CAKES AND COOKIES

DANCING

BEFORE THE TURN of the century, the North West Mounted Police posts were the centre of social life, and their dances were great events on the social calendar. Thirteen police balls were held in 1880 at Fort Walsh. The three Caucasian women living there at the time—Mrs. Macleod, Mrs. Winder, and Mrs. Shurtliff—attended, as well as many of the local mixed-race ladies.

Mothers always took their babies to the dances and left them on a nearby bed, where they slept undisturbed. The exception was an occasion, recalled by Mrs. Kate de Veber in an interview by Edna Kells (Glenbow Archives, circa 1935), on which a couple of the cowboys thought that it would be great fun to switch baby clothes, bonnets, and blankets. When the dancing was over, the mothers sleepily picked up their babies and went home. The next morning when they each saw a strange baby, there was great consternation and a long ride around the country to find the right baby.

After the country became settled, people took turns having dances in their homes. It was a way of meeting neighbours and preventing loneliness. When the weather was cold and the snow deep, they hitched a team of good horses to a sleigh box. Travellers heated rocks and buried them in straw to keep their feet warm and pulled buffalo robes over their laps. During the summer months, they rode saddle horses. One thought nothing of riding a horse twelve miles to a dance, with a good suit of clothes or a dress packed in a gunny sack tied to the saddle.

The fiddle, mouth organ, and accordion ground out such favourites as “The Heel and Toe Polka,” “The Log Cabin Jersey,” “Rye Waltz,” “Marching through Georgia,” and “Highland Schottische.”

There were no wallflowers in a country with three men to every woman. The men were so anxious to dance that they sometimes tied a handkerchief around one arm, signifying a willingness to be regarded as a lady partner.

Dances lasted all night, partly because the people were young and vibrant, partly because it was safer to wait until dawn to find one’s way home across the dark countryside.

A home orchestra near Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, in 1913. Ranching families made their own fun. The walls made from squared logs have been given a light coat of calcamine. GLENBOW ARCHIVES, NA-1095-8

CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE

This recipe belonged to Mary Stewart, wife of a former member of the North West Mounted Police. After her husband retired from the force, they moved to Leavings, now Granum, Alberta. There she operated a boarding house, which became renowned for its excellent food. The recipe is printed with the permission of Mary Stewart’s granddaughter, Mrs. Robert (Jean) Fisher, and comes from a handwritten book that belonged to Mary.

½ cup (125 mL) butter

1½ cups (375 mL) sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla

1¾ cups (450 mL) all-purpose flour

⅓ cup (75 mL) cocoa

1 tsp (5 mL) cream of tartar

½ tsp (2 mL) salt

½ cup (125 mL) milk

1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda

¾ cup (175 mL) boiling water

Cream butter and sugar together; add eggs and vanilla. Beat well. Sift flour, cocoa, cream of tartar, and salt. Stir into batter alternately with milk. Dissolve baking soda in boiling water and beat into the batter until smooth. Pour into two 8- or 9-inch (20 or 23 cm) well-buttered and floured layer-cake tins. Bake at 300°F (150°C) for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes, loosen, and turn upside down on a wire rack. When cool, frost the layers with chocolate butter icing or caramel icing.

Note This cake can also be baked in a 9 × 13 inch (23 × 33 cm) rectangular pan for approximately 45 to 50 minutes.

JELLY ROLL

Katie Moffatt brought a jelly roll to a North West Mounted Police Dance at the Regina barracks in 1890. The following recipe is adapted from one in Katie’s handwritten cookbook, now in the possession of descendants Mr. and Mrs. William Toole of Calgary, Alberta. This cake may also be baked in two 8-inch (20 cm) round tins and filled as a layer cake.

3 eggs, separated

¾ cup (175 mL) sugar

1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla

2 tbsp (30 mL) butter

½ cup (125 mL) water

1 cup (250 mL) flour

1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder

¼ tsp (1 mL) salt

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a 15 × 10 inch (39 × 26 cm) jelly-roll pan with waxed paper, grease it well, and sprinkle lightly with flour. Beat egg whites until fluffy. Add sugar gradually and beat until sugar has dissolved and whites stand in peaks. Add egg yolks and beat until thick and creamy. Add vanilla. Heat butter and water (do not boil). Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Add at one time to the egg-sugar mixture, then fold in lightly. Add all the hot liquid at one time and again fold gently. Spread out in pan. Bake approximately 12 minutes.

