Icebox Ginger Cookies

Author: Jayne Thurber-Smith

Whenever my sisters come to visit me, Grandmom's Icebox Ginger Cookies are always the staple of choice to go along with our coffee chitchats around the table. It reminds all four us of our times with Grandmom--running into her kitchen only to be greeted by a loving hug, cold milk, and warm cookies.

Besides us four girls, there were five boys in our family. Grandmom had seven kids of her own and twenty-five grandchildren in total. Yet she never failed to make each and every one of us feel loved and special. She never seemed tired or worn out, even when we gathered for Sunday dinners--all ten to thirty of us. She always had a big smile, a spare arm for a hug, and an attentive ear for what this little girl had to say.

The day long drive from our house to hers was always spent cramped in our family station wagon, but it was worth it once we were seated at her kitchen table. Without fail the cookie jar would be placed in front of us and our favorite ginger cookies would always be in there. I loved smelling the spicy aroma that escaped once the cookie jar was opened. I would sink my teeth into the soft, chewy texture while listening to my aunts' lively chatter, all the while watching Granddad and Grandmom smiling at each other. It never got any better than that.

Grandmom would then encourage me to play some hymns at the piano for her; songs I knew she could play much better than me. She would tell me how talented I was and make me feel this piano thing was worth sticking with. We would go for a swim in the ocean and play hopscotch on the front walk with my cousins until it got too dark to see each other.

At the end of our often, too short week's vacation, Granddad would take me in his lap and say, "You don't want to leave, do you? You want to stay here with us, right?" And I would always have to think very hard about that.

Today, I made a batch of cookies, just to have in the freezer; ready to pull out at a second's notice. Just to smell the dough as I mixed it took me back to my grandparents' house. It reminded me of sitting at Granddad's feet as they tapped in time to the fiddle music he effortlessly played.

My grandparents were happily married for almost seventy years. Granddad passed away in 1998 and Grandmom has since moved into a nursing home. While I miss our times together in their home, I will always cherish the times we spent together. And thanks to Grandmom's recipe, I'll never be far from them. They were definitely the grandest grandmother and grandfather in the world.

Grandmom's Icebox Ginger Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

1 C shortening
1 Tsp ginger
¾ C molasses
2/3 C brown sugar
3 C flour
2 Tsp baking soda
A dash of cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Blend shortening and molasses.
Add sugar, flour, soda, ginger, salt, cloves, nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon.
Shape into bars 3" wide, 2" thick and 8" long.
Wrap in aluminum foil and freeze at least one hour.
Whenever you feel like eating or at the very least smelling these wonderful cookies, slice off in 1/8 of an inch slabs.
Bake on un-greased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.

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