The Worst Christmas Treat I Ever Had

The picture is that of a Christmas cookie that was my hands down favorite as a kid and still ranks high on my list. My mother used to make these chocolate drop cookies which include the use of Quaker oats. I'm sure somewhere down the line I had mentioned to my family my adoration for this Christmas treat.

Years ago I came into the kitchen to find my favorite chocolate drop cookies on a cookie sheet. My oh my, my little daughter Hannah who was maybe in Jr. High at the time had apparently made her dad's favorite Christmas cookie. Of course I took a bite. It was horrible! I spit it out. The poor little thing, how am I going to tell her that they're terrible. I didn't get the chance to break her heart as she and my wife entered the kitchen shortly thereafter and as I picked up one of the cookies one them interrupted me and said put those down. They're horse treats for Aspen. What? I confessed that I had tried one which was followed by quite a bit of laughter. Hannah thought it was funny she had a dad who ate horse treats. It was made with oatmeal but also included some other ingredients that were must undesirable for the human palate.

That should have been the end of the story but somehow Hannah's recipe for horse treats wound up in our Church Cookbook. I'm clueless as to who was responsible or how this happened.

And to wrap it up, an unnamed  newspaper reporter decided to do a winter story on the joy of cooking with oatmeal. She included a few recipes in her column. Good grief, she put in Hannah's recipe for horse treats. I sometimes wonder if anyone ever tried to bake and eat one of those horrid things.

My shame of eating horse treats was buffered a bit when I learned from our neighbor lady that she had caught her husband eating dog treats out of the package. She showed me the package and the only place they mentioned it was for dogs was in small print on the back of the bag. Maybe this sort of thing is a guy thing?