Recently, sitting around the table after dinner with our son and daughter-in-law and their kids, we got to talking about men and women who dress too young for their age. I mentioned that I was really cognizant of this phenomenon when I shop for clothes (which is almost never). I’m not ready for pink polyester slacks, but I also don’t want to look like an aged Barbie doll. My daughter-in-law assured me I dressed appropriately, and, in fact, she said she thought I was kind of “hip.” I looked down at my dirty black turtleneck sweater that is at least 15 years old and my crocs and laughed out loud. “But,” she pointed out, “you’re on Facebook.”

This was on top of recent conversation I had with another daughter-in-law, who relayed a conversation she overheard recently as she was driving all four of her kids somewhere or other. She said they were talking about their grandparents (they have three grandmothers and one grandfather). Apparently Bill and I were voted “Best Backyard to Play In” (not surprising since our yard is very large and we have a play set) and “Most Modern House.” Now that one made me laugh too, seeings as my appliances are all 20 years old and I haven’t bought furniture or new carpeting since the Eisenhower Administration. Aha. But I do have an Ipad. With kids’ games on it. And Netflix. And Wii. Boom. Most Modern.

I will admit to owning an Ipad, an Ipod, and a laptop computer. Bill and I are about to finally spring for Iphones. It’s true I regularly check and post on Facebook and Pinterest. I even have a Twitter account, but never post and rarely remember to check my twitter feeds. And, for crying out loud, I blog.

But, for the life of me, I can’t figure out what hashtags are about. All of the sudden, every one of my Facebook friends under the age of 50 includes hashtags: #Ilovebeingpregnant; #mygardenisinfullbloom; #mydaughterdidthecutestthing; and so forth. Why? I’m not complaining; I simply don’t know what they mean. And no one I’ve asked can adequately get through to my pea-sized brain. Of course, I have made the mistake of asking only people who are over 50.

So please, I beg anyone who thinks they can make me understand to please, please, please give it a whirl. Send me an email, leave me a comment, call me on my antiquated cell phone. Tell me the purpose of hashtags.

Now on to cookies….

One of my favorite store-bought cookies are those hard little oatmeal cookies with the sweet powder sugar frosting – I think they are called Mother’s. I never get them because Bill would think I had lost my mind if I bought a ready-made cookie that wasn’t an Oreo. And I don’t need to have an entire bag of cookies lying around that only I will eat. But I found this recipe on Pinterest, and they really are very good.

By the way, at the same dinner about which I spoke at the beginning of this post, I brought out cookies afterwards – the double chocolate cookies and these oatmeal cookies. My 3-year-old granddaughter eagerly took three or four of the oatmeal cookies and, before we knew it, had licked the frosting off the top and set the icingless cookie back on the plate. Photo of her work here:

Old-fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients
2 c. old-fashioned oats
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1 t. baking soda
2 t. cinnamon
½ t. nutmeg
1 t. salt
1 c. unsalted butter, melted
1 c. granulated sugar
½ c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs

Icing
2 c. powdered sugar
3-5 T milk

Process
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease cookie sheet.

In a food process or blender, pulse/blend oats until partly ground. Oats should be coarse, not a fine powder. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix until combined.

In a large bowl beat melted butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry ingredients and stir until thoroughly combined.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake 14-16 min until lightly browned.

Once cookies have completely cooled, whisk together powdered sugar and milk until smooth and desired consistency. Frost each cookie and allow glaze to set before storing.

Nana’s Note: It was while making this cookie that I discovered my food processor was no longer working. So much for being modern. Instead of frosting the cookies, I simply dipped them in the frosting. I had about a quarter cup of frosting left after I had frosted the cookies, which I threw away. I wish I had saved it and given it to my granddaughter in lieu of licking the tops off the cookies!