While it is hot, invert cake onto a tea towel sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar. Cut off hard edges. Spread cake with raspberry jam or lemon butter and roll. Enclose in plastic wrap or waxed paper to keep.

Mr. and Mrs. Ed Hartt on their wedding day. GLENBOW ARCHIVES, NC-39-51

THE WEDDING

MRS. J.L. SEXSMITH of High River, Alberta, recounted details about her wedding in an interview by E.G. Luxton (Glenbow Archives, 1956):

“When I was a bride, there was no high school or normal [the equivalent of today’s teachers’ colleges] any nearer than Edmonton, and no business opportunities for young women, so after finishing public school we simply stayed home. We enjoyed many pleasures, however, such as riding, dancing, horseback riding, and swimming in the river. There were no discussions about bath houses or heated pools in those days. Riding sidesaddle over the wide open spaces with thoroughbreds was wonderful. The prairie in spring and summer was covered with long grass, myriad wildflowers. Indeed it was something to be never forgotten!

“There were not many young women in the district, but there were several bachelors, so my sisters and I had many admirers. I had one in particular, who rode quite a distance to see me as often as he could. Even in cold weather and through deep snow, Lem Sexsmith came to call and always said it was worth it. I was scarcely grown up when my decision was made.

“We had quite a large house and prepared to have the wedding at home, for there was no church in the district. All our friends and neighbours were invited. Miss Janie Suitor, later Mrs. Bob Findley, made my dress, and it took quite a while to make. It was cream cashmere trimmed with cream satin and lace, it had large legs of mutton sleeves, and a long sweeping skirt with a dust ruffle. It was lovely!

On the afternoon of the service one long table was set, and as we did not have enough chairs, we used benches with homemade quilts, which proved quite comfortable. A neighbour, Mrs. Fred Dowell, was an excellent cook and came to help with the preparations. We had a wedding cake, dozens of custard and dried-apple pies, homemade bread and buns, and roast beef. I doubt if there was a turkey in the whole of southern Alberta at the time.

“After the service, we visited, had dinner, and danced until morning. Our music was supplied by Charlie Shattuck and his fiddle, with various guests taking turns on a mouth organ. As there had been a bad storm that night, all the guests stayed until daybreak so they could see to find their way across the unfenced prairie.

“In the morning Lem and I left for our home on the Little Bow, which was the old Samson and Hartford Ranch. We had a good team of horses and a homemade sleigh with blankets and quilts and hot rocks to keep our feet warm. This was our wedding trip, and a wonderful ride it was. To my dismay, several guests followed us and, because of the heavy storm, stayed at our house for a week! What a send-off for a bride!”

LIGHT FRUITCAKE

This recipe was adapted from the personal cookbook of Mrs. Royden (Jean) Fraser, who got it from her great-aunt, Mrs. Rose Reider. It has been used in western Canada since the turn of the century. It is easy and makes a mild-flavoured fruitcake suitable for weddings, Christmas entertaining, teas, and packed lunches.

4 cups (1 L) flour

2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder

1 tsp (5 mL) salt

1 lb (500 g) butter

2 cups (500 mL) sugar

8 eggs

1 lb (500 g) candied citron*

1 lb (500 g) red cherries*

1 lb (500 g) sultana raisins

½ lb (250 g) blanched, chopped almonds

2 lemons, juice and grated rind

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream butter; add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine dried fruits, almonds, and lemon rind and juice. Fold the dry ingredients alternately with fruit into creamed mixture.

Prepare two deep 8 × 8-inch (20 × 20 cm) fruitcake pans or four 4 × 8-inch (11 × 20 cm) loaf pans. Line pans with brown paper and grease paper well with butter. Pour mixture into pans. Smooth the top of each. Bake at 325°F (160°C) for 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 275°F (140°C). Continue baking for 1½ to 2 hours if using loaf pans, or 2 to 2½ hours if using square pans. Check doneness by inserting a toothpick. If toothpick comes out dry, cake is done.

* An excellent variation for those who do not care for citron and cherries is to double the amount of sultanas and substitute dried apricots for the cherries. To use apricots, wash and soak for 10 minutes, then chop. Pour ½ cup (125 mL) of Cointreau or brandy over the fruit and leave to soak overnight.

