Sweet Memories for Christmas

Here at the cafe we enjoy trying new recipes, but the ones passed down through generations are the ones we love. The stained, hand-copied recipe cards. The tried and true flavors. The familiar aromas wafting through the house on baking day. Such sweet memories :)

And we remember that there was a time when this ← was how we shared recipes.


This is my mom taking notes as her dad creates his specialty - someday I'll share that secret recipe with you. If I can ever learn to make it the way Grandpa did!

When I was little, my mom copied down every tasty recipe she could find, especially recipes for Christmas treats.

And since my dad was a pastor, there were many, many, many opportunities to meet new people and their recipes!

At our church in Ohio, there was a special lady who took my mom (the new pastor's wife) under her wing. Not only did she babysit for me while Mom worked as a substitute teacher, she also shared her best Christmas recipe.

Someone in my family - either my mom or I - has made a batch of these cookies every year since then...and we moved from Ohio to Michigan in 1962. That is a LOT of batches of these cookies!

Sand Tarts
a favorite family recipe from Marjorie Roby

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (the original recipe calls for oleo, but please use butter!)
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 to 4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

Bring the butter to room temperature, then cream with the sugar until fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla.

Mix the flour, salt and baking powder in a separate bowl. By the way, start with the smaller amount of flour and add more if the dough is too sticky.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter/sugar/eggs mixture until blended well.

If you wish, you can divide the dough into thirds. Color one third with red food coloring, one third with green, and leave one third plain.

Now, at this point you need to make a decision. The original recipe was for rolled and cut cookies. If you want to make them that way, refrigerate the dough before rolling it out. Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes.

But we've always used this recipe in a cookie press to make spritz cookies. If you do these, don't refrigerate the dough. Use your cookie press to make the shapes, and then bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes.

We moved from Ohio to Michigan the summer I turned five. That's an awfully young age, but I remember Marjorie Roby. I remember when her poodle had puppies. I remember watching a rocket launch on her television in their basement family room. I remember seeing her at church on Sunday mornings. And I remember her every time I make this recipe.

Now that's a legacy worth passing on, isn't it?