Preheat oven to 400°F.

Beat together butter or shortening (or a combination of the two) with sugar.

Add beaten eggs and milk. Dredge raisins in 1/2 cup flour (taken from the 3 cups). Stir in vanilla and molasses.

Sift the remaining flour with the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Mix until no streaks remain. Add to butter/egg mixture. Stir in raisins and nuts. Add flour a tablespoon at a time if mixture is too wet; try to add as little as possible. If mixture is too dry and crumbly, add a tablespoon of milk or so until you have a good consistency for making drop cookies.

Drop onto lightly greased baking sheets and bake in preheated oven for about 12 minutes or until browned on edges. To avoid dry cookies, do not over-bake. Hermits should be slightly soft.

Cool and store in a plastic bag. They will taste even better the next day!

Makes about 30 small cookies or 20 larger cookies. (Larger cookies take longer to bake, smaller cookies bake more quickly. Remember, all ovens are different so keep a sharp eye out, checking several minutes before the end of the baking time.