It's been quite a while since my last post...I've been under the weather so to speak and haven't been at my computer for any amount of time since last March. I also haven't done much research at all in that time because I would need a good block of time to sit and I couldn't do that.
Today I got to thinking about my grandma Porteous who has been gone since the early 1960s. She was probably the best baker I knew. Her pies never failed. I don't remember her baking cakes – my mom did that. The one thing she baked which was always fun for me were her molasses cookies. Around this time of year she would gather all the ingredients and implements to get ready to make the dough. I was usually the first at the kitchen table to watch and "help" as much as she would let me. I was maybe five or six years old.
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Grandma Porteous with Blackie the cat in this early 1950s image.
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She would get out a huge crockery bowl, a big wooden spoon, her wooden breadboard and all the measuring cups and spoons.
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| Grandma's breadboard I still use. |
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| Grandma's flour sack towel, but a different bowl. |
We were ready. My job was to get the flour and sugar out of a big bin in the pantry. That didn't go well with my mom because there was a trail of flour and sugar leading to the kitchen. All the other ingredients were measured and put in the bowl along with the flour and sugar.
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I found this recipe in an old cookbook of my Mom's.
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Mix all ingredients. Chill for a couple hours or overnight. Grandma would cover the big bowl with wax paper and a large "four sack" dish cloth. She'd set it on our pantry's window sill to chill. I liked to sneak in the pantry to taste the mixture. Grandma never caught me with my finger in the bowl, but when she uncovered it, she suspected a little finger or two had been in it. She would exclaim "Oh, was that little mouse in here again?" I would giggle.
Roll out the dough on a floured board and cut into desired shapes. Grandma always used the gingerbread man cutters and let me put the eyes, nose and mouth on the man using the extra raisins.
Bake 375º F for 15 minutes or until done. Let cool on a rack. Cookies taste best the next day. The number of cookies depends on size of cutters.
I'm not sure if grandma followed the recipe to a "T", but it is close. Laying the cookies on a cookie sheet we would pop them in the oven of our old gas stove that was gas on the right side and wood-burning on the left. Grandma would open the oven door and stick her hand in to judge the temperature. If she felt it was hot enough, the sheet of cookies went in.
Oh that wonderful smell of molasses cookies in the oven. We couldn't wait for them to be cool enough to eat and when they were, we sure got our fill of them right away. I liked the crunchy ones the most.
I don't really make Christmas cookies anymore, but finding this recipe has given me the bug. I'll give it a go and hope they turn out as good as grandma's.
