A few years after we bought our ranch in Tulare County I was up here by myself for a few days of peace and quiet. At the time I was still the president of the foundation we started in Malibu and the teen center still needed a lot of oversight so I was elated at the idea of a few days by myself. Between a ridiculous reality show about cleaning a house or choosing a date for your daughter there was a commercial for Ancestry.com. Well that could be fun, I thought and immediately signed up for a whole year of fact exploration about my family. I knew quite a bit about my mother's side thanks to diligent cousins and could trace myself (if I wanted to) back to the Mayflower. But when it came to my father's family, things were a little sketchy. So I gamely typed in the information that I had and before I knew it I was looking at a census form from 1910 that listed my grandmother, Emily Brockman at age 6 as living with her parents Kate and Henry and her two siblings on a farm in Tulare Township. Holy Cow I thought, I live in Tulare County on a farm! I have simply come back to my beginnings - and here I thought it was out of the blue that we had found our ranch - now named Blue Arrow Ranch. Maybe it was my roots calling me home? In any case, my interest in food and family was born a long time ago and now I have a way to connect all the dots by sharing recipes; some from cook books handed down for generations. My ancestral family farm grew seasonal produce and butchered meats that they or their neighbors raised or hunted. Now the word is that you should eat and buy local - back then that was their only choice. So things do come full circle I guess. A lot of the food that my grandmother made was influenced by her German background. But as things go in California, meals and recipes were shared by the neighbors - Italians, Portuguese and Mexican to name a few by heritage.
However, I am going to start with cookies. The reason being that these oatmeal cookies represent the many times that my paternal grandmother, Ahme, would sit down with me for coffee or tea and tell stories about her life. Other than my parents, she was the one who influenced me the most in how to live a full life. Her humor, zest for life and love of cooking are all things that I pride in myself. I still feel her with me all the time and these cookies always bring her right into my kitchen. I can imagine her sitting at my table and being amazed that I am sharing this recipe with you.
They are simply the best.
Ahme's Oatmeal Cookies
preheat oven to 350
1 cup of vegetable oil (not butter and don't be afraid to use the whole cup)
2 cups brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tb baking soda
1/3 cup boiling water
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1 cup walnuts, (crush in a ziploc bag with a rolling pin)
1 cup raisins
Mix oil, eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl until smooth. Dissolve baking soda in the boiling water. Add to the egg mixture and beat well. Sift next 6 ingredients (through nutmeg) and stir into eggs mixture. Stir in oats, walnuts and raisins just until incorporated.
Drop rounded teaspoonful of cookie dough onto a baking sheet. Pat each ball flat with moistened fingertips.
Bake approximately 12 minutes, until brown at the edges. Cool on sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to wire cooling rack. Enjoy at least 3.
Mix oil, eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl until smooth. Dissolve baking soda in the boiling water. Add to the egg mixture and beat well. Sift next 6 ingredients (through nutmeg) and stir into eggs mixture. Stir in oats, walnuts and raisins just until incorporated. 
