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I have a write-in recipe book. It's got one of Boynton's hippos on the cover. As one might expect for a book I've had since I was somewhere in the late single-digits, it's mostly cookie recipes. It is old and faded and stained, making it hard to read. I've put off typing them up, but I think now's the time. Here's the first in a possible series of modern recipes.

When I was about 17, I lost a bet with my boyfriend, Jimmy. I don't recall what the debt was, but as a result of it I owed him a batch of his favorite cookies. I got this recipe for oatmeal cookies from his step-mom's mother, Grandma Rogers. I've made some additions and changes, but I still think of this one as hers.

Grandma Rogers' crisp oatmeal cookies
1 cup (8oz) brown sugar
¾ cup (5 ¼ oz) white sugar
1 cup (2 sticks, 8 oz) butter
2 eggs
1 tesp vanilla
1 ½ cups (6 ½ oz) unsifted flour
1 tesp soda
½ tesp baking powder
3 cups (10 ½ ounces) Quick-Cooking oatmeal
2 Tbl milk (preferably whole milk)
1 cup of additions (see below)
Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment. Prepare cooling racks.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugars until well creamed. Add eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, soda and baking powder. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix thoroughly. Add oatmeal one cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl after each addition. Add milk and additions (if desired).
Drop by rounded spoonfuls about 2 inches apart. Bake in middle rack of oven about 14 minutes. If your oven has hotspots, rotate at the 7 minute mark. If using two baking sheets in one oven, trade places from top to bottom at the 7 minute mark.
When done, remove gently from baking sheets, or place entire sheet of parchment on cooling racks.
Additions:
To make oatmeal raisin cookies, begin by soaking the raisins in wine, port or fruit juice for at least an hour. Drain the raisins, reserving the liquid for the cook. Add after the oatmeal, mixing gently so the raisins are not pulverized. I recommend using dried cherries or blueberries instead of raisins, soaked in the same manner.
To make oatmeal spice cookies, reduce the amount of flour by 1 Tbl and add 2 heaping tesp of ground cinnamon, 1 heaping tesp of dried ground ginger, 1 level tesp of ground nutmeg, 1 level tesp of ground cardamom, 1/4 level tesp of ground cloves. Mix spices into the flour, and add the flour as described above.
To make orange oatmeal cookies, place the brown and white sugars in a blender or Cuisinart with 6-8 ounces of candied orange peel. Chop until the pieces of peel are barely visible. Start from the beginning of the recipe. Add 1 heaping tesp of cinnamon to the recipe with the flour.
To make ginger oatmeal cookies, place the brown and white sugars in a blender or Cuisinart with 4-5 ounces of candied ginger. Chop until the pieces of ginger are barely visible. Start from the beginning of the recipe.