My grandmother, Jettie Raley, died when I was 8, and lived with us until we lost her. She was an amazing woman, very creative and much like her father, John James Raley, believing in the benefits of scrapbooks, family history, the written record, family, and tradition. One of my basic memories came over the years at Christmas.
She would get out this special, strange to me at the time, rolling pin and would mix this and mix that (they didn't really follow their recipes back then) and lay out these fancy cookies. I did not understand as a child why they did not go into the oven, but was fascinated with all the tables throughout the kitchen and lower floor of our home as she let them sit overnight. How I still miss her making those every year!
I was blessed a few years ago when my mother gave me that precious rolling pin! I keep asking for her the handwritten recipe book so I can take the recipe out and get them framed together, but no luck so far. I do not make these cookies. Somehow they are too deep into my heart for that, but I always make sure to purchase some every year and lay them out with Grandma's rolling pin. It's like having her here for Christmas every year. I think Grandma would approve.
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