsp cinnamon
     1 tsp salt
     2 tsp vanilla
     1 egg
     3 c quick oatmeal
     1 c flour
     1 c dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line 4 cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Combine butter, shortening, sugars, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla in a large bowl.  Beat until smooth.  Add egg.  Stir in oatmeal and flour.  Add cranberries.  Using a #50 disher, drop dough onto prepared cookie sheets.  Flatten dough drops to 1/4" thickness (use fingers/palms).  Bake 20 minutes.  Transfer to a rack to cool.

When I make this, I stagger the baking.  Begin by baking 1 sheet on a rack 2/3 up in the oven.  10 minutes later, place another sheet on a rack about 3" below first sheet.  10 minutes later, remove top sheet and move lower sheet to higher rack.  Add new sheet onto lower rack and start timing cycle again.