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Two Variations on the Cookie with a Thousand Names

11/14/2021

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Okay, so a thousand names is a bit of hyperbole, but these are the cookies that everyone seems to call by a different name. I’ve heard these called Snowballs, Swedish Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cookie, Russian Tea Cakes, and Butterballs, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you, dear readers, offered me an additional name or two.

Whatever you call them, these cookies have been a constant on the Bohnhoff Family Christmas cookie platter since long before I became a Bohnhoff. In our house, these cookies are made in balls, but I’ve seen them made into logs and crescents, too.

When my boys were young, I doubled this recipe every year. Sometimes I had to make it twice to make sure we had some all the way through the holidays. Then I discovered that one of my daughters-in-law was a peppermint fan, so I found and adaption that pleased her. It has now become a second standard on the cookie plate. The boys are all grown up, and the need for hundreds of cookies lying around the house has lessened, so I’ve adapted once again, to make two kinds of cookies from one batch of dough. I’m including suggestions so that you can make a full batch of regular butterballs, a full batch of peppermint butterballs, or one mixed batch. I’ve found the easiest way to make these is using a food processor. If you don’t have one, you’ll have to grind the nuts and peppermints in a blender, a coffeemill or some other way, then mix the ingredients in a mixer or by hand. However you pursue these, I hope you enjoy them!
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Since Sweden, Mexico and Russia all get credit for these cookies, I am including a person from each who immigrated to America and significantly impacted our society. 


​Butterballs and Peppermint Butterballs

Preheat oven to 325°
If you are making half a batch of peppermint butterballs, whirr the following ingredients in a food processor until the candies are crushed fine, then set aside in a shallow bowl. Double the ingredients if you plan to make all your cookies peppermint.
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/3 cup broken peppermint candies or candy canes
 
If you are making half a batch of butterballs, place 1/3 cup powdered sugar in another bowl and set aside. Use ½ cup of powdered sugar if you are making a full batch of butterballs.
 
To make the dough for both cookies, process in food processor until chopped very fine
 
½ pecans (you can use almonds or walnuts if you prefer. It occurs to me that pinons would make a lovely New Mexican version of this cookie)
 
Add to food processor and pulse until mixed with the nuts.
 
½ cup powdered sugar
2 cups flour
¼ tsp salt
 
Add to ingredients in food processor and pulse until everything is blended into a dough that bunches together in a ball.
 
1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
 
Take dough out of food processor and knead on the counter a few times if you feel the butter hasn’t distributed all the way.
 
If you are making both variations of cookies, divide the dough in two.
 
To make butterballs, shape the dough into crescents, logs or balls about 1” large. Roll in the reserved bowl of powdered sugar.  Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325° for 15-20 minutes until set but not brown. Cool on a cooling rack, then roll again in powdered sugar.
 
To make filling for a half batch of peppermint butterballs, mix the following in a small bowl. Double ingredients if you are making a full batch
 
2 TBS peppermint and powdered sugar mixture
1 TBS cream cheese, softened
¼ cup powdered sugar
½ tsp milk
 
Put a tablespoon of dough into your hand and form into a ball. Use your thumb to make a pocket in the middle of the ball, and fill it with about ¼ tsp of the filling. Seal the ball shut and roll it in the peppermint and powdered sugar mixture. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325° for 15-20 minutes until set but not brown. Cool on a cooling rack, then roll again in powdered sugar and crushed peppermints.

The Swede responsible for a famous American icon

Alexander Samuelson was born in Kareby parish, Kungälv, Bohuslän, Sweden in 1862. A glass engineer, he emigrated from Sweden to the United States in 1883 and is credited with designing the famous Coca-Cola contour bottle in 1915. Although the shape has been modified, this bottle remains one of the most recognized trademark and package in the world. 

