Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Cleva's in the Kitchen

The author, Cleva Griffin O'Hayre, was born on September 7, 1901 in a log cabin on a farm near Mead, Colorado.

She married Paul O'Hayre on September 3, 1919 in Longmont, CO. She is the mother of 14 children. She has 46 grandchildren and 60 great-grandchildren.

Cleva O'Hayre published her cookbook in celebration of her 82nd birthday and her 64th wedding anniversary.

In December, 1982, the Rocky Mountain News named Mrs. O'Hayre "Best Cook in the West".


Unfortunately, her legacy does not live on with this great-grandchild. I will not be earning the title of "Best Cook of the South" anytime soon (or ever). However, there are some easy recipes in her cookbook that even I can't screw up! One of my all time favorites from when I was a kid...easy, no bake cookies. Creatively titled, "cookies" on pg. 151 of Great-grandma O'Hayre's cookbook.

COOKIES
1/4 cup butter
3 cups sugar
4 tbs. baking cocoa
1/2 cup milk
3 cups uncooked rolled oats
1/2 cup peanut butter

Combine first four ingredients in a saucepan, mix well, and cook over high heat for 5 minutes or until butter is melted, stirring all the while. Remove from heat and quickly add oats and peanut butter. Mix thoroughly and drop by teaspoonful onto wax paper. Cool thoroughly.



Thank you, Grandma O'Hayre, for making "cookies" out of ingredients that I usually have on hand. They were just what I needed this afternoon.

3 comments:

Allena said...

Made those all the time as a kid and to this day are one of my favorite desserts. Could eat an entire batch in one sitting. We called them 'elephant dumps'. :)

Anonymous said...

Have to say I like your grandma's name for the cookies better than Allena's! Cool story! -Allison

Melissa said...

I was getting ready to make cookies out of this cookbook I found at a thriftstore MANY years ago and decided to look it up. Just to pass on a big thanks to the family. This is a favorite cookbook.
Melissa D.