Laurence Roberts' Fabulous Oatmeal Cookies

I baked cookies tonight. It felt good, I really love to bake, but odd to think it's been awhile since I've done it. Cookies are a lot of work in terms of the whole batch process.

The particular cookies I made tonight, I realize I've not made since October 2004 when I baked a batch for a friend's birthday.

The full title of the hand-written recipe is Laurence Robert's Fabulous Old-fashioned Oatmeal Cookies with chips with apologies to Betty Crocker. And underneath that it says Specially for Nancy. It is written on a blue-lined notebook page, with sections of the inner-hole portion missing. There are red stamps of unicorns and dragons. And it repeatedly informs the reader that it is a Collector's Item.

The recipe advocates heavy use of spices and chips, either chocolate or carob, and offers a section on the back "For People who can stand raisins in cookies" They are really good. Tonight, I decided I wanted to add orange peel to the batter (finely grated) so went out to the grocery store (after my hour and forty-five minute commute home; gotta love baseball season!) to buy an orange. I also put dried cranberries in with the chips. While I agree about raisins, I'm okay with the cranberries. Very good stuff.

The recipe was given to me in the early '80's after Laurence and I had baked cookies at his house one afternoon. I met Laurence at the St. Paul Young Writers' program in 1980. He was a year older, went to the other Junior High in the area, and was eccentric. His parents were alternative, for instance, he called them by their given names since mom and dad held some sort of heirarchy that was bad (or something to that effect). I was even supposed to call them by their given names, but tended to just get around calling them anything (even now, I still feel odd calling my childhood friend's parents by their first names).

Laurence had an impish charm, a good mind, and geeky good looks, so I developed a bit of a crush on him. He (unsurprisingly given my record since then) turned out to be gay (should the fabulous and unicorns given it away?). I don't believe he was out, even in high school (although Mrs. Kirk, my friend Heather's mother, who went to church with the Roberts used to say, "Laurence, who I think is gay...," regularly).

I last saw Laurence in August of 2004 when I was down in San Francisco. He's lived there since after college with his partner, Nick. He goes by Larry-Bob and publishes 'Holy Tit Clamps'. He offers this good advice:

Nothing should be assumed about anybody's sexuality, including yours.