ginger jam-jams (say that five times fast)

I spent a little bit of time at Waterfront Antiques downtown this morning, and oh, the treasures I found! I can't share all of them (Christmas gifts!), but here's something that I bought just for me, and have been enjoying all day. Almost as soon as I arrived home, I got to work making some Ginger Jam-Jams. (Until today, I didn't know that a jam-jam is simply a jam-filled cookie. Nifty!)

There are hundreds of recipes in here, as well as some that were written in by a previous owner. The copyright date in the front of the book is 1913, which as Phillip says is "Even older than Papa!", and one one of the recipes written on a piece of newsprint, the date is 1906. It's amazing that it has survived so well. The pages are brittle, but it's well bound, and I'm planning to use it plenty. While I may not make the Peanut Loaf, Eonomical Batter Pudding, or Peanut Sandwiches (the ingredients include vinegar, brown sugar, flour, egg, pepper, salt, mustard and peanuts) there are plenty more that sound delicious.

That's the extent of the recipe. Just do the usual creaming, mix in the wet ingredients, then add in the dry. I used butter in place of shortening, six (!) cups of flour, rolled them out and baked them at 350 for about 11 minutes. It makes a very large batch, so I have some of the dough well-wrapped and chilling in the fridge.

Someone was helping me with the molasses.

Showing off his teeth and dirty nose, and holding his jaw to the side, for some reason. He looks so old in this picture!

I filled them with raspberry jam made from our backyard raspberries this summer. I can't tell you how good it made me feel, making cookies from a 1913 cookbook and using my very own jam from the most local possible berries. Yum!

And lastly, one little treasure I found that I can share, since I already gave it to the recipient. Adorable!