A Sweet Legacy

In 1969, during the summer after graduating from college, I lived in a Conestoga wagon in the wood at a camp in Berks Co., PA. The camp was in a Pennsylvania Dutch area, set deep within the woods of the Blue Mountains. Many of the counsellors came from Lancaster, Litizt,  and other Pa Dutch areas. Many came from farms. One of the young counsellors, Crissy Bucher, became my room-mate a year later, when I rented my first apartment. She had come from a farm community and since we cooked Pa Dutch food, she gave me her mom’s sugar cookie recipe, which had come into her family from a neighbor, Helen Phillips.

 Like many Pa Dutch recipes, these cookies are plain, using butter, flour and sugar with a little baking powder. They are rolled out to an eighth of an inch and then cut with tin cookie cutters. One may add a touch of vanilla, lemon, or other flavoring or leave them plain. I use anise. My cookie cutters were probably very old when I bought them at one of the many Pa antique barns I used to haunt. I ice them with icing piped on from icing I make from butter, cream and confectioner’s sugar. Each is a little work of art and I have made them every year since 1971.

Thirty-five years ago, when I was performing my music and instrumentals in clubs and at festivals. My best friend, Colonial balladeer, Linda Russell, suggested I create a Christmas show. Dan and I were living in Nyack, upriver from the City. Nyack is a pretty little river town along the Hudson and is filled with antique shops. I took a pile of books about the origins of American Christmas customs and sat outside of a cafe shop every day drinking numerous cups of cappuccino and creating a script for a show I would later call, “Greensleeves.”

Once I had a script, it was time to select songs to sing and play on my harp. That first year, I used mostly songs everyone was familiar with: The Holly and the Ivy, Silent Night, etc., but i continued doing the show, I added songs in French, Gaelic, Spanish, and Italian. I had sewn a costume of dark green velveteen with a silver underskirt and silver trim. The gown has  a medieval look. A holly wreath on my hair completes the picture.

I performed the show at churches, town halls and historic sites; some years doing four to five performances during December. But one thing was missing: presents. So I started handing out Helen Phillips’ Rollout Cookies recipes after the show to the audience. It is likely over a thousand people got them over the years in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Massachusetts. 

I had lost touch with Crissie Bucher back in the ’70’s. I wanted to know more about Helen Phillips and to let her know that her simple cookie recipe had made her famous, but had no way of contacting her…until the internet became available. This year, I started searching; first for Crissie, then for Helen. I didn’t know what town Crissie had come from, knowing that since Crissie’s mom had gotten the recipe from her neighbor, If I could find Crissie, I could find Helen. All I knew was that they had both come from a rural PA Dutch area. So I looked through Lancaster and Berks County.

Since Crissie may have changed her name if she married, I had no way of tracing her. Helen, however, was a different matter. If she was of a similar age to Crissie’s mom, I estimate she had to have been born around 1920. And so, I began researching again. My goal was to let her loved ones know that Helen’s cookies have become an important part of hundreds of families’ Christmas celebrations and her name will carry on as long as her cookies are baked.

I only found two possibilities. A Helen Phillips died in Lanaster Co., PA at the age of 107. And another Helen Phillips died in Ephrata, PA in 2016. I plan to contact the relatives of both to see what kind of cookies they bake. that should reveal the truth.

In the meantime, I will share with you the recipe When you make them, remember Helen, whom I never met, but who would be astounded to know that her name is forever connected with many people’s Christmas celebrations.

HELEN PHILLIPS’ ROLL-OUT COOKIES

(I’d cut the recipe in half unless you’re making lots for presents)

Cream 1lb. of butter with 2 cups of sugar until well-mixed. 

Add 4 eggs. Mix in thoroughly

Gradually, add 6 cups flour plus 6 tsp. baking powder. Mix in gradually until combined well. 

Flavor the dough with 2 tsp. vanilla, almond extrat or anise if desired.

Add food coloring if you wish. Separate dough if you wish several colors.

Divide dough into four equal parts and chill several hours.

When ready to cook, pre-heat oven to 350. Line several baking sheets. I use Silicone sheets or parchment paper.

Roll out a small portion of chilled dough to 1/8th inch on well-floured surface, Cut with cookie cutters, placing each at least 1/4” apart.

Cook until edges turn golden brown, anywhere from 12-17min. Remove sheet from oven. Let stand while you put in a second sheet. After 5 min, remove hot cookies to cooling racks.

BOBBIE WAYNE’S FROSTING

Cut 1&1/2 Tblsp. of butter. Soften in a cereal bowl and mash with fork. Add 1&1/2 Cups Confetioner’s sugar, slowly, mashing it in with a fork or a pestle. Using heavy cream, add a tsp. to the mixture and combine. Keep adding cream in tiny amounts and mix until mixture will drip from a spoon in a thick line. Try a few spoonsfull in your icing bag with a small cone-shaped tip. It should squeeze out easily but not be runny. Decorate your cookies and dry overnight.