Something about Main Street, Lansdale ~ especially this time of year ~ brings about the feel of the tight-knit silver screen community of my favorite Christmas film. Not in every way, but just enough. Maybe it's the train station, or the lamps along the street, or the town taverns and mom-and-pop shops that are nestled through the little town. Maybe it's that its got plenty of stores, spirited schools, places of worship, its own newspaper, a radio station, and all the things that give it a buzz without losing a sense of neigbhorhood.
In one part of town you will find a cluster of everything a town needs ~ a bank, the police, the post office, the borough hall, and, a place I discovered about the time I was ten years old, the public library.
The Lansdale Public Libary was three and half blocks down the street from our house. It's a lot different now then it was then, but I still like the joy of meandering down the street and into its quiet sanctuary of books, magazines, films, music, and other patrons lost in their own world.
I confess that it's been sometime since I've experienced the pleasure of an afternoon in the library. I guess it's because I am pretty sure I still owe a fine from about a year ago...could be longer. But I guess I should pay it so I can go back to the days when I walked out of the building armed with all kinds books on all kinds of matters ~ including cooking.
On almost every trip to the library, at least one cookbook was handpicked. It was likely that I never made a single thing out of most of those collections, but there is one in particular from which I made just one, and I still do to this day.
I don't recall the title, but it was a small, simple book about Amish cooking. In its pages, I found a delightful recipe for Amish Sour Cream Cookies. It seemed like something I couldn't ruin, so I gave it a go.
Over the years, I discovered that there are many versions of this recipe. This is the one I like best because it requires very few ingredients, and it does not need to be left to refridgerate overnight if I want cookies in a hurry.
Here it is:
Amish Sour Cream Cookies
Sour cream (1 cup)
Brown sugar (3/4 cup)
White sugar (3/4 cup)
Eggs (2)
Butter (1 cup)
Vanilla (1 tsp.)
Flour (5 cups)
Baking Powder (2 tsp.)
Baking Soda (1 tsp.)
Turn oven to 375 degrees. Mix sour cream, sugars, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. Once mixed well, pour flour in a smaller bowl. Add baking powder and soda, then stir in large bowl until dough is formed.
Drop on cookie sheet with spoon about an inch a part (a dozen for a standard cookie sheet), and bake for 10 minutes or until edges are beginning to brown. Cool when done.
These can be eaten plain, or, if you are like me, I like to accessorize a little by dipping half of each cookie in melted chocolate or spreading buttercream frosting and sprinkles & sugars on each.
Years after I found this recipe in our local library, I learned that the Amish not only knew how to make a cookie, they knew how to make our log cabin ~ and I love it when these cookies scent the place with the smell of warm, homemade baking. It's perfection.
But it smells just as nice in an old-fashioned Lansdale kitchen, too.
Have a wonderful Wednesday ~ and don't forget to share your cookies :)
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