Week 17: Molasses Cookies

This week I chose to bake molasses cookies.  I've had this recipe for many years, but this is the first time I have used it.  I was originally intrigued by the picture of the cookie in the article that contained the recipe.  The cookies in the picture looked like the cookies that my Jido used to like, so I knew that someday I'd like to try  to bake them.  My Jido (maternal grandfather) used to love molasses cookies, and he used to have them at his house quite a bit.  I loved loved loved them.  This recipe is good but it is not quite what I was hoping for.  The cookies that my Jido used to have were chewy and dark...and almost had a chocolatey taste.  These cookies are good, but they really taste a lot like gingerbread...not at all chocolatey. I have to admit that I was apprehensive about making these cookies as they are not the type of cookie that my family usually enjoys.  I hate to get them all excited about my baking cookies, only to have them feel disappointed when they taste them.   Dan likes them, and Ryan thinks they are "okay."  Victoria said  " I don't want to hurt your feelings Mom, but I don't care for them."  Normally this would have me feeling really disappointed,  but over the weekend I baked homemade Kit Kat Bars and the family loved them.  Since I have those yummy treats left over, I don't feel as bad about the luke warm review of the cookies.  If you enjoy gingerbread or spice cookies then you'll enjoy these. Here is the link to the recipe that I used: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000000394644


I mentioned above that my Jido introduced me to these cookies when I was a kid.  He used to have them in the pantry a lot.  He also loved gingersnaps...that recipe to is to be featured at a later date.☺ As I have mentioned in a few blogs, my sister Amy and I spent a ton of time with our grandparents growing up.  Needless to say, many of my childhood memories are wrapped up in my grandparents. 

My Jido was a city inspector for the city of Detroit.   He and my Sito Georgia (my maternal grandmother) and my Sito Vicky (his mother/my maternal great grandmother) all lived together in Detroit.  I only remember two of the homes that they lived in.  The first was on Ashland and I loved loved loved that house.  Sometimes when I can't sleep, I close my eyes and mentally walk through that house, and try to remember every detail...framed pictures on the walls, the placement of the furniture, etc...  Their second house in Detroit (that I remember) was on Cornwall.  I liked that house too and spent a ton of time there.  I do the "walk through" on that house too sometimes when I can't sleep.  In fact I do that with most family/friends homes when I can't sleep but I usually start on Ashland.  Chances are, if you are reading this, and I have been to your home, I've fallen asleep while mentally walking through your place. ☺

My Jido and I got along great.  He was actually pretty funny once I got his humor.  I remember as a kid thinking that he was mean sometimes.  As I grew up, I came to realize that he was an old "softy."   His bark was definitely worse than his bite, and the older he got the less he "barked" at me.  He pretended to be tough, but truly was a very caring, generous, and sensitive soul.  I used to love love love to crack him up too.  Part of his "act" was to be serious...not too silly. So when he would relent and laugh at me, I saw it as real accomplishment.  He was years ahead of his time when it came to a lot of things.  He was very inventive and could "fix" almost anything.  I used the quotation marks as sometimes the fix was pretty unconventional. I could literally do an entire blog just about the things that he rigged.☺ He was a maniac with a level too.  We couldn't do anything...and I mean anything...without his damn level.  He loved sports and he videotaped everything.  We used to jokingly call him "Cecil B." because he had hours and hours of family movies that he filmed. The photo below is one of my favorite pictures of my Jido.  We were having dinner at Lelli's and he was listening to the violinist.  I always called him Zorba (even though he wasn't Greek) and he was smiling in this picture because I had just said to him..."okay smile Zorba."

He was always very kind to Dan and they got along really well too.  One day toward the end of his life, Dan took him to a doctor's appointment.  My parents were working,  I was babysitting the little girl my Mom used to watch, and my Sito was sick, so Dan took Jido to the doctor.  They had a great time given the circumstances.  Dan took him to the appointment and then they stopped to get doughnuts from Jido's favorite doughnut place.  When Dan came home, he told me about the great talk they had while together for the afternoon.  Dan was very happy because my Jido spend a great deal of time telling Dan how proud of us he was.  He told Dan that he didn't worry about us because we were doing things the right way, and that he was sure that we'd make good parents someday.

Jido gardening at Mom & Dad's

 My Jido passed away a few short months after that day that he and Dan spent together.  Dan and I were just two of the many family members that gathered at his bedside as he quietly slipped away.  It was the first time that either Dan or myself had watched someone we love die.  It was heart wrenching, but I am honored and proud that we were there with him to the very end.  My Jido was a wonderful man, friend, father, and grandfather.  I wish he would have lived long enough to meet Victoria and Ryan, because I am sure he would have been a wonderful great grandfather too. ♥