Some of the sweetest memories of Home are bound up with Mother’s Cooky Jar. Long after the spicy fragrance of her ginger cookies baking has faded into the years….the thought of that ample cooky jar on the shelf will bring back vividly the old time-peace, comfort, and security of Home. Every Home should have a cooky jar.
- Betty Crocker’s Picture Cookbook, 1950
Cry Baby Cookies
From Dianne’s Family Recipe Box
They’re so good, if you give them to a crying child, they’ll stop crying. The name of this recipe caught my attention. It may have originated, in some form, with the Pennsylvania Dutch in early colonial times. The soft cake-like texture is also reminiscent of the South. California raisins were introduced in the early 1900’s.
Like so many handwritten recipes from this time period, instructions are often brief and incomplete. I’ve added a few details in parenthesis.
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons shortening
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup molasses
1 teaspoon cinnamon
*1 cup sour milk
¼ teaspoon ginger
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup raisins
(Beat sugar and shortening together until mixture is smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Add molasses and milk alternately with dry ingredients. Add raisins.)
Drop on cookie greased cookie sheet and bake (350 degrees for 10 minutes).
*For 1 cup sour milk: Mix together 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar plus enough whole milk to make 1 cup.
- Ethel, 1934
Mocha Frosting for Cry Baby Cookies, one of many variations
2 tablespoons melted butter
4 tablespoons hot coffee
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
Mix the ingredients until smooth and drizzle over hot cookies.
Latest on the cookie circuit: Make a batch of peanut butter cookie dough and shape into 1 inch balls. Roll in finely ground pretzels and bake.
Orange Rolls
This has the taste and consistency of scones. I used the food processor instead of a mixer. To prevent over mixing, use the pulse button. Roll out on lightly floured surface.
Sift together:
2 cups sifted flour
2 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
Work in ¼ cup shortening
(or butter)
Add 1 egg and ½ cup milk
or orange juice
Roll out about 1/4 inch thick.
(Make a 15x 9 rectangle)
Mix ½ cup sugar with the grated rind of ½ orange and spread over dough. (Melted butter, chopped pecans, or any combination of ingredients can be used.)
Roll like a jelly roll. Cut from each end.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18minutes
- Also from Dianne’s Family Recipe Box, 1930’s
Meat Casserole
A fast food version from the 1930’s.
Cook any meat you have a little, first.
Then fry onions, add a little water, some tomatoes, any leftover vegetables you might have.
Thicken mixture with browned flour darkened with a little coffee.
Season hotly.
Simmer in a bean pot. (Crockpot works!)
Helpful Hint: Try using a thread instead of a knife when a cake is to be cut while it is hot.
- Happiness is Italian
Cooking, Hanford, 1961
