Mrs. Nichols Could Be Mrs. Claus

By SHEILA-ANNE JARGOWSKI
She was a small, slight woman with a powerful hug.
She was gentle, kind, and a sturdy, hard working farm wife.
She taught Sunday School and rescued animals, including dogs, cats, baby bunnies. She had a pet pigeon and a skunk and even raised a blue jay that was pushed from his nest. She had him for over six years.
She loved all children and would get down on the floor and play a game with you or color in the books anytime you ask.
She most always wore an apron, preparing delicious food in her very tiny kitchen and serving it with love and pride.
Christmas was started in her mind on Thanksgiving Day, when as we gathered to have dinner at noon. She would run to the TV and point to Santa Claus arriving in New York on his sleigh in the Macy’s Day Parade. It was like she knew him and even in her 70s she was amazed when he called her name and waved on the screen, “I see you Hazel,” and so were we!
This story is about my Grandmother, my mom’s mother Hazel Nichols, ‘Granny’ to most everyone she met.
Her and her husband Clarence raised a garden in Erma and we, her friends and family, enjoyed the bounty all year.
Hazel’s best effort in the kitchen was her desserts and sweets. With little counter space and no recipes she would create memorable, crowd pleasing treats.
She would make divine pie crust with just her sight and instinct to measure ingredients and then wrap it around peaches or enrobe apples for dumplings, fill it with mincemeat or pineapple custard for pie, then call us all down to her table to gather and eat. Friend’s, neighbors or coworkers of her husband flocked to enjoy spicy cookies, meringue pies and pineapple-filled coconut cake. At Hazel’s table, good memories where made, and tummies were filled with happiness.
What was amazing is that she did not eat most of her sweets but prefers a piece of very dark buttered toast dipped in coffee. “This is all I want, honest,” she would say as we reach for a second scoop of cobbler or a third and fourth cookie. Having us all around her was a sweet enough gift. There was a twinkle in her eye, for her baking had the power to bring us all to her.
I ask my brother Wayne what goodie by far was her best. We agreed that her soft and spicy Molasses Cookies was the winner.
It signified the winter was here and Santa Claus was coming, to have a couple bits of this very yummy cookie with a mug of tea. Hazel assured us he was real and he was watching, even when you are all grown up.
Hazel treated everyone with dignity and made everything fun and merry. Kind of like Christmas all year long!
I still think of her calling when the first snowflake hit the ground, teaching us to make dates stuffed with peanut butter, ringing the jingle bells as you walked in the door, running trains under the beautiful Christmas tree, and calling out to Santa and waving when she saw him in the store.
I think Mr. Claus would wink at her as she passed by.
I do think Santa Claus knew her, and remembered her cookies. She never hides her love for him. There is a secret in this connection that we will never know.
So please recreate these divine cookies for the family and leave out some of “Granny’s” molasses cookies on a plate for Santa and add few stuffed dates, even a reindeer would love. And think of a merry lady, mastering goodies in a tiny kitchen, who defiantly was a close friend of Santa Claus.
Thank you Granny Nichols “Claus” for all the great memories.
Recipes follow:
The original recipe calls for lard which my scare some cooks. You can use the same amount of shortening but the flavor will be different, but still good.
Granny’s Old Fashioned Molasses Cookies
Yield: 4 1/2 dozen
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup lard (or substituted shortening)
1/4 cup boiling coffee
3 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup molasses
3 eggs, beaten
5 1/2 cups flour (or enough to make soft dough)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
1. Cream together sugar and lard (or shortening). 2. Dissolve baking soda in boiling coffee. 3. Add coffee mixture and molasses to the creamed mixture and blend. 4. Add beaten eggs and blend well. 5. Add dry ingredients and stir until all ingredients are blended. 5. Roll out on floured board to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with a knife in to 2×2 squares or use a round biscuit cutter with a fluted edge to cut dough. 6. Place cut dough on greased cookie sheet (or used parchment paper) and bake in 350°F for 8 minutes; do not overbake. 7. Remove to cooling rack.
Store in a covers container, in a cool place with waxed paper between layers of cookies.
STUFFED DATES WITH PEANUT BUTTER
1 container dates, pitted
Regular granulated sugar
Nut meats (walnut and pecan)
Peanut butter
Slice opening in the date a little larger. Stuff dates with peanut butter and top with nut meats. Roll in sugar.
Have a Merry Christmas and a healthy and peaceful New Year.
Sheila-Anne Jargowski writes from South Dennis.