You’ll Dig This – Build Your Own Eco-Friendly Raised Garden for Less

In our efforts to convert more of our yard to gardening space, I wanted to add a raised garden for planting vegetables. I briefly lusted after one of these kits from Plow & Hearth, made from recycled plastic:

…but the $149.95 price tag (+ $17.99 for shipping) seemed to defeat the idea of growing food to save money. Fortunately, my Pop came to the rescue with the offer of four free reclaimed angle irons that had originally supported some decorative beams at a friend’s condo. His garage is full of treasures like this, and it’s amazing how he can go in there and rummage around and emerge with just the right tool or hardware for just about any job. He proposed that we use the angle irons to secure four pieces of lumber to make a frame for the garden, and he even created CAD drawings to illustrate the process:

We planned to construct a 4- by 8-foot frame, and discussed options for lumber. We decided to build the garden with planks of redwood because it’s long-lasting, it holds up well in the extreme weather conditions we have in Colorado and also because it’s a renewable resource, generally harvested on a sustainable basis. We purchased three ’Top Choice’ redwood planks at Lowe’s, 8 feet long by 8 inches tall and 2 inches thick, for a cost of  $11.91 each or $35.73 total. We cut one of the boards in half to make the two 4-foot sections.

This is a close-up of one of the angle irons securing two boards:

A note from Pop about angle irons: “You can buy angle iron that has holes every 1-1/2″ or so on both sides, in 3-foot or 4-foot lengths. One advantage of that is you could leave them longer and drive them into the ground to hold the frame in place.”

Here’s how the frame looked before we filled it:

Note the abundance of weeds surrounding the garden frame! After filling it with 10 cubic feet of organic soil, I laid down a weedproof barrier:

Finally, I added several more cubic feet of organic soil and five assorted tomato plants.

I surrounded the bed with some rocks from around the yard laid over a six-inch strip of weedproof barrier.

If you’ve built a low-cost raised garden or discovered any other money-saving gardening strategies, let me know and I’ll gladly post your links and ideas. Happy gardening, everyone!

Spend 20 Minutes Adapting Your Toilet, Save 3000 Gallons of Water a Year

   You might have once read that you could save water by putting a brick in your toilet tank. That is no longer recommended, as bricks break down over time and the residue can lead to plumbing damage. Instead, you can recycle a used soda pop bottle and use it to displace water, saving you 2 liters of water with every flush. The average person flushes 4 times a day at home (you really do learn something new every day), so a family of four can easily save 3000 gallons of water a year just by following these easy steps.

First, remove the label and wash an empty plastic 2-liter soda pop bottle.

Fill the bottle almost to the top with water and add a handful of marbles or pebbles. Don’t skip this step or the bottle will  float in the toilet tank and could interfere with the flushing mechanism.

Add a few drops of bleach to the water so it doesn’t get funky. Then put the lid on tightly.

Position the bottle carefully in the tank so it doesn’t interfere with the flushing mechanism.

Check the tank periodically to make sure the bottle hasn’t shifted. That’s all there is to it!

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You might also enjoy:

Natural Drain Cleaner – Granny’s Formula Rocks!

Save Energy – Monitoring the Monitor

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Make Your Own Tender, Perfectly Puffed Pita Breads – for Pennies!

After reading about homemade pita bread on the King Arthur Flour blog, I was obsessed with making a batch from scratch. I love pita bread, but I was spoiled years ago by warm, fresh-from-the-oven pitas in Athens and have never found anything close here in Colorado. Even at one of Denver’s largest Middle Eastern grocery stores, the pitas are chewy and a bit cardboardy.

Using the King Arthur recipe as a guideline (and based on research that recommended a mix of no more than 33% whole wheat flour for reliable rising), I substituted 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup of spelt flour for one cup of the all-purpose flour. I didn’t have any King Arthur’s Dough Improver so I added a pinch of baking powder. Once the dough was ready to bake, I divided it into 8 portions and flattened the first ball slightly with my fingers like this:

Then I rolled the dough as evenly as possible into a round that was about 6 inches:

Based on the comments on the King Arthur blog, I positioned a metal cooling rack over a foil-lined baking sheet and preheated it in a 500-degree oven. Once it was hot, I slid the pita dough on the rack:

Amazingly, every pita bread puffed perfectly after 3 to 4 minutes in the oven!

