Years ago, I wrote a poem that began, "My mother Teckla, a good Swedish woman…."   I think I have it around here someplace, but can’t lay hands on it at the moment. But I actually got two — count ‘em –TWO requests for the recipes I mentioned yesterday,  which are Teckla’s recipes, so here they are, with some comments at the end:

SOUR CREAM COOKIES.  Ingredients: 1 c. sugar,  1/2 c. butter, 1/2 c. Crisco, 1 egg, 3 T sour cream, 1 t. vanilla.  Mix all of this up and then add the dry ingredients:  2 1/2 c. flour, 1/2 t. salt, 1 t soda, 1 t cream of tartar. Mix thoroughly.  I use my hands, the best mixers.  Chill. Roll out. Cut shapes.  Bake at 350.  In my oven, 5-6 minutes, but watch ‘em.  For the frosting, I mix a bit of butter, then powdered sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla, and stir until it’s the right consistency for frosting the cookies. Oh…divide it up and add food coloring, and of course the sprinkles at the end. Oh, you know all that.

MOLASSES COOKIES:  1 c. sugar, 1/2 c. butter, 1/2 c. Crisco, 2 eggs, 1/2 c. molasses. Cream the sugar, butter and Crisco, stir in molasses. Mix it all up good. Then add dry ingredients: 1/2 t each ginger, cloves, cinnamon, 2 t. soda, 4 c.+ flour…enough to make a stiff dough, and 4 t. grated orange rind. Mix it all up good, again with your hand. Chill. Roll out. Cut shapes. Bake 350, again 5-6 minutes, but watch it and figure out what your oven does best. Carry on.  Frost. Oh, sometimes I make the frosting with orange juice. That’s good.

TIPS FROM THE COOK:  Hey, do I sound like Sue Doeden, or what?  Be sure to use butter, margarine just doesn’t work as well, I haven’t tried these with margarine for years. A few weeks ago, Marketplace had butter for $1.88/lb, and I stocked up.  "Crisco" is a generic term from the old days.  Use white shortening. I guess lard is another term. Now, I’ve collected cookie cutters over the years and it’s a simple collection, and includes a star and a bell from Teckla.  The bell has a red wooden knob on top, the star, green. They’d be classified as "vintage" on Ebay.  I made these cookies with my mom, and then my kids, and now our granddaughter. She has assurred me she’ll take over the cookie collection, and carry on the tradition. She has come up with some garrish color combinations over the years, and we’ve had frosting from one end of the kitchen to the other, but hey — that’s what Christmas is all about. Besides the birth of Our Saviour, I might add, as a good Lutheran girl. Anyway, the beloved granddaughter is a teenager now and the frosting has become more artistic.

While others search cookbooks and online for the latest Christmas treats, these are the only cookies I make.  And we love ‘em.