A packed snow drift—a path of easy access to a roof top. GLENBOW ARCHIVES, NA-2757-1

A RANGELAND SHIVAREE

THE CUSTOM OF shivareeing a new bride and groom was observed in many ranching communities. The usual procedure was to gather every noisemaking device the group could find. After the newlyweds’ lights went out, the fun-makers surrounded the house, banged pots and pans, rang cowbells, and fired guns until they were invited inside for a party.

Dancing and playing cards and other games would go on until the small hours of the morning. The guests always brought “lunch”—sandwiches, doughnuts, and the makings for coffee. Sometimes the fun-makers got carried away, such as the group of cowboys who decided to surprise their newly married friend, a ringleader of many former pranks.

It was winter when the new husband carried his bride over the threshold of their sod-roofed shack. The couple had just settled down for a good night’s rest when the wild group of cowboy friends rode up on their horses and circled the place, whooping, hollering, and firing guns. One of the riders galloped up a packed snowbank and right onto the roof. When the bride and groom looked up, they saw four horse legs protruding through the ceiling above them.

GINGERBREAD

Gingerbread can be served as a cake. It is particularly good served warm with sweetened, flavoured whipped cream (see page 93). For an elegant dessert, decorate with slivers of candied ginger.

2½ cups (625 mL) flour

2 tsp (10 mL) ginger

1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon

¼ tsp (1 mL) cloves

¼ tsp (1 mL) salt

1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda

1 cup (250 mL) brown sugar

½ cup (125 mL) melted butter or margarine

1 cup (250 mL) fancy molasses

2 eggs

1 cup (250 mL) boiling water

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Sift flour, spices, salt, and soda together. In a large bowl, stir sugar into melted butter or margarine. Add molasses and eggs and beat well. Add dry ingredients alternately with water, beating thoroughly after each addition. Pour into a greased 9 × 13-inch (23 × 33 cm) pan and bake at 350°F (180°C) for 40 to 50 minutes.

PRESERVED GINGER CAKE

Ginger was frequently used in drinks, cookies and cake. This recipe makes an attractive and delicious cake to serve with tea or coffee at an evening party or afternoon picnic.

¾ cup (175 mL) butter

½ cup (125 mL) white sugar

½ cup (125 mL) brown sugar

2 eggs

2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour

1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda

½ tsp (2 mL) cinnamon

½ tsp (2 mL) grated nutmeg

½ tsp (2 mL) salt

1 cup (250 mL) sour milk

¾ cup (175 mL) preserved ginger, chopped

Cream the butter until fluffy. Add the sugars, and beat until the brown sugar has dissolved. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Sift together the dry ingredients. Mix them into the creamed mixture alternately with the sour milk. Fold in the preserved ginger. Spoon into a greased and floured 8-inch (20 cm) tube pan. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 45 to 50 minutes. Turn out and cool. When almost cool, spread glace icing (see page 92) over the top and let it dribble down the sides.

This prize Hereford bull is proudly displayed at the O’Keefe Ranch near Vernon. THE HISTORIC O’KEEFE RANCH

A COWBOY WOULDN’T BE CAUGHT MILKING A COW

COWBOYS WERE DEPENDABLE workers, accustomed to danger and discomfort. They willingly rode herd and roped and branded cattle in all types of weather. However, milking a cow was quite another matter.

At that they drew the line, preferring to do without rather than condescend to milking one of the brutes. In one of his papers in the Glenbow Archives in Calgary, John D. Higinbotham recalled that ranchers like Willie Cochrane of the celebrated Cochrane Ranching Company, which ran twenty thousand head of cattle, drove to town and loaded their wagons with cases of condensed milk.

The cows thought no better of the idea. They were range cows, and few of them could be milked without being roped and thrown or run into a narrow chute, where they were held fast while the hapless milker managed as best he could to secure a few drops of precious liquid.

If the rancher had a wife and children, a little more effort was made. On the Rocking P Ranch it was the Chinese cook who tackled two rangy beasts every night and morning. On the LK Ranch, the job fell to the unlucky person who had not found an excuse to be elsewhere. In C.H. McKinnon’s 1979 book Events of LK Ranch, former ranch hand Dick Magee recalls, “There were three of the toughest Holstein milk cows that could be found. Most of the men purposefully forgot how to milk after they had a try. When my turn came I always got some but would be exhausted for hours after.”

