Paula's Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

"If you can read, you can cook," said my mom often.

Mom was great with candies/sweets. She couldn't cook much due to MS, but everything I remember her making was wonderful. She kept her recipes meticulously organized, but she apparently didn't care if I drew stick figures all over them. Thankfully, they're still readable!
I love these little "cookies." No bake, one pan. Super quick and easy and all the ingredients you probably have floating around. For that reason I usually make them at 1 a.m. when I get a sweet tooth or need a boost for all night grading marathons! They helped me make friends in grad school because I'd make some for my fellow students during finals and big paper writing crunches. Also one day I ran out of oats and used three packs of brown sugar oatmeal. Oops, but it worked fine, actually.

CHOCOLATE OATMEAL COOKIES

2 c. sugar
1 stick margarine
1/2 c. milk
3 T. unsweetened cocoa powder

Melt all together in a big saucepan and bring to a boil for 1 min. Remove from heat. (I constantly whisk so the milk doesn't scorch). Then mix in:

1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
3 c. plain quick oats

Mix well. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto wax paper and let cool. I cheat and refrigerate them for a bit. That's it!

Just try not to be like me and eat five.

Merle's Cheese Soup

I found this recipe in a very old Naval base cookbook made up of recipes from all the officers' wives, and I finally made it tonight! Delicious. I was feeling icky today and this soup really hit the spot.
I would call Granny a lot of things, including brave and graceful, but a Master Chef she was not. I think honestly she would have just rather been traveling or golfing than cooking. I can't blame her. But what she did make she made very well, according to my memories and those of others.
I talked to Gus tonight after making this, and he said he used to love it. So that's two good recommendations.
I also thought the recipe was so sweet because there was a note at the end that said:

"This is one of Whitney's favorites, and it takes only 30 minutes to prepare. Perfect for a Saturday lunch after a hard day on the golf course."

Without further adieu:

CHEESE SOUP

1 c. celery
1 c. carrots
3 beef bullion cubes
1 c. cold water
1/2 c. onion, diced
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
2 c. milk
1 c. Velveeta
1 c. chopped ham, optional (I used it because who says no to ham? I was HAWNGRY)

Chop celery and carrots very finely and cook in a small amount of water until it becomes mushy. Dissolve bullion in the cold water. Sauté onion in butter til brown; to that add flour and milk (stir stir stir). Add carrots/celery, bullion mixture, then cheese and ham right before serving. Stir to blend and heat through.

Done! I served it with focaccia bread. Very good.