My Last MeMe: 7 Random Things About Me

I had sworn off meme's and wasn't going to do them anymore, but then Sara of I Like To Cook and one of my best blogging friends (and fellow Daring Baker), tagged me for "Seven Random Things". If it had been anyone but Sara, I would have thanked them but declined to participate. But, since it is Sara who tagged me, I'll participate in this one last meme.

So, here are seven random things you probably didn't know about me:

1. I was a Girl Scout troop leader for six years for the same group of girls from when they were Brownies to when they became Cadets and I don't have kids. I was the troop's "Cookie Mom" four times.

2. I have canoed in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota four times and once canoed 24 miles in one day.

3. I have hiked at least five miles on every major trail system on the East Coast but can't ride a bike more than three miles on Nantucket.

4. I have been to three Olympics (one Winter, two Summer), two Super Bowls, three NHL Championship finals, three Final Four games, two Kentucky Derbys, one Daytona 500, one Indianapolis 500 and four US Figure Skating Championships but not as an athlete and not as a spectator and I don't like sports.

5. I hate the feel of cotton balls or fuzzy cotton anything on my skin. It produces the same shivers as most people get when someone drags fingernails on chalkboards. Did I just date myself? Does anyone under 30 know what a chalkboard is?

6. I have a very large collection of turn of the 20th Century romance novels that I collect for the elegant and elaborate bindings and covers.

7. I once ate rattlesnake and it didn't taste like chicken (more like stringy pork) and Rocky Mountain oysters and they were disgusting.

Now for a recipe of something NOT disgusting:

Michigan Ranger Cookies

Makes about 4 dozen or so cookies (depending on how much dough you eat)

1 cup butter or shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup dried Michigan cherries
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Cream together the butter and sugars. Blend in the eggs. Into a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and baking powder then add to the creamed mixture, blending well. Mix in the vanilla; stir in the rolled oats, cherries, coconut, chocolat and butterscotch chips and walnuts. Form mixture into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes or the whole cookie is golden brown for a crisp cookie. For a chewy cookie bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown and middles of cookies are firm.