Ginger Cookies

During the '70s health craze, my mom would make "cookies," made with Wheaties, wheat germ, whole wheat flour, practically no sugar, and raisins. They came out of the oven as hard as rocks, and my sister and I would use them as such in our fights. Later on, my mom started making cookies that were much better, like these:

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Combine butter, sugar, molasses and egg; beat well. Sift dry ingredients and add to the butter/sugar mixture. Chill in the refrigerator while you enjoy a glass of wine; about an hour. Roll dough into 1" balls, dip on sugar, and place un-sugared side down on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Battle of the Banana Breads

"In this corner is Patricia's banana bread - a lightweight if there ever was. And in this corner is Jackie's Banana Bread - heavyweight champion of the bake sale." Both of these are great recipes - you decide which one you like best.

Patricia's Banana Bread
Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup soft butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup mashed banana
• 2 tbsp orange rind
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup nuts

Cream butter and sugar; beat in egg and banana, rind, then milk. Sift dry ingredients together and gently fold in. Add nuts. I forget how long to bake this as bread; mostly I make muffins with it - 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Jackie's Banana Bread
Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cup banana (3 large)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

Cream butter and sugar; add bananas, eggs and vanilla. Sift dry ingredients; add alternating with milk. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

Lemon Meringue Pie fit for a King

In the past when I've gone to visit my dad, he's greeted me at the door with a pie pan and a lemon. This recipe is why.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 3 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• Rind of one lemon

Meringue:

• 3 egg whites
• 1/3 cup sugar

In heavy saucepan, blend sugar and cornstarch. Gradually add water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Bring to boil, and boil for one minute. Stir 1/2 mixture into beaten egg yolks; stir back into rest of the mixture. Boil one minute longer. Remove from heat and add lemon juice, rind and butter; stir well. Pour into baked pie crust and top with meringue; brown under broiler taking care to not set it on fire because man oh man it will do so the minute you look away.

Sugar Top Cookies

This amazing bar cookie recipe is from my Great-grandma Brown, and I've never seen anything like it in any cookbook or on the internet. It is my mother's favorite.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (one stick)
• 2 eggs; plus one egg yolk (reserve white)
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp salt

Topping:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Cream butter and sugar; beat in eggs one at a time. Add sifted dry ingredients. Spread into greased 13"x9" pan. Make a meringue by adding brown sugar to stiffly beaten egg white. Add vanilla, and spread over cookie mixture. Sprinkle nuts evenly over top, and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cut into bars.

Peanut Butter Cookies

This is my father's mother's recipe, and my all-time favorite peanut butter cookie.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 2 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp vanilla

Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs and beat well. Add peanut butter, flour, soda and vanilla. Drop by teaspoon full onto cookie sheet. Flatten with a fork. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Makes 6 dozen cookies if you don't nibble at the dough.

Puffy Peanut Brittle

Ingredients:

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup Karo syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 3 cups raw unsalted peanuts
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp baking soda
  

Cook first four ingredients until spins a thread (230 degrees), then add peanuts. Boil about 8 minutes more on moderate heat, until candy thermometer reaches 300 degrees. Add butter and boil for about 2 more minutes ("300 degrees plus 2 digits on Rubie's thermo") Remove from heat and add vanilla and soda, stirring quickly. It will be very foamy. Pour onto cookie sheet and break into pieces when cool.

This recipe is from my Great Aunt Grace, on my father's side.

English Toffee

Why is this Toffee English and not from some other country? No idea, but no holiday season goes by without me whipping up 10 or so batches to give away. This is a classic Nana recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp corn syrup
• 1 cup finely chopped nuts
• 1/2 pkg semisweet chocolate chips

Combine butter, sugar, water and corn syrup in heavy saucepan. Bring to boil stirring well until sugar is dissolved. Insert candy thermometer; cook over low-moderate heat until it reaches 260 degrees. If the mixture starts to get dark, turn down the heat.

From 260 degrees, stir constantly until candy reaches 300 degrees. Pour toffee over 1/2 of finely chopped nuts spread onto cookie sheet. Melt chocolate chips and spread over the toffee, then sprinkle remaining nuts over the top. Let set for a day in a cool place. Break into pieces when set. Serves one.

Christmas Fruitcake

Ingredients:
1 package currants 1 1/2 lbs butter
4 to 5 lbs. mixed fruit 2 cups sherry
4 lbs. shelled walnuts 1 cup brandy
3 lbs dates 8 cups flour
1 lb cherries 4 tbsp nutmeg
1 lb pineapple 2 tbsp each allspice, cinnamon, mace, cloves
4 cups sugar 1 tsp soda
1 cup Karo syrup 1 tsp salt
12 eggs

Mix all fruit and nuts with 1/2 of flour. Mix sugar, syrup, eggs, spices and butter. Gradually add soda, salt and rest of flour. Alternately add fruit mixture and booze, mixing well.

In 1 lb loaf pans, place a layer of waxed paper. Add dough. Bake at 200 degrees for 3 hours. Makes 30 loaves.

This is one of Nana's recipes. She would make these on Thanksgiving weekend, and keep them in the refrigerator. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, she would sprinkle a shot of brandy onto each loaf to soak up.

Welcome to Frontier Wife!

I come from a long line of cooks, bakers, and moonshine makers*. My great-grandmother loved to bake, my grandmother was an excellent candy maker, and my mom makes a badass pie crust. Most of my cooking memories come from time spent with my Grandmother (Nana - seen here with my Grandpa). We would stay with her over summer vacation, and she would make home-made doughnuts, or enchiladas, or (my favorite) liver and onions. She's the one who taught me about following a recipe and not following it; making substitutions for taste or frugality or just for the adventure.

Collecting cook books and recipes has also been a passion of mine. My treasures include The United States Regional Cookbook (circa 1947 - its recipe for possum starts out with "scald possum in lye water and scrape off the hair, taking care not to break skin"), a "Prudence Penny" cookbook published in 1952, and Betty Crocker's New Picture Cook Book from 1961. Recipes from family & friends, however, are my greatest treasures. This blog is dedicated to them, and intended mainly for the next generation of cooks - my children who seem to be following in my footsteps.

P.S. Why "Frontier Wife?" It's a nickname my husband gave me, because most of the time I like to cook the old fashioned way. I like making bread from scratch, and I usually work without Cuisinart (tm) or other highfalutin' gadgets. In part it's because cooking that way is like a meditation for me. That, and because I'm kind of cheap.

*My dad's side is responsible for the moonshine. He's a pretty awesome cook, too.