Finally, as I took the pitas from the oven I tucked them in a clean dishtowel to keep them soft:

We ate some of the pitas right away, by splitting them in half, stuffing them with roast beef and cheese, wrapping them in foil and cooking them in the oven for a minute or two until the cheese melted. Then we added sliced avocado and tomato and ate them warm from the oven. They were the kind of pitas you dream about — fresh, warm, soft and lightly browned — and oh, so delicious!! I stored the remaining pitas in a zip-lock plastic bag, and the next day when we reheated them in the oven (wrapped in foil, sprinkled with a couple of drops of water) they were almost as good as the first. I do recommend eating them as soon as possible after you make them!

Make Your Own Granola – Delicious, Healthy and Inexpensive!

Here’s a simple recipe that you can use to make your own healthy breakfast cereal. You can use organic and/or vegetarian ingredients if you wish, and substitute other goodies to suit your taste. Plus — with the cost of organic rolled oats at about $1 a pound — you can save tons of money by making your own!

 

Here’s the basic recipe for my favorite granola blend. I call it Oatmeal Cookie Granola and your kitchen will smell just like homemade oatmeal raisin cookies while you’re baking it! This granola makes a satisfying, filling breakfast served with milk and is also great sprinkled over yogurt.

Oatmeal Cookie Granola

4 cups organic rolled oats (the old-fashioned kind, not the instant or quick-cook type)

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup chopped, blanched almonds

3 tablespoons butter (or substitute canola oil for the vegan version)

3 tablespoons canola oil

2/3 cup honey (or substitute maple syrup or packed brown sugar for the vegan version)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Grease a large cookie sheet and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and spread on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice during the baking process. Cool to room temperature and store in an airtight container. Makes about 5 cups, or 10 servings.

Feel free to adjust this recipe to suit your own tastes. You might like to experiment with other dried fruits (dried cherries are a personal favorite) like dates, currants, chopped apricots, pineapple, craisins, dried apples, banana chips, coconut, etc. as well as nuts and seeds such as pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, ground flax seed, pepitas, etc.

If you like crunchy clusters in your granola, add 2 tablespoons of water to the mixture and squeeze the clusters together with your hands prior to baking.

Culinary Glory During a Recession

I was perusing our cookbooks this morning hoping for some culinary inspiration, when I came across this volume gathering dust at the back of the very top shelf:

Gourmet Cooking on a Shoestring, circa 1970

Although it was published almost 40 years ago, the theme of this book is certainly relevant today. “It is true that the price of absolutely everything is on the rise…” it begins, and the author goes on to offer a host of recipes “to take the sting out of the high cost of eating while covering you with culinary glory.”

Culinary glory — now that’s what I’m talking about! Of course, we had a somewhat different definition of culinary glory back in 1970; many of the recipes from this book will probably never make it on our family’s dining table: Cheese ‘n’ Frank Casserole (enriched with cottage cheese and garlic powder…errrghh), Surprise Biscuit Roll (the surprise being ground Spam) and Hawaiian Noodle Casserole (with canned pineapple and raisins for that at-home luau vibe). But some of the recipes sound pretty good and remind me of old favorites – like Beef Stroganoff, Moussaka, and Chicken & Rice — that help stretch a piece of meat and also taste really, really good.

Since I can’t vouch for any of the recipes in this 1970 tome of frugal fare, let me share a special recipe from our family archives. The ingredients sound a little weird, but if you like ribs I promise that you will go crazy for these. When they are cooking, they will fill your home with the most mouth-watering aroma imaginable….and they taste even better than they smell.

Spareribs of Culinary Glory

4 pounds pork spareribs, cut into serving pieces
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup Liquid Smoke flavoring
2/3 cup orange marmalade

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Pour the water into the bottom of a roasting pan with a perforated rack. Replace the rack and arrange the ribs on top. Brush the ribs with the Liquid Smoke flavoring on both sides. Combine the garlic powder, salt and black pepper in a small dish. Sprinkle the ribs with the seasoning mixture on both sides. Cover the pan with foil and bake for 2 hours, adding water to the pan if needed.

Remove the pan from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Remove the foil and brush the ribs on one side with half the marmalade. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, turn the ribs and brush the other side with the remaining marmalade. Return to the oven and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. 4 servings.