A small rider in a specially constructed basket saddle in front of the Bedingfeld Ranch House, circa 1913. A few years later, this ranch was purchased by Edward, Prince of Wales, and became known throughout the world as the E.P. Ranch. GLENBOW ARCHIVES, NA-2467-20

LIFE ON A RANCH, 1898

“IT IS TRUE that we do not scatter (visiting) cards or make many afternoon calls, for reasons connected with time and space and other large considerations. We do not give each other dinner parties, but we give each other dinner, generally at 1:00 PM, and beds for the night. People usually come when they have some reason for passing this way; and in ranching country, houses are so few and far between that hospitality of necessity becomes a matter of course. As a matter of course also, people do not expect to be amused. We have no means of formally entertaining each other, and it is not thought amusing to talk from morning till night. A visitor prefers to smoke his pipe in peace, to find his way out and wander round the corrals, inspect any bit of building that may be going on, or cast a critical eye on the stock. After which he saddles his cayuse for himself and departs on his own affairs.

“I like the simplicity, the informality of life, the long hours in the open air. I like riding over the endless prairie, the wind sweeping the grass, the great silent sunshine, the vast skies and the splendid line of the Rockies guarding the West. I like the herds of cattle feeding among the foothills, moving slowly from water to water… I like the clear rivers that come pouring out of the mountains… and the little lakes among the hills where the wild ducks drop down to rest on their flight to the north… I like both the work and the play here… I like the summer and the winter, the monotony and the change. Besides, I like a flannel shirt, and liberty.”

From Moira O’Neill’s “A Lady’s Life on the Ranche,” Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 163, 1898 (Glenbow Archives)

PRINCE OF WALES CAKE

Edward, Prince of Wales, visited Alberta and purchased the E.P. Ranch in the early 1900s. He must have expressed a liking for spice cakes, because recipes for Prince of Wales Cake appeared in High River cookbooks about that time. This is a traditional raisin spice cake that is moist and delicious.

2 cups (500 mL) raisins

2½ cups (625 mL) water

2 cups (500 mL) brown sugar

1 cup (250 mL) butter or oil

2 eggs

1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla

2¾ cups (675 mL) flour

1 tsp (5 mL) salt

2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder

1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda

2 tsp (10 mL) cinnamon

1 tsp (5 mL) nutmeg

Combine raisins and water in a saucepan; simmer for 5 minutes. Cool. Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add cooled raisin water. In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients and gradually stir creamed mixture into the dry ingredients. Fold in raisins.

Pour batter into a 9 × 13-inch (23 × 33 cm) greased cake pan. Bake in a 350°F (180°C) oven for 40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

SHEEP WAGON CAKE

In the early 1900s, thousands of sheep were pastured on the hills north of Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. They were tended by sheep herders who, from May to October, slept, ate, and carried their belongings in a canvas-covered wagon called a “sheep wagon,” Mrs. Irvine Fleming told me in a 1981 interview in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan.

This cake was made by sheep herders and also by cooks at isolated cow camps, as it doesn’t require eggs or milk. It is a heavy, tasty cake that keeps well.

1⅓ cups (325 mL) sugar

1½ cups (375 mL) raisins

⅔ cup (150 mL) lard or butter

1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon

1 tsp (5 mL) nutmeg

½ tsp (2 mL) cloves

1⅓ cups (325 mL) water

1 cup (250 mL) walnuts, chopped

2½ cups (625 mL) flour

1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder

1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda

1 tsp (5 mL) salt

Combine the sugar, raisins, lard or butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in a saucepan with water, and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool. Add the walnuts to the cooled mixture. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and add to the cooled mixture. Pour into a greased 9 × 13-inch (23 × 33 cm) cake pan or two greased 9 × 5-inch (23 × 13 cm) loaf pans. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 40-45 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

Historically, strawberry shortcake was served when the wild strawberries ripened in the meadows. The shortcake was a rich biscuit dough baked in a round cake pan. The following recipe was taken from Mrs. George Treadway’s handwritten recipe book, dated 1898 and now part of the historic collection in the museum at High River, Alberta.

