Imagine, what a snowball effect a few thoughts on baking cookies can have! I wrote in a previous post about a cookbook my sister Laura gave me in 1979, and the wonderful sugar cookie recipe contained therein. Betty, a longtime neighbor, family friend, cousin-by-marriage, and reader of this blog, expressed interest in the recipe that my grandmother had used to provide cookies for the kids, which at the time included Betty and her cohorts. . .and lo and behold, who has that recipe, copied out for her half a century ago by our Aunt Helen, but my sister Laura?

Let Laura tell the rest: Mama used this recipe for the neighborhood kids for years, and then (sister) Mary took it over. For years, Mary kept the tradition alive, along with Easter egg hunts in the spring and scavenger hunts in the summer.

Here it is, for them as wants to try it, written out by Laura and including some asides for modern bakers to ponder.

To wit:

Grandmother Jervey’s Judes Ferry Sugar Cookies

1 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

3 well beaten eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

Cream together thoroughly (Laura’s note: beat until your arm is tired and then some)

Sift together and add, beating thoroughly:

4 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder (Laura’s note: since this recipe was before double acting, you might try 1.5 tsp)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Roll into small balls and flatten on a baking sheet. (Laura’s note: what we have done since then is roll the dough out on a floured board and use cookie cutters before baking.)

Bake for 8-10 minutes 350 F.

After cookies have cooled on a wire rack, frost and decorate.

Here’s the lady who got this ball rolling: my Grandmother Jervey. This is the only picture I have of her, mental or actual, and I confess I have a hard time seeing her with flour on her nose.

Anyway, methinks I have a project for myself and my sisters during my next visit to Powhatan. If any of the ladies in my family ever served you cookies made from the above recipe, you are hereby invited to sample the new batch. You bring the milk.