Battening Down the Hatches for Winter

Last winter, we had an energy audit performed by About Saving Heat of Denver. The technician had a neat gizmo that automatically measures the air temperature, similar to the instant read thermometer you use to make sure your chicken is cooked properly. Anyway, when he held the machine to the ceiling and passed it over the air conditioning vents - closed for the winter, of course - the temperature was two to three degrees cooler, meaning that cold air was still leaking through the vents. He recommended a simple and inexpensive fix, magnetic vent covers:

You simply cut the covers to fit with scissors, apply to the vents…

…and – voila! – you’re done. My kind of home improvement project.

Is it my imagination, or do the rooms feel just a little more cozy and snug?

Homemade Hooch at the Urban Homestead

We’ve been harvesting currants here, and even the ripest berries are intensely, mouth-puckeringly tart. After scratching my head about how to best utilize the little red berries, I found a recipe for homemade cassis and knew we were in business. I love kir (a drink made with cassis and white wine) and its cousin kir royale (cassis and champagne). While crème de cassis is traditionally made with black currants, I learned that red currants can also be used.

This is a two-part recipe, and you can easily double this if you have a bounty of fresh currants.

Homemade Cassis

• 3 to 4 cups ripe currants
• 2 ½ to 3 cups vodka (or enough to cover the currants in the jar)
• 1 pound sugar (more or less may be needed) 
• 1 cup vodka (more or less may be needed)

Wash the currants, remove any stems and gently pour them in a one-quart Mason jar. Pour the vodka in the jar, almost to the top. Here’s how it looks at this stage:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seal the jar and put it in a cool, dark place for 4 to 6 months.

To finish the cassis, strain the contents of the jar into a  large glass measuring cup and measure the liquid. Pour the liquid into a large, heavy saucepan. For every 2 cups of liquid, add 2 cups of sugar and 1/2 cup of vodka and stir. Bring to a boil and simmer for about ten minutes, or until sugar is dissolved and mixture is syrupy. Pour into a hot, sterilized jar or bottle.

Salut!

 

Farewell, My Punch Bowl

     A long, long time ago, I bought a punch bowl. Or maybe someone gave me a punch bowl; I don’t remember. My trusty punch bowl has been with me that long; it’s followed me to six different houses now, patiently waiting on basement shelves and stacked among boxes in the garage for the right opportunity.

     The thing is, you never know when you might need a punch bowl. For instance, you might want to throw someone a bridal shower and offer a nice, fruity punch (matched to one of the bridal colors, of course), or you might want to serve a festive eggnog punch at your next holiday party. At least that’s what I told myself — although admittedly, I didn’t serve punch at my daughter’s graduation party because, well, no one seems to drink punch much any more.

     Last week, I was rearranging the boxes in the garage again and my eyes fell on the punch bowl once again. “You’d better hang on to that; you might want to serve a nice alcoholic punch with a pretty ice ring at your next cocktail party,” a little voice said. “Or you could use it to make a really large batch of trifle.”

     Trifle! I hadn’t thought of that. But I knew it was time, so I steeled myself and replied in my firmest voice, “Look, we haven’t used the punch bowl once in twenty-five years. If we do want to make trifle for the entire state of Rhode Island, we can borrow a punch bowl from someone else. It’s time to say goodbye. Someone else will give this punch bowl a better home.”

     So the tattered box was picked up by the DAV last week – along with some other odds and ends – and now there is more room and a little less stuff in the garage.

     Is there a punch bowl taking up space in your life? Or an old wedding dress, or a bowling ball, or tires or an exercise bike? Perhaps it’s time to relinquish it to a more committed owner and enjoy the added space and energy that fewer possessions offer.

     If you decide to surrender your punch bowl, I’d love to hear from you.

Can You Compost a Poinsettia?

Dear Ms. Homesteader,

Now that the holidays are over, my poinsettia is dropping its red petals and becoming less attractive by the hour. My wife suggested throwing it in the compost pile, but I thought I remembered reading that poinsettias are poisonous. To compost or not to compost?

Sincerely yours,

Poindexter Settya

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Dear Mr. Settya,

You will be happy to hear that poinsettias are not poisonous, so yours can be safely added to the compost heap. Some people are sensitive to the milky sap that comes from the poinsettia’s branches; it can occasionally cause an itchy rash. Wear your gardening gloves when you add the plant to the compost, and be careful not to rub your eyes after touching the plants. Here at the urban homestead, we composted our very own poinsettia plant just yesterday, and it immediately transformed the compost heap into a festive and colorful montage:

 

Sincerely,

Ms. Homesteader

Just Call Me the Bag Lady

Do you know that we Americans use around 84 billion plastic bags annually? (I know I’ve probably got a cool million or so stuffed in the kitchen drawers and pantry.) What’s worse is what happens when the bags end up in the landfill:  they don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade—breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits and contaminating soil and waterways.