2 cups (500 mL) flour

4 tsp (20 mL) baking powder

¼ tsp (1 mL) cream of tartar

¼ tsp (1 mL) salt

½ cup (125 mL) fat (butter or shortening)

⅔ cup (150 mL) milk

4 cups (1 L) strawberries

¼ cup (50 mL) sugar

Serves 6

Sift flour, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt together. Work in fat with your fingers until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk gradually. Place dough on a lightly floured board. Divide into 2 parts and roll each part to fit a round cake pan. Place first layer into lightly greased cake tin. Brush the dough with melted butter, then place second layer over top. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes.

Reserve approximately 12 choice berries for the top. Mash the remaining berries slightly, stir in sugar, and place sweetened berries between the baked layers. Cover the top layer with sweetened, flavoured whipped cream (see page 93) and garnish with whole berries.

Note: The biscuit dough may be rolled and cut into round shapes as for tea biscuits, then split into halves for mini strawberry or peach shortcakes.

Mrs. Sarah Gardiner on Fly. She was an excellent rider and continued to ride sidesaddle long after it was permissible for women to ride regular saddles. MUSEUM OF THE HIGHWOOD.

SPIRIT OF THE WEST

THE LETTERS OF Margaret Ward (whose pen name was Mary Inderwick) are stored in the Glenbow Archives. This excerpt is from an 1884 correspondence.

“Think of the delight of this clear air, and let the housekeeper in you think of the appetite which this air gives men and women (though we do not count much in this way here), and the huge meals that must be forthcoming at regular times every day. We have a cow camp and a shack for the cowboys—and they have their own cook so we only get an occasional one for meals if he happens to be riding nearer the house than the camp. They are a nice lot of men. I love their attempt to help me to appear civilized. Though they ride in flannel shirts, they never come to the table in shirt sleeves. There is a black alpaca coat, which hangs in the shack attached to the house, for the cowboys’ use, and each one struggles into it to live up to the new regime which began with a bride at the ranche and this is done with such good will that I have no qualms of conscience that I am a nuisance.

“The cowboys back me in all attempts and indeed in all my schemes because I ride well. I verily believe if I did not ride they would have nothing to do with me, as it is, they are rather proud of me…

“I am twenty miles from a woman and though I like all the men and enjoy having them visit I simply long to talk to a woman. About once a month I ride into Saint Francis with Geof and stay a night with my dearest friend Mrs. Milner… It does me good to talk to her, and every man loves her, not in a sighing silly way, but because she always makes them comfortable, darns their clothes and talks to them sternly if they are doing anything wrong. I am sure that she has done more good than two parsons.

“I love the freedom of my life and try to make everyone about me share a bit in my happiness. My life may seem rough and bare, but there is something to compensate one for every hardship and trial. You must come to see me though, for it is the spirit of the west that charms one, and I cannot convey it to you, try as I may. It is a shy, wild spirit and will not leave its native mountains and rolling prairies and though I try to get it into my letters I fail, but I must warn you that if it once charms you it becomes an obsession, and one grows very lonely away from it. No Westerner who has ever felt its fascination ever is really content in the conventional East…

“P.S. Do tell me what the newest hats are like.”

The substantial house at the Bow Valley Ranch, built by W.R. Hull and later owned by Patrick Burns, circa 1895. Charlie Yuen cooked at the ranch for many years before returning to China, where he died soon after. PROVINCIAL ARCHIVES OF ALBERTA, H. POLLARD COLLECTION P307

CHARLIE YUEN

IN 1980, I spoke with Evelyn and Ed Masse about the Bow Valley Ranch. Evelyn was the ranch manager’s daughter, and she shared recollections of Charlie Yuen.

Charlie was proud of his work at the Bow Valley Ranch, and with good reason. The magnificent ranch house was kept clean and tidy. From his kitchen domain came hearty food for the hands and sumptuous meals for the special parties that his employer, Pat Burns, liked to organize. Charlie grew his own vegetables, milked two or three cows, and with the slightest excuse would sneak off on a horse to give a hand to the cowboys.

He made ten to fifteen pies at a time and stacked them up: rhubarb, raisin, dried apricot. It took a week to get to the bottom of that pile. And he made a white cake in such large slabs that the ranch hands nicknamed it “yard cake.” Another treat was sugar cookies, four inches in diameter, crisp and fresh from the oven.