The Mexican American who Fought for better education and voting rights

Jovita Idár was born in 1885, in Laredo, Texas, right on the border with Mexico. She wrote for her father’s Spanish language newspaper, La Crónica, using it as a platform to speak out against racism and in support of women’s and Mexican-Americans’ rights to vote and to receive decent educations. In 1915, when Woodrow Wilson sent troops to the Mexican-American border, Idár wrote a scathing editorial condemning the President’s actions. When the Texas Rangers arrived at the newspaper’s office, intent on shutting it down, she barred the door with her own body.  https://americansall.org/legacy-story-individual/jovita-id-r

The Russian who keeps us Entertained at Home

Vladimir Kosmich Zworykin was born in Murom, Russia, in 1888. He studied "electrical telescopy," later called television, at the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology. During World War I, Zworykin served in the Russian Signal Corps, testing radio equipment that was being produced for the Russian Army. In 1918, after the Russian Civil War broke out, made several trips to the United States on official duties. When the White party collapsed, Zworykin decided to remain permanently in the US. He got a job at the Westinghouse laboratories in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he was able to continue experimenting on television. In 1923, he applied for a television patent. 

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Jennifer Bohnhoff's latest novel, A Blaze of Poppies is set in the same time period as these three people lived and worked. 

Jennifer Bohnhoff is a writer of historical and contemporary fiction for middle grade readers through adults. Each year, she sends a book of recipes out to the friends, fans and family on her email list. If you'd like to join this list, click here.

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September is Apple Time

9/12/2021

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Few people would recognize the name John Chapman. Most people would recognize him by his nickname: Johnny Appleseed.

Chapman was born sometime around 1774 in Leominster, Massachusetts. As a young man, he moved west, to Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, where he bought a small farm and planted an orchard. A devout Swedenborgian Christian, Chapman provided free food and lodging for the pioneers who passed his farm on the was west to the Ohio Valley wilderness. As a parting gift, he pressed a small pouch into their hands before they resumed their journey.
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The pouch contained apple seeds. Chapman collected the residue from local cider presses, then laboriously picked the seeds out of the sticky mash, dried them, and placed them in little deerskin bags that he had sewn. He felt that the pioneers in the wilderness needed orchards just as much as he did.


After many years, Johnny began to worry about the orchards in the wilderness. He gave his farm to a widow with a large, needy family, bought two canoes from the Natives and lashed them together, loaded them with apple seeds, then floated down the Ohio River. He traveled all over Ohio, planting new orchards and tending those that were planted before his arrival. He lived by trading seeds for food and for used clothing, and was known for wearing his one cooking pot as a hat as he walked from settlement to settlement. Native Americans regarded him as touched by the Great Spirit. Even hostile tribes left him alone. Myths began to rise up around him. One story is that, after noticing that mosquitoes flew into his fire, he doused it and said “God forbid that I should build a fire for my comfort, that should be the means of destroying any of His creatures." Another says he had a pet wolf that had started following him after he healed its injured leg. He reportedly could play with bear cubs while their mother looked on.

​As settlers continued west, so did Chapman. In the 1830s he left Ohio and began planting trees in Indiana. He moved on to Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and Illinois. He died in 1845, his body found lying in an orchard near Fort Wayne, Indiana. In his lifetime, the botanist/herb doctor/missionary had planted thousands of trees. endeared himself to pioneer families, and become an American legend. 

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These cookies are crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, just like the apples that inspired them. Before I made these, I visited my mother, picked apples from her tree, and made up several quarts of applesauce. You can use bottled sauce from the store if you're not as lucky - or industrious - as I am. 

Applesauce Cookies

1 cup sugar
½ cup shortening
1 ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cloves
¼ tsp salt
1 cup raisins
½ cup chopped nuts
Heat oven to 375°. Spray cookie sheets with oil.
Beat sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. Add applesauce and egg and blend well. Stir in flour, baking soda. Cinnamon, cloves and salt and mix well. Sir in raisins and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until light golden. Immediately move from sheet to cooling rack. 


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Jennifer Bohnhoff is a retired middle school language arts and history teacher. She now writes historical and contemporary fiction from her home in the mountains of central New Mexico. You can read more about her and her books on her website. 

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Back to School: Cookies and Teachers

8/8/2021

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It’s August, which should mean high summer.