So when I saw these cool black reusable grocery bags for a mere $1 each, I bought ten. (Disclosure time: the bags are from Wal-Mart. I know, I know, the mega-retailer has a long way to go to become an eco-friendly company. But Wal-Mart’s management is improving its environmental practices, and the company’s prices on organic foods are hard to beat.) The bags are made from 85% recycled materials — including 4 plastic soda bottles — and they can carry the same weight as 2 to 3 plastic shopping bags.

It was time to try out the new bags, but I’m ashamed to say that during the next two trips to the grocery store I forgot to take them inside. I didn’t remember my newfound zeal to use my eco-bags at all, in fact, until the checker was halfway done with my order and the bagger said “Are plastic bags okay?” I solved that by writing “BRING BAGS INSIDE” at the top of my grocery list. (It’s a pity that my brain is so compromised, but that’s what happens when you kill too many brain cells in your youth.)

I remembered the bags today, and tucked them in my grocery cart. I wondered if the bagger would say anything, but the checker just handed the bags to her and she happily packed my groceries in the bags. $40 worth of groceries fit into just two bags. When she was done, she said “Don’t forget to credit her for her bags!” to the checker, and he opened the cash register and handed me a dime! That’s right, King Soopers gives you 5 cents each if you reuse a bag. The checker explained that you could even bring your plastic bags in to reuse them, and you’ll get the rebate. So check with your local store and see if a similar program is offered, and “Sack it To ‘Em!”

One Real Family’s Real Simple Christmas

Our good friends Jerry and Beth McDonald announced in early November that they were going to simplify Christmas this year, and spend the money they saved to take the family on a ski trip to Colorado. Just like Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis in the movie ”Christmas with the Kranks,” Jerry and Beth explained that they were skipping the Christmas tree, skipping Christmas cards — and even skipping presents.  “It will be an experiment worth noting,” Jerry wrote, and we wondered if they would be able to resist the pull of the mall. On December 26, I couldn’t stand the suspense any more. “How was the minimalist Christmas?” I asked in an e-mail.  “Did you resist the temptation to buy gifts? How did your kids respond? Do tell!” Here’s an excerpt from Jerry’s response:

“The minimalist Christmas was successful.  We did stay within the rules.  The boys did not shop at all.  Beth and I, by pre-agreement, searched for and distributed tokens of love and appreciation, as long as the tokens would fit in their stockings.  Socks, gloves, mechanical pencils, blank CDs (so they will no longer steal them for their stolen music, from my stash)….  minimalist headphones, gum, and some money – since money fits quite well in a stocking.  The amount stayed within minimalist guidelines.  I received a paperback book of Sudoku – all puzzles in the book at the “fiendish” level to help me fight Alzheimer’s.  I did go out on a limb and get Beth an electronic indoor/outdoor thermometer where a weather detection transmitter sits outdoors but the reader/display station is indoors – as hers broke just days before Christmas (solving my normal blank list dilemma).  It fit the minimalist guidelines as I had a 20% off coupon from Ace hardware.  Beth, like her mother before her, likes to check on the temperature throughout the day. 

“But those are just things.  The real success was in time.  Gone, and gained. 

“Gone.  Gone was the strain of shopping. Time leading up to the day of Christmas was blessed. It was delightful to whiz on by crowded malls to some other, more important destination.  Gone was the wrapping table in the basement, with shards of paper and ribbons no longer long enough, lying on the floor.  Gone was the afternoon of stringing the lights on the tree – and the two days to put it all away.  Yes, we decorated the house with one or two small tins of ornaments.  Beth also found a nice sized branch of evergreen, a soft needled pine, which we hung on the wall where a picture normally goes, and hung a few ornaments there too.  Gone was the giant black plastic bag full of torn wrapping paper whose whole purpose in life was to cover a box for 2 weeks – now into the trash forever.  Gone was the piles of gifts stacked on the floor and around our seats that tend to stay there for a day or two until they individually get taken to wherever they are to exist at the after holiday.  And gone was that deadened time about an hour after gifts are opened, that time where you reflect a sad thought…. it’s over, after all of these weeks. 

