Cookies

I'm hosting a cookie exchange tomorrow, so today I baked 12 dozen (is that a gross?) of these cookies. The recipe is from my grandma, the cookie queen, who got it from her Aunt Ida, so it goes waaaaay back. It was published in many of the Milwaukee Gas Company's Festive Foods cookbooks after my grandma worked in their home service department in the very early 50s.

MEXICAN CHRISTMAS COOKIES

375º for about 10 minutes

3 C. flour
1 t. salt
1 t. ginger
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. ground cloves
6 oz. chopped, pitted dates
1 C. chopped pecans
1 C. butter
2 C. sugar
3 eggs
3 T. milk
1 t. baking soda


Mix and sift flour, salt and spices; add dates and pecans and mix well. Cream butter well, add sugar gradually and continue creaming until light and fluffy. Add well-beaten eggs and mix well. Add milk in which soda has been dissolved and mix well. Add flour mixture gradually and mix. Form dough into 3 rolls about 2 inches in diameter, wrap in waxed paper and chill thoroughly. Slice thin and bake on baking sheet in preheated oven. Approximate yield: 6 dozen. Store in covered container.