The Cookie Book

At the Pine Grove congregation where we attended in WV, our boys had a pair of "substitute grandparents" named Mickey and Lee; just one set of many doting "church grandparents" in that group!

Although there was an age discrepancy, Mickey and I were buddies in our cooking pursuits. We were very unevenly-matched; she was much more skilled at cooking and baking. This was a woman who made homemade Angel Food Cakes for church luncheons! One year, she surprised me with The Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off Cookbook. It meant even more to me when I realized that she had saved up and used-up all of her Pillsbury UPC points that year to get it for me. What a sweet friend!

When Mickey learned that we would be moving out-of-state, her response was to pass to me some of her very sentimental possessions-two of her favorite cookbooks; one was "Mammaw" Larck's cookbook (that I've mentioned before) and this cookie book. The Cookie Cookbook was a gift from a friend who worked with her husband, Lee. Before he retired, Lee was a teamster. He drove large trucks for many years. One of his delivery stops was to K-Mart where he befriended a man named Sam Wood. At Christmastime, Sam would send along a gift to Mickey every year (she didn't say, but I'm sure that she was good to him with her baked goods all year; she was like that to everyone!) Our "Old Cookbook" today is one of those Christmas gifts from years ago that Sam sent to Mickey.

This book, written by Deloris Kitchel Clem, was published in 1966 by Castle Books. Just as its title implies, it is a straight forward book that doesn't waste time on stories or even pictures! There are only a couple of black and white photos of the cookies. However, what it lacks in embellishment it makes up for in good ol' cookies that you might remember Mom or Grandma baking in Christmases past. There is a recipe for every type of cookie; rolled, filled, drop, pressed, molded and formed! There are even some old German recipes for traditional holiday cookies from the author's grandmother's collection. The sample recipe that I've chosen is from page 268, because I plan to get out my cookie press and make come cookies that I remember from past holidays. Good luck finding this one!

Pg. 268 Holiday Press Cookies

2 C cake flour, sifted
3/4 C butter, soft
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 egg yolk, unbeaten
1/2 tsp vanilla
candied cherries

Measure sifted cake flour and sift. Thoroughly cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolk to creamed mixture; beat well. Add sifted flour, a small amount at a time, to creamed mixture; mix thoroughly after each addition. Blend vanilla into dough.

Chill dough. Press chilled dough through cookie press onto ungreased cookie sheet. Decorate cookies with candied cherries, multi-colored sprinkles, silver dragees or nuts. Bake in oven at 400 degrees for 5 to 8 minutes. Makes 6 doz. cookies.


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