Old Fashioned Molasses Cookies

When growing up on Congress Street in Belfast, Maine, my aunt and uncle (Dale and Eunice – my mother’s sister) lived across the street from us.  Behind their house there was a path that weaved it’s way up through the woods.  It was a well groomed, well used path that led to the Wilcox’s house which was about a quarter of a mile away.  The Wilcoxes never owned a car so they used the path to get to Congress Street from where they would walk into town.

During the winter and/or wet seasons the path became muddy so the Wilcoxes would wear galoshes to trudge their way down the path through the woods.  My uncle Dale had built them a wooden shoe box with a cover and placed it along side his storage shed so that they could remove their galoshes and leave them behind as they didn’t need them to walk into town.

Anyway, the Wilcoxes had a little bungalow in an opening on a couple acres of land back in the woods.  There was a “two track” driveway that led into the house from the back of the National Guard (armory) property that visitors could use, however, their primary access to their home was through Dale and Eunice’s yard and up the path. 

The Wilcoxes were grandparents to one of my childhood friends, Malcolm “Mackie” Young.  Whenever Mackie was visiting his grandparents we’d make our way up the path to spend the afternoon playing with him.  I recall that they had an old wagon axel with wheels that we would push all around the property.  Why we thought that was fun is beyond me but, it occupied several hours of our time.

However, the highlight of our visit would be Mrs. Wilcox’s hot out of the oven molasses cookies with a ice cold lemonade.  Those cookies were the size of  hub caps and two of them would be enough to make up a full meal.  After a few hours of hard play, Mrs. Wilcox would bring out a platter of those cookies and we would “chow down”.  They were soooooo goooooood.  What sweet, sweet memories of those summer days back in the fifties.

Well, I said all of that to say this.  Today we hope to make some sweet, sweet memories of our own.  Grandma Patterson, along with her assistants (Catia and Kalina) are going bake some of those old fashioned molasses cookies.  In this twenty-first century baking at home is becoming more and more of a lost art.  Hopefully, two little grand daughters will have fond memories of making, baking, and eating those molasses cookies with their Grandmother.  And Grandpa and Radek will have the joy of eating one or two of those babies hot right out of the oven.

May God Bless  - - - - - - - - -