For many of us, though, school is starting. Here in the mountains of New Mexico, the sunflowers start to bloom about the same time the school bells start to ring, and the smell of chili roasting wafts on the air. All of these are signs that summer is on the wane and fall is coming.
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These cookies really have a bit of a fall feel to them. The molasses gives them an earthy, satisfying taste that calls me home. Time to settle in and enjoy the last of the season before fall, with all its activities, starts again. 


​Molasses Chocolate Crinkles

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
½ cup molasses
½ cup cocoa
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
1 ½ cups flour
 
Topping: ¼ cup powdered sugar
Heat oven to 350
Beat all ingredients except flour until mixed.
Add flout just until blended
Form into 1: balls and roll in sugar
Place 1” apart on cookie sheet
Bake 9-10 minutes until puffed and cracked.
Cool 1 minute before removing from cookie sheet. 


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Over the years, there have been many outstanding teachers in the history of the USA. They worked to make the world a better place by improving the educational system and teaching practices. Their contribution changed the whole perception of education and shaped our society. Here are famous educators who have made a difference in the world.

Anne Sullivan
Anne Sullivan reimagined special education, using her experience and natural pedagogical talent. She is famous for being a teacher of Helen Keller, a deaf and blind girl. Anne became her educator and eventually a friend. Being visually impaired herself, Sullivan knew what the girl was experiencing. It allowed her to choose special teaching techniques to help Hellen communicate with the world. Anne would take her hand and spell each word on the girl’s palm. This creative method proved to be effective, and soon, Hellen learned more and more words. With Anne’s help, Helen Keller became a well-known author, political activist, and the first blind-deaf person to earn a bachelor’s degree.


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William McGuffey
William McGuffey was born in 1800 and was such a precocious child that he began to teaching classes at age 14. While teaching in Ohio and Kentucky, McGuffey saw that there was no standard method to teach students how to read; often, the Bible was the only book available.
 
McGuffey paused his teaching career to attend college himself. By age 26, he was Professor of Languages at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In 1835, his friend Harriet Beecher Stowe asked him to write a series of readers for the publisher Truman and Smith. McGuffey Readers, a series of books for elementary school students, was used in American schools for the next 70 years. 

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​Emma Willard
Emma Willard made education accessible for women. She founded 
the first higher education institution for females in America, the Troy Female Seminary. The school still exists as  the Emma Willard School. Emma Willard made the promotion of education her life-long aim. She fought for women’s rights to achieve higher education of the same quality as men could get. In her institution, female students studied science, mathematics, philosophy, and other subjects that were not previously available to them. Willard’s progressive outlook prioritized equality changed the perspective people had on education.

Vivian Paley
Vivian Paley was a preschool teacher and the author of numerous books. She emphasized the importance of storytelling and play for the development of children. Paley believed that teachers who promoted fantasy and make-believe evoked the most interest in their students. She made her lessons memorable for students and encouraged them to express feelings and ideas in the classroom. Vivian Paley received numerous awards acknowledging her contribution to preschool teaching.
 
Sal Khan
Sal Khan tried to make education more accessible to people around the world. This American educator founded the Khan Academy, and online platform that granted people access to educational topics. It covers many 
different school subjects, including math, computing, history, and the arts. His use of technologies revolutionized education. 

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Jennifer Bohnhoff taught English, Social Studies and History at the middle school and high school level. She is now retired so that she can devote her time to writing historical novels.

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    ABout Jennifer Bohnhoff

    I am a former middle school teacher who loves travel and history, so it should come as no surprise that many of my books are middle grade historical novels set in beautiful or interesting places.  But not all of them.  I hope there's one title here that will speak to you personally and deeply.

    What I love most: that "ah hah" moment when a reader suddenly understands the connections between himself, the past, and the world around him.  Those moments are rarified, mountain-top experiences.



    Can't get enough of Jennifer Bohnhoff's blogs?  She's also on Mad About MG History.  

    ​
    Looking for more books for middle grade readers? Greg Pattridge hosts MMGM, where you can find loads of recommendations.

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