Coffee Soup and more…

Have you ever had Coffee Soup?  Oh, what a wonderful breakfast treat that was while I was growing up.  Mother would break up some of her home made bread into a bowl, add just a touch of sugar, a little coffee (we weren’t allowed to drink coffee until teen years) and cream or milk.  Delicious!

I tried to duplicate it when I was single and working and sharing an apartment with  a sister and it  was all wrong.  Then I discovered that the missing ingredient was Mother’s bread.  Since we were taught to bake bread when we were young, I baked some loaves and made coffee soup.  Perfect!  The only missing thing then was Mother, who was at home with the rest of the family. She always added lots of love in what she made.

Another thing that Mother made was for lunches We lived within walking distance of school and we hurried home  to see what she had made.  Usually, on Mondays when she did laundry, we had another favorite treat and, again, it started with her bread.  She would butter a slice of bread, usually warm from the oven, and pour home canned blackberries over the bread.  Heaven couldn’t have been sweeter!

We grew up during the depression and WWII, when so much was rationed, and Mother could really feed her family from practically nothing.  We learned a lot from those days and I’d like to pass some of that on to you from time to time.

Mistakes in the kitchen

Sometimes, when cooking or baking, we make a “mistake” in what we have measured or added to the recipe.  Don’t fret the small stuff, as the old saying goes.

Once, I was making Banana Nut breads and neighbor came over.  She was a nice person, but always was at my shoulder watching everything that I did.  She distracted me and I put the nut breads in the oven, then saw the sugar on the counter!  I promptly removed the breads from the oven and poured the batter back into the mixing bowl. I added the sugar, mixed it all well, and poured it back into the pans.  I hoped that it would turn out ok as I had them ear-marked as holiday gifts to neighbors.

The breads came out just fine and I found the courage to ask the neighbor to have a seat (as I had offered, along with a cup of coffee) and visit with me from her chair.  She realized what she was doing was so distracting and that episode cured her of that habit.

Sometimes, we just have to remedy what has been done in the best way that we know how.

 

A cookie from long ago

This is a delicious cookie from the 1930’s and it is still good today.  Try this and see if it doesn’t fill your home with a delicious smell of spices that will whet any appetite.

SOFT MOLASSES COOKIES

3/4 cup lard and butter mixed (use Crisco and butter)
1 cup molasses
2 Tbsp. warm water
2 eggs, beaten
3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix shortening, molasses and warm water.  Add beaten eggs.  Sift dry ingredients together and add to mixture.  Mix thoroughly and let stand about 10 minutes.  Roll out on floured board to 1/3-inch thick, cut with round cookie cutter.  Bake in moderate oven (350º) about 15 minutes.
Makes 4 dozen.

This old recipe does not list the oven temperature nor if a greased cookie sheet is used.  I added the temperature and would use a lightly greased, or sprayed, cookie sheet.

Want more old recipes?  I’ll list some from time to time and share my love of these old favorites.