The Joy of Cooking

My grandmother gave you me a Joy of Cooking cook book for Christmas this year. The book had once belonged to my Tutu (that's what we called my great grandmother) and throughout the book little recipes she had clipped from magazines and newspapers were hidden between the pages. I spent a whole evening discovering these recipes. I found almost fifty and I enjoyed seeing what my Tutu thought she would like to cook.

As an added bonus my grandmother and put two of my favorite cookie recipes in the front cover. This is the recipe for Rumford Sugar Cookies. The recipe was given to my grandmother in 1959 by an elderly neighbor and had likely been in her family for years. These cookies are addicting and delicious. I made them for New Years and ate more than I'd like to admit to. This recipe is also a bit tricky because the dough is sticky. Be prepared to use an extra cup of flour - flouring the rolling surface repeatedly before rolling the dough.

1/2 Cup Butter

1 Cup Sugar plus 2 Tablespoons

2 Eggs

2 Cups Flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 Tablespoon Milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter, and sugar. Add well beaten eggs. Sift flour, baking powder. Add milk and vanilla. Mix well. Turn out on a floured surface and roll to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into shapes. Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes.

You can add nuts to these or brush them with sugar and cinnamon. I coated mine with pink butter cream icing. I think everything tastes better when it is pink.

Butter Cream Icing

1 Cup Softened Butter

4 Cups Powdered Sugar

2 Tablespoons Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla

Cream all ingredients together and add 3 drops of red food coloring. Mix well.