Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I know, I am suppose to be posting the recipes from Valentine's Day, but I really felt like baking yesterday, so I made these cookies. I actually made them with chocolate chips to please the daughter and husband, but I would have loved the raisins. I got the recipe from my oatmeal container lid. But since it is also posted here, I didn't think it too bad to replicate! I was so happy with these, they turned out chewy and not flat and crunchy like a lot of oatmeal cookie recipes I have tried recently! They definitely are vanishing.

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) non-hydrogenated margarine (i.e. Earth Balance)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs*
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour**
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups Quaker Oats (quick or Old fashioned)
1 cup raisins (or chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat together margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, mix on low speed until well combined. Stir in the oats and raisins. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet, flattening slightly. Bake 9 minutes on cold stone***, or 8 minutes on preheated stone pan. Cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet. Finishing cooling on a cooling rack.

Makes about 4 dozen small cookies

NOTES: * I used egg replacer instead of an egg and they worked perfectly. By the way have I mentioned how I love this stuff. It totally saves you if you don't have eggs for baking.
**I have pre-adjusted the recipe for high altitude. You can reduce the flour by 1/4 cup if you aren't at high altitude.
***I always bake everything (cookies, rolls, etc.) on my stone bar pan. I have baked enough cookies recently to know that I usually get the best results by baking the first batch for 1 minute extract (almost always 9 minutes for most cookies) and then letting the cookies cool an exact minute or more before moving. The next batch will automatically cook in less time because the stone takes awhile to cool off. If you have a metal pan, I am not sure how long you should bake them, but check them at 8 minutes, you don't want to see much brown on the edges.

Salsa Verde Enchilada Sauce

I have always loved green enchilada sauce. I got this recipe from a tamale book that I have called Tamales 101. I feel okay about posting the recipe though because she has it on her website. This makes about two quarts of sauce, or enough for about 20 - 25 really saucy enchiladas. This is a mild recipe, you can add heat by including 1-3 jalepenos (stems removed) to the pot before boiling. Enjoy.

Salsa Verde Enchilada Sauce
1 1/2 lbs tomatillos, husked and washed (about 18)
8 pasilla or anaheim chilies roasted and peeled and seeded
3 cloves of garlic peeled
2 medium onions quartered
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Place tomatillos, chilies, garlic, onions, salt & pepper in a large stock pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes. Remove from the stove and pour off most of the cooking liquid - reserving it for later. In a blender, or with an immersion blender puree until smooth adding cooking liquid until it is the right consistency (what is the right consistency you say - what ever consistency you like!) Season with additional salt & pepper if necessary.