First Day of Summer! By Pat Kinsella Herdeg

We have had a busy May and early June. First our oldest child, Brian, graduated from Cornell and then, five days later, our youngest, Nick, graduated from high school.

Now, we are finally up at our place in Maine—once the dock is in and I can get to hear the loons all night long, I feel like yes, Summer has arrived.

AND, that got me thinking about food (No, it does not take much, you are right as you think that).

Strawberries are in season, a few weeks early here in Maine, so we are picking them in the fields and chowing down. And, summer always reminds me of molasses because….well, read on!

So, a few recipes from our Taylor Cookbook to whet your summer appetites; late summer will bring others, so send on your favorite recipes to me and you will see them up here!

Nell Baker Barrows’ Molasses Cookies:
Mom aka Aunt CB tells me: “Aunt Nell is sister to my mother's father--therefore her aunt but we knew her and she was a marvelous cook!!”

Arnon’s daughter, CarolAnn writes: “I would help Dad make these; he would roll them out and I would cut them with a special shaped cookie cutter that he liked to use.”

Arnon’s daughter, Nancy, writes: “This is a cookie recipe I got from my brother Bob in the '80s when he was still living in New York; he and I made these cookies nearly every time we visited each other.”

1 C. molasses
1 C. sugar
1 C. shortening
1 C. buttermilk
1 egg
2 t. soda
1 t. ginger
salt
Flour not too stiff--4 ½ C. for drop--9-10 minutes at 375 degrees

Arnon adds on his recipe:
Mix ingredients and add flour until dough is still moist, but can be rolled with floured pin. Oven – 400 degrees, Cook 4-6 minutes or 4 Cups Flour for Drop Cookies (for 8 minutes)
How to make Buttermilk:
For each
1 cup finished butter milk: 1 tablespoon either lemon juice or white vinegar, fill the cup with whole milk. Let stand for five minutes when it has thickened you have buttermilk.


-----------------So, WHY do Molasses Cookies remind me of summer?? One memorable warm day at Otty Lake, Mom made these cookies and I tell you, I ate a TON of them. They were SOOOO Good! Perhaps you can guess what happened next. I spent A LOT of time in our outhouse, which of course, is the only outhouse I know well and I only use it in summer—hence, molasses equals summertime memories to me.

Lilian Baker Howland’s Wine Drops:
½ C. molasses 1 C. sugar
½ C. melted butter ½ C. raisins
½ C. hot water 3 C. flour
1 t. soda 1 t. cinnamon
1 egg ½ t. cloves
1 t. salt
Bake at 350 degrees

Laurie Lochner (Rick’s wife) gave the Cookbook this tasty recipe—
Sara’s Strawberry Dessert:
Laurie writes: “ My mom’s best friend who I call ‘Aunt’ JoAnn gave me this recipe. It has become Sara’s favorite and she loves helping to make it.”

8 oz. softened cream cheese
¾ C. sugar
Beat together and set aside.
Combine 1 can drained crushed pineapple, 10 oz. frozen strawberries, drained.
Add two bananas, sliced and ½ C. crushed nuts (optional).
Stir in 12 oz. Cool Whip.
Add to cream cheese mixture and let set overnight.

In the spirit of early summer, I would change the frozen strawberries to freshly picked strawberries.

And, back to MY Summer, Brian just called to tell us that he and Gina, his long time girl friend, are engaged and the wedding will be next summer--Congratulations, Brian and Gina!

Speaking of weddings, we are looking forward to my nephew Paul Kinsella’s wedding to his love, Angela Cooper, this August.

AND, do YOU have any graduations, engagements, weddings, family news to share?? Let me know--Herdeg5@comcast.net. Thanks!

Enjoy the Rest of June!!

Picture One: Strawberries
Picture Two: Brian the Graduate, Gina and Pat
Picture Three: Nick the Graduate and Brian (after a quick game of wiffleball)
Picture Four: Paul and Angela
Picture Five: Lakefront At Cold Stream Pond in Maine