Are there smells, tastes or sounds, that take you back to your childhood days?

For my husband it is a sound… We were listening to a radio podcast driving down the road one day, and a sound came on the radio that took him back in time.The name of the podcast was “Lost and Found Sounds” and it took him back to his childhood days, staying at his Grandparents house as a child. The sound was of an old black fan. They didn’t have air conditioning in their home, so they had fans on all the time. He was taken back to the days when he would take a nap in his Grandmother’s bedroom with the windows open and the fan oscillating around the room. What a great memory for him, when he heard that sound again.

For me, it’s a smell… it’s smells that take me back to when I was a little girl, in the kitchen with my MaMa. She was a great cook, and she taught me how to cook from scratch (no recipes needed)!  Just see what you have on hand and throw together a meal. I so cherish and miss those days with her.

With Mother’s Day approaching soon, I’ve had her on my mind a lot lately, and the memory of us in the kitchen, took me back to the day when she taught me how to make my first ever cookies. Ginger Snaps!! Ginger Snaps are so much fun to make and the smell is so memorable and so amazing! So in the memory of my MaMa (Margaret Francis (Deal) Harrison, I am going to share my favorite cookie recipe with you!

I have been making these cookies for over forty five years now, using this same recipe index card, that always stays in the recipe box that was hers, and pasted down to me, years ago. There are so many memories in that box, from the recipes, to seeing her handwriting on those index cards, and the magazine recipes,  that she cut out herself , of dishes that she wanted to try one day. I wonder how many of them she tried and if she liked them or not.

I am going to post the original recipe as on the index card, and one that I have adapted myself, when I was out of plain flour one day, and didn’t want to drive ten miles to town, to the nearest grocery store, but wanted Ginger Snaps.

Reader Beware: these cookies are amazing! And they are so addicting, when they are hot and right out of the oven! The older they get , the crispier they get. Or you can heat them just a few seconds in the microwave. I truly hope that you enjoy them as much as our family, and we do, here on our Farm.

Now on to the recipe, you have been waiting for, and need in your life…

Ginger Snaps (Original Recipe)

1 cup Sugar

2/3 cup  Shortening (liquid vegetable shortening)

4 Tablespoons Molasses

1 Egg, Beaten

2 cups Plain Flour

1 teaspoon Cinnamon Powder

1 teaspoon Ginger Powder

1 teaspoon Nutmeg Powder

1 teaspoon Salt (I use Pink Himalayan Salt)

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Mix together Shortening, Sugar, Egg, and Molasses, in a medium sized mixing bowl. In another medium sized mixing bowl, sift together the rest of the ingredients. Mix together the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients (bater will be thick and greasy looking). Roll into quarter size balls and and place on an un-greased  baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. Around 5-8 minutes., depending on your oven. Place onto a cooling rack, with paper towels lined on top of the cooling racks with a spatula. 

Tip: I don’t leave the kitchen, I just watch them rise and fall! By the time they rise, and slowly all fall across the cookie sheet, they are done enough.

Ginger Snaps (NEW adapted by me recipe)

1 cup Sugar

2/3 cup  Shortening (liquid vegetable shortening)

4 Tablespoons Molasses

1 Egg, Beaten

2 cups Self Rising Flour

1 teaspoon Cinnamon Powder

1 teaspoon Ginger Powder

1 teaspoon Nutmeg Powder

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Mix together Shortening, Sugar, Egg, and Molasses, in a medium sized mixing bowl. In another medium sized mixing bowl, sift together the rest of the ingredients. Mix together the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients (bater will be thick and greasy looking). Roll into quarter size balls and and place on an un-greased  baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. Around 5-8 minutes., depending on your oven. Place onto a cooling rack, with paper towels lined on top of the cooling racks with a spatula. 

Tip: I don’t leave the kitchen, I just watch them rise and fall! By the time they rise, and slowly all fall across the cookie sheet, they are done enough.

Do you have a taste, smell or sound that takes you back to your childhood days?  If so, I would love to hear about them in the comments below, or send them in a personal message to me at, carole@mayimfarm.com

Cherish those memories you have,  of those tastes, smells, or sounds from your childhood days…

Enjoy…Happy Baking!

Carole