Mr. Burns frequently organized hunting parties, and the sportsmen always brought their game back to Charlie, feathers and all, with instructions to hang the dead birds up on the shady side of the house until they nearly fell down. That’s when they were supposed to be “ripe” enough. Then they would ask Charlie to cook them. One could hear Charlie swearing and cussing because he had to cook “them birds.”

Once, a group of ladies from Calgary decided that they should help Charlie and do the dishes before leaving for home. Poor Charlie knew he was outnumbered. He stood back helplessly while they washed, rinsed, dried, and put the dishes away. Finally, the ladies left, puffed with satisfaction. The minute the last heel went through the door, old Charlie took down every plate, cup, and saucer, washed them again, dried them, and put them back in their proper places.

He was master of his kitchen, and you’d better not interfere.

YARD CAKE

This quick, simple recipe makes a cake with an unusual but delicious flavour. Although not Charlie Yuen’s original recipe, it comes close to creating the cake described by Evelyn Masse. For a quick family dessert, add broiled coconut topping, or split and put together with raspberry jam. It can also be used as a layer cake, assembled with lemon-butter filling (see page 91) and topped with sweetened, flavoured whipped cream (page 93), or used as a base for trifle.

¾ cup (175 mL) butter or margarine

1½ cups (375 mL) sugar

3 eggs

1½ tsp (7 mL) vanilla

2¾ cups (675 mL) all-purpose flour

1 tbsp (15 mL) baking powder

1 tsp (5 mL) salt

1½ cup (375 mL) milk

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease and flour two 8-inch (20 cm) round cake pans or a 9 × 13-inch (23 × 33 cm) pan. Cream butter and sugar well. Beat in eggs one at a time; add the vanilla. Sift flour together with the baking powder and salt. Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with milk.

Spread batter in the prepared cake pans. Bake 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.

GINGER SNAPS

This recipe makes good old-fashioned ginger snaps with a crinkly top. The dough can also be rolled out thinly and cut with a cookie cutter for thin, crisp cookies.

¾ cup (175 mL) margarine

1 cup (250 mL) sugar

1 egg

¼ cup (50 mL) molasses

2 cups (500 mL) flour

1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda

½ tsp (2 mL) salt

1 tbsp (15 mL) ginger

1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon

¼ tsp (1 mL) cloves

Cream margarine and sugar; beat in egg and molasses. Sift dry ingredients together and add to the creamed mixture. Roll the dough into small balls (1 tsp size) and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350°F (180°C). If you like a slightly soft centre, bake for 15 to 20 minutes. For a crisper cookie, bake at least 20 minutes.

CHRISTMAS GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Roll dough out on a lightly floured board, cut with cookie cutter, bake approximately 12 minutes. Frost with butter icing and decorate.

DANCES OF SODA CREEK

EARLY RANCHERS IN the isolated Cariboo country of British Columbia took every opportunity to have some fun. In an article in the winter/spring 1978 issue of Big Country Cariboo Magazine, one lonely wife recalled: “One day during winter my husband heard there was to be a dance at Soda Creek. We loved to dance and decided to go. Times were hard. It cost 50 cents to go to a dance so this was a big event for us.

“As we came into town we saw a big barrel with a dipper attached to its rim by an ‘S’ wire standing right in the middle of the road in front of the hotel. The dipper must have held a pint at least.

“My curious husband went to look. He filled the dipper and tasted the contents. Then I took a drink and it was the nicest tasting stuff. It was rhubarb wine. We found out that old Charlie Ross (a neighbour) placed a barrel there every time there was a dance and it was free to everyone.”

SUGAR COOKIES

This recipe yields cookies similar to the memorable crisp ones that Charlie Yuen baked at the Bow River Ranch and recalled fondly by the ranch manager’s daughter.

1 cup (250 mL) butter

1¼ cups (300 mL) sugar

1 egg

1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla

1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda

1 tsp (5 mL) cream of tartar

½ tsp (2 mL) salt

2½ cups (625 mL) flour

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Sift baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and flour together, then add to creamed mixture. Refrigerate for 2 or 3 hours (or overnight). Roll out on a well-floured board and cut with a round cookie cutter. Bake on a cookie sheet at 375°F (190°C) for approximately 8 minutes (until lightly browned).