From the kitchen of Aunt Gertie (Gertrude (MacDonald) Murphy in Antigonish, Nova Scotia)
Ingredients:
- 1-1/2 cups flour
- 1-1/2 cups oatmeal
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/3 cup milk
- 3/4 cup margarine
- 3/4 tsp soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
Directions: Mix the flour, oatmeal, baking soda, and salt. Cream the margarine until it’s fluffy, and then add the brown sugar and the milk, and blend it well. Add the dry ingredients gradually and mix well. Press dough onto a cookie sheet that is sprinkled (heavily) with oatmeal. (This dry oatmeal should almost cover the entire cookie sheet). Bake for 12-15 minutes @ 350 degrees, and cut into small squares while hot. It’s messy (like really messy). Tip: When you spread it on the cookie sheet, spread it very, very thin. I kind of take a handful and mash it until its thin, then place pieces like that one on top of the other and push the edges together with my thumb so it’s even. GREAT with a cup of tea 😉
Memories: Aunt Gertie was my Dad’s sister. What I remember about her as a little girl is that during our summer visits to Nova Scotia, we would often visit her in her mobile home. It was small, it was dainty, and feminine, and clean, with lots of nick nacks. She once gave me a bagpiper doll wearing a kilt that was in a plastic tube. I loved it! And I remember wanting to grow up and live in a dainty little trailer like her. (And I did!). But most of all, I remember Aunt Gertie’s giggle. There was nothing quite like it 😉
FYI for Ian, Rory, Holly, & Lyla – The dish and tea cup came from my sister Nancy, who had gotten them in the Bahamas, and boxed them up for years. She gave them to me one year and Dad’s handwriting was on the outside that read “tea cups.” I rarely use them unless someone very special is coming over! And the material underneath the dish and teacup is the Nova Scotia tartan.
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