PEPPERNUTS
Most of my readers are aware I was a teacher for many years, retiring from the classroom when we moved to Washington. (Then most unexpectedly I taught a "bonus" year for Columbia Christian Schools.) It would be fair to say I have many precious memories from those experiences: triumphs, highlights, special students, professional achievements, and the occasional battle for right, justice and the American way. Once in a while I am even approached by a former student (or parent) which usually makes for an interesting conversation.
In my mind there is little doubt that my most valuable acquisitions were the friends and mentors and remarkable people with whom I was privileged to work. I suppose I can remember most of my colleagues, and with the help of yearbooks can identify even those I barely knew. But the best of the lot - the top teachers and the dearest friends - are as precious now as ever. I don't want to slight any of "my favorites", but one in particular has been often on my mind lately and constantly in my thoughts today.
Shirley taught English too, and for the last ten years of my twenty at JDHS, her room was right across the hall from mine. I learned a lot about teaching and about English from Shirley. I wasn't exactly a rookie anymore, but she was full of good ideas and new approaches, and she could always come up with that "lost fact" or detail that escaped me. I have always been convinced that I was among the best of the teachers with whom I taught, but let me quickly assure you that I was a much better teacher for the help and encouragement that I received from Shirley.
Among the many special times and memories we made, Betty and I have always thought the peppernut connection was just about the best. Shirley had this simple recipe for peppernuts; hard little cookies with a hearty crunch and a strong molasses flavor. Here is indeed a labor of love!
This is the recipe:
In a powerful mixer combine
-- 1 lb.butter
-- 1 lb. brown sugar
-- 1 qt. molasses
Mix in (for starters)
-- 2 cups flour
-- 5 tsp. baking soda
-- 1 tsp. ground cardamom
-- 1/2 tsp. salt
-- 1 tsp. salt
Add
-- 2 cups chopped nuts
-- 2 tsp. vanilla
Continue to add flour until very, VERY thick. That will be a lot of flour!! Take the whole wad out of the mixer before the machine grinds to a halt, and cut in more flour until you just can't work in a speck more. Come on now, add some more flour. Do it again... (You have probably combined almost five pounds of flour into the lump, and it is heavy and just barely sticky.)
OK, form the lump into rolls about the diameter of a penny. Wrap each roll in waxed paper and chill the whole bunch, maybe overnight. When you are ready to bake, set the oven to 350 degrees. Take a couple of rolls at a time from the cooler, and cut them into 1/4" slices. Bake these coins for about 10 or 11 minutes. They will be brown and a bit soft when you take them out, but they should set firm in a couple of minutes on a cooling rack. [ HEY! Don't overcook, 'cause they are terrible if scorched! ]
The batch I baked today took a couple of hours and I did 15 sheets. Overall, the sheets averaged over 75 cookies at a time, so now I have a huge bowl with close to 1200 peppernut cookies in it.
We should probably issue a warning right about here about addictive behaviors and how they can bring misery and shame which is no fun at holiday time. Enjoy these tasty tidbits a few at a time and never eat a hundred at once. To do so would feel nearly fatal, so don't go there.
My Wednesday afternoon class is having a cookie swap on the 17th. That's an event when each person brings a few cookies for each other person and swaps them for the cookies the other person brought. When we each go home, we have a variety of cookies to share with family or guests and in the meanwhile, a good time was had by all.
I'm eager to share Shirley's peppernuts with my students this year. It's the nicest cookie for the purpose that I know about, and the work it takes is a part of the gift, for a little extra effort in this case just makes the gift sweeter than it already is. And Shirley, thanks for the recipe and the memories that are a part of it.
In my mind there is little doubt that my most valuable acquisitions were the friends and mentors and remarkable people with whom I was privileged to work. I suppose I can remember most of my colleagues, and with the help of yearbooks can identify even those I barely knew. But the best of the lot - the top teachers and the dearest friends - are as precious now as ever. I don't want to slight any of "my favorites", but one in particular has been often on my mind lately and constantly in my thoughts today.
Shirley taught English too, and for the last ten years of my twenty at JDHS, her room was right across the hall from mine. I learned a lot about teaching and about English from Shirley. I wasn't exactly a rookie anymore, but she was full of good ideas and new approaches, and she could always come up with that "lost fact" or detail that escaped me. I have always been convinced that I was among the best of the teachers with whom I taught, but let me quickly assure you that I was a much better teacher for the help and encouragement that I received from Shirley.
Among the many special times and memories we made, Betty and I have always thought the peppernut connection was just about the best. Shirley had this simple recipe for peppernuts; hard little cookies with a hearty crunch and a strong molasses flavor. Here is indeed a labor of love!
This is the recipe:
In a powerful mixer combine
-- 1 lb.butter
-- 1 lb. brown sugar
-- 1 qt. molasses
Mix in (for starters)
-- 2 cups flour
-- 5 tsp. baking soda
-- 1 tsp. ground cardamom
-- 1/2 tsp. salt
-- 1 tsp. salt
Add
-- 2 cups chopped nuts
-- 2 tsp. vanilla
Continue to add flour until very, VERY thick. That will be a lot of flour!! Take the whole wad out of the mixer before the machine grinds to a halt, and cut in more flour until you just can't work in a speck more. Come on now, add some more flour. Do it again... (You have probably combined almost five pounds of flour into the lump, and it is heavy and just barely sticky.)
OK, form the lump into rolls about the diameter of a penny. Wrap each roll in waxed paper and chill the whole bunch, maybe overnight. When you are ready to bake, set the oven to 350 degrees. Take a couple of rolls at a time from the cooler, and cut them into 1/4" slices. Bake these coins for about 10 or 11 minutes. They will be brown and a bit soft when you take them out, but they should set firm in a couple of minutes on a cooling rack. [ HEY! Don't overcook, 'cause they are terrible if scorched! ]
The batch I baked today took a couple of hours and I did 15 sheets. Overall, the sheets averaged over 75 cookies at a time, so now I have a huge bowl with close to 1200 peppernut cookies in it.
We should probably issue a warning right about here about addictive behaviors and how they can bring misery and shame which is no fun at holiday time. Enjoy these tasty tidbits a few at a time and never eat a hundred at once. To do so would feel nearly fatal, so don't go there.
My Wednesday afternoon class is having a cookie swap on the 17th. That's an event when each person brings a few cookies for each other person and swaps them for the cookies the other person brought. When we each go home, we have a variety of cookies to share with family or guests and in the meanwhile, a good time was had by all.
I'm eager to share Shirley's peppernuts with my students this year. It's the nicest cookie for the purpose that I know about, and the work it takes is a part of the gift, for a little extra effort in this case just makes the gift sweeter than it already is. And Shirley, thanks for the recipe and the memories that are a part of it.
posted by Papa John @ 5:30 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
What did you do with your bounty after the cookie exchange was canceled?
Cookie swaps are never cancelled, only postponed briefly. We'll find a way to exchange soon, you betcha!
At least I won't have to deliver across the barren tundra through a raging blizzard at 40 degrees below zero by dog sled. It should be a bit easier than that this year.
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