Drought Outlook for 2011

The past two months have been very dry across West Texas and the Big Country. La Nina conditions continue to dictate our weather, bringing above normal temperatures and below normal precipitation. The rains we received on December 24 helped things temporarily, but the outlook through March is not very optimistic based upon the latest U.S. Drought Monitor released recently.

According to this National Weather Service study, four major items of concern for our area are forecast through March:

1. Above normal wildfire conditions, including possibly a few significant fires
2. Drought conditions to intensify, especially south of Interstate 20
3. Continued supplemental feeding of livestock
4. Surface water supplies continued to be depleted from evaporation, municipal and agricultural consumption.

Most Big Country counties have Burn Bans in place, and we must all be very careful of wildfire potential for the next few months.

In the meantime, we're all waiting for that next big rain that hopefully, will come sooner than anticipated.

Sinful Oatmeal Cookies

I know everyone's got a New Year's Resolution to lose weight, but I still want to share one more cookie recipe. I got this recipe from a magazine on an airplane a few years ago, and I hope you all will forgive me for tempting you with it! I hope these don't de-rail your New Year's Resolutions too much! Enjoy!

Sinful Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

2 ½ cups quick cooking oatmeal

1 ten-ounce package Hershey’s Cinnamon Chips

1 cup raisins

½ cup chopped walnuts

½ cup sliced almonds

½ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and both sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla until well blended. Combine soda with flour, and mix into the butter mixture. Stir in the oatmeal, and then add the chips, raisins, and nuts. Batter will be thick. Drop onto parchment lined baking sheet by heaping teaspoonfuls and bake 10-12 minutes. Makes 4 dozen.

Molasses Sugar Cookies

Melt and cool:

3/8 cup shortening

3/8 cup margarine

Add:

1 cup sugar

¼ cup molasses

1 egg

Sift together and add:

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon cloves

½ teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix ingredients well by hand and chill for 30 minutes. Form into one-inch balls, roll in granulated sugar and place on baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. The cookies will crinkle while baking. Makes 3 dozen.