Monday, September 06, 2010

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with Homemade Raisins & Jon Schmidt

Let’s start with the fun stuff.  Do you know who Jon Schmidt is?  Well, if not, go to his sight and listen to some of his amazing piano talent!  He’s just about the best there is.  For Parker’s birthday, Saturday night I took  he and Scott to an outdoor concert with Jon Schmidt.  Parker already loves him and his music and I’ve been to his concerts before.  Not only is he fabulous playing the piano, but he often makes it fun by laying down on the piano bench and playing upside down.  He does flips off the bench (although last night he did a flip off the speakers, which are a lot higher than the bench.)  Here’s some video that is an awesome idea of what his concert was like.  The amphitheater the concert we were at are the pictures in the video with the waterfall.  It is beautiful there.  Jon takes the time afterward to give out autographs and chat with anyone who wants to wait in line and meet him.  

Parker wanted to meet him.  We didn’t have any paper for him to autograph, so he signed the back of Parker’s shirt.  The boys were taking piano lessons in Kansas.  Parker wasn’t very studious about reading the notes, he would rather just hear a song and then he could mess around a bit and play it.  He plays by ear.  Parker is not quite up to par with the likes of Jon Schmidt, but he could be if he’d practice more and actually learn to read the notes.  Jon composes all his music.  A few months back, Parker came up with his own song.  He doesn’t have it written down, but will sit down and play it from time to time.  We need to record him playing it.  Anyway, he and Scott both loved the concert.  So did I.

Here’s the boys waiting in line to get in to the amphitheater. 

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Waiting and waiting.  We got there at 6 o’clock and the concert wasn’t until 8:00.  Note to self—bring some card games next time.

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Parker and I.

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The Waterfall Amphitheater.

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Jon finally on stage.

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Jon makes his show fun, lighthearted and funny.  Check out the You Tube video I’ve posted above to watch him in action.

And after waiting in line for over 30 minutes, we got to meet him.  Parker is thrilled to have his autograph on the back of his shirt.  I’m thrilled to have this picture.  What a great night, I hope the boys will remember forever.  Kevin would have gone, but it was the first BYU home football game and he’s got season tickets.  BYU won!  Taylor and Sam stayed home with their cousin, Marie, babysitting.  (Thanks, Marie!)

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This reminder of Kansas (the state flower) is growing in a crack in our driveaway.  Fun reminder of a place we love.  Sunflowers are actually everywhere in Utah right now. 

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And now for some cookies!  I recently came in to some champagne grapes.  Bunches of them.  They are small, but pack some extra sweetness and juice.  The boys didn’t really want to eat them, they often pop open when you take them off the stem.  After a couple days of realizing they were not going to get eaten, I decided to dehydrate them and make RAISINS!  It was kind of fun and actually worked well.  They were perfect and extra sweet.

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I decided to make Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and use some of these.  I used the recipe from July Cookie Carnival for Pillsbury Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.  That recipe makes a great, perfect oatmeal cookie.  I made half a batch with the raisins and another half with no raisins, but chocolate chips (for my guys around here who don’t like raisins).  The champagne grape raisins added a nice little extra sweetness to the cookies.

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Perfect chewy/crisp oatmeal cookies.  (I used white whole wheat flour again, so they’re healthi-er.) ;)

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Grab ya a tall glass of milk and have a couple cookies.

7 comments:

Beth said...

The concert looks like a ton of fun! And I'll have to try those cookies. Like you, I love raisins in my cookies but the girls won't eat them. They'd definitely go for the chocolate chip variation!

Fallon said...

Homemade raisins, they look awesome!!

I love sunflowers!

Nancy said...

I had never thought of making my own raisins, how cool!

The concert looked amazing. How sweet to get to take your sons to see someone they admired so much!

Anonymous said...

Wow! I am a huge raisin fan, but have never thought about making my own. That's so cool!

Natalie said...

homemade raisins? I'm so impressed!

Glad you had a fun night with your boys--what a beautiful concert venue!

Megan said...

Great photos - Katrina! You look terrific!

And only YOU would make your own raisins....

Unknown said...

Homemade raisins?? Really? Wow! Looks like a fun concert.