Cover Page of Grandma Dollaway's (Francis) Cookbook
My husband and I were visiting his parents on Mother's Day weekend and I decided to take my flip-pal scanner with me. My mother-in-law had mentioned that she had her Grandma Dollaway's cookie recipe and I thought it would be a good idea to scan the recipe and use it for a blog post.
I asked my mother-in-law, Betty, if I could make a scan of her Grandma's recipes and she said she didn't have them, her daughter did. They were going to be seeing her daughter the next day and she would ask her to bring them and then I could scan them the next time I visited. I didn't think much of it, I could wait.
Later that same week, I took my niece, Betty's granddaughter, for a visit. When I got there Betty said she had the recipes. She handed me two black books. I was surprised, I had only expected a recipe card or two. I didn't even know the recipe books existed. As a lover of recipe collections I was thrilled. So what I thought would be a cookie recipe or two turned into a whole lot more.
The two books were recipes that had been written in daily calendar books. The 1939 Calendar book of recipes is written in Grandma Dollaway's handwriting and this is her recipe book. It contained cakes, coffee cakes, quick breads, hash, biscuits, cookies, pies, and more. There is even a dandelion blossom wine recipe. One recipe I have been tempted to try is the home remedy for rheumatism and arthritis. Credit was given to the recipe's owner. Some of the names include Agnes (Francis Dollaway's son's, Roy, wife), Betty's, Lottie Smith, Mrs. Martin, Florence Baily, Alice D., Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Berry, Mrs. Earnst, Josie (Francis Dollaway's sister, Josephine), Cecil (Francis Dollaway's daughter), Mrs. Jessup (Francis Dollaway's daughter's, Cecil, mother-in-law), and Leona (Francis Dollaway's daughter and my mother-in-law's mother). Some of the women above were women that Francis worked for. She worked as a housekeeper. I was so excited to get my husband's great grandmothers recipe, but that wasn't the only recipe I got. There was one of Grandma Denny's recipes for Molasses included. Grandma Denny was Francis Dollaway's mother, my husband's 2x great grandmother!
Ice Box Cookies Recipe from Grandma Dollaway's (Francis) Cookbook
This is the cookbook that contains the recipe for Grandma Dollaway's Ice Box Cookies, the original recipe I thought I would scan. I haven't made them yet, but one thing I noticed is the lack of instructions for mixing and baking. I am a little surprised the measurements are included. Cooking and baking was such a routine in those days that they didn't need measurements or instructions, they just knew.
Ice Box Cookies
3/4 cup lard
3/4 cup Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup White Sugar
1 tsp. cinnamons
1 cup nutmeats
4 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 teaspoon soda
Press in tin or roll put in ice box until next day.
What was in the second cookbook? You will have to check back to find the answer to that.
Who is Grandma Dollaway?
L-R Cecil Dollaway Jessup with her mother, Francis Denny Dollaway
Grandma Dollaway is Francis Denny Dollaway. She was born in Lowell, Kent, Michigan on 13 April 1866 to Joseph W. Denny and Adelia Degan Denny. She lived near Lowell, Michigan most of her life, along the river and near what they called Dollaway hills. She died on 22 February 1955 at the age of 88. Kirk has a few memories of going to her house, she always had lemon drops in a jar with a lid on them, which would be a treat for a four year old.
Other names mentioned:
Betty-Francis Dollaway's granddaughter, Kirk's mother
Leona- Leona Dollaway Corcoran; Francis Dollaway's daughter, Betty's mother, Kirk's grandmother
Cecil-Cecil Dollaway Jessup, pictured above; Francis Dollaway's daughter, Leona's sister
Grandma Denny-Adelia DeGan Denny; Francis Dollaway's mother who lived from 1830-1905 and Kirk's 2x great grandmother.
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