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This is one of those Artifcts that has a story within a story within a story. Let's start at the beginning. My mother was an amazing cook. People that I haven't seen for years never fail to remind me of what a good cook she was. She was completely self-taught and entirely old school. No electric stand mixers or modern conveniences for her. Although she had a stand mixer and plenty of other kitchen gadgets she still preferred the "old-fashioned" way. By hand and always from scratch. One of my earliest memories of my mother was of her baking. Tea breads and muffins on weekends, cookies, cakes and brownies for dessert, and of course, 'Moon Cooks' for the holidays. The smell of vanilla still transports me back to our old house, me sitting on top of the butcher block counter, carefully holding the teaspoon while my mother would pour the vanilla. According to family legend, I named the Traditional Sugar Cookies 'Moon Cooks' when I was about three years old. I thought the round ones looked like moons, and I had trouble pronouncing "cookies" so I shortened it to "cooks" instead. The name stuck. My brothers and I know the Traditional Sugar Cookies by one name and one name only, Moon Cooks. (It takes some explaining to your spouse when you pop up and say, "I'm going to bake some Moon Cooks tonight.") The cookie cutters my mother used (and that are in the picture) are tin ones she purchased in the 1970s. Four simple shapes—one leaf, one flower, one circle, and one crescent moon. The teaspoons are likely from the 1970s as well. I remember them, not only when baking, but also when being sick with a cold and having to take a teaspoon of cough syrup. Only the teaspoon and half teaspoon measure exist today, I am not sure what happened to the tablespoon or quarter teaspoon measure. They were at one point a set of four. The cookbook. My mother lived and breathed by Betty Crocker. Not only had she mastered every recipe in the book, she had also created her own substitutions and added her own notes to the recipes she thought were in need of improvement. For the Moon Cooks, that meant a 1/2 cup of butter, and only a 1/4 cup of shortening, vanilla extract in lieu of almond extract. I remember my brother called me one year after attempting to make the Moon Cooks because they didn't taste the same as when mom made them. My first question was how much butter and how much shortening. He hadn't made the substitution. I digress. Her beloved Betty Crocker cookbook is no longer in print. It is one of my most cherished items from her estate. It has withstood the test of time. The pages are discolored, stained, and in some cases falling out of the actual book. The binding itself is held together with thick black tape (a pre-cursor to duct tape). It is probably an archivist's worst nightmare, but it works. And it is what gives the book its character. It wouldn't be the same if it was not falling apart at the seams. I plan to give all three items—cookie cutters, teaspoons, and cookbook—to my daughter one day in hopes of keeping our story and traditions alive. Like me, she only knows the cookies by one name, Moon Cooks, and I don't think she'd have it any other way. As for the recipe, this is the version my mother made, and we continue to make: ½ cup butter ¼ cup shortening 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt Mix thoroughly shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Blend in flour, baking powder, and salt. Wrap dough in wax paper and chill for at least one hour. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Roll dough ¼ inch thick on floured countertop. Cut into desired shapes. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 6-8 minutes or until light brown on the edges. Cool on wire rack.