“Gained.  Time around the fire with minimalist gifts – slow time with not as much to accomplish.  A mechanical pencil brought out of the sock can still be surprising upon its reveal.  Gained – Peace on Earth – no one had to get up every 4 minutes and go to the tree to make a selection of the next round of packages to haul out.  Everyone remained planted.  Gained, a nice large mid-morning biscuits and sausage breakfast.  Ham in the oven for later in the afternoon.  Gained, a nice drawn-out dinner in the afternoon, made mostly of things out of a cookbook as we had time to cook that day.  Gained – lots of weight, comfortably and at a slow pace.  Gained – still a trip to come in a couple of days, out your way, to go skiing, something that would not be in the offering had each of them received a flat screen monitor, latest game box and other electronic devices.  Finally, gained, an appreciation for us all getting older now and knowing that time spent together, although cheaper, is much nicer now at this age.” 

I like the sounds of this ’Minimalist Christmas,’ especially the idea of time and togetherness gained – and stress, spending and overconsumption gone. Thanks, Jerry, for sharing the McDonald family’s experiment – and for inspiring us to explore and rethink our priorities at Christmastime.  

A New Bamboo Floor

2008 begins with a terrific improvement here at the Urban Homestead - a new bamboo floor in the office!

Our journey started when I read Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan’s compelling book, “Apartment Therapy: The Eight Step Home Cure.” Along with some great ideas for simplifying one’s home environment and paring down one’s possessions, the author suggests indentifying the room in our house that bugs us the most; he then gently guides readers on how to “cure” the space. In my case, the room with the most problems happened to be the space where I spend at least 50% of my time — my home office. For starters, the floor was covered with the grungiest, worn, dog-hair and lint-laden, impossible-to-clean shag carpeting. Think I’m exaggerating? Take a gander at THIS:

When our professional carpet cleaner said he simply couldn’t get the scuzzy carpet any cleaner, I decided to have it removed and install a strong, clean, sustainable floor of bamboo. Bamboo is harder and stronger than most hardwoods and is a highly-renewable resource; bamboo is one of the fasted growing plants in the world, and it can be harvested in 3 to 5 years, versus 10 to 50 years for trees. Bamboo also generates 33% more oxygen than trees, and I loved the look of the 4-inch planks.  I ordered the flooring and installation services from my home-away-from-home, Lowe’s.

However, like so many home improvement projects, we soon discovered that this one wasn’t going to be simple. When the carpeting and floorboards were removed, the installer showed me that due to the ground under the house settling the floor had “dropped” several inches on two sides of the room. (No wonder the filing cabinet always opened itself!) What’s more, there was a sizeable gap between the subfloor and the adjacent garage floor, which was leaking cold air into the room. (No wonder my feet were always cold!) To deal with the gap, I lay on my stomach on the floor and carefully sprayed expandable insulating foam in the gap:

Next, Dino from Focus on Floors (who has to be just about the Cutest Floor Guy on the Planet) mixed and poured a leveling compound on the floors. He had to do this process twice, allowing some time between applications for the mixture to dry:

Finally, the subfloor was ready. The new bamboo flooring was installed, we let it dry for 24 hours and moved the furniture back in. This change has absolutely transformed the room, and now I don’t have any excuses — it’s time to get busy and productive in the office!

Easy Ways to Reduce Junk Mail

Were you bombarded with mail order catalogs this holiday season? One of my biggest ongoing challenges is managing the stack of paper that accumulates in the mail basket — which, truth be told, is overflowing to two additional stacks on the kitchen counter. The average consumer receives 41 pounds of junk mail annually, according to the group 41pounds.org, which will remove your name from dozens of organizations for a fee. Here are a couple of free measures you can take:

Go to www.optoutprescreen.com to have your name removed from the mailing lists used by the three major credit bureaus. It takes just a couple of minutes, and should reduce the number of credit card and insurance offers you receive. 

Visit www.catalogchoice.org to cancel catalogs you no longer wish to receive.

Don’t forget to recycle the unwanted catalogs!

Easy, Slow-Cooked Caramelized Onions

I once read that you could make a batch of caramelized onions in the Crock Pot and freeze them, but I couldn’t find a recipe. So I decided to experiment and see if I could figure out the process. I knew I wanted pieces of onion, not stringy slices, so I peeled and cut 5 yellow onions like this:

Here’s how they looked prior to cooking:

 I tossed them with 1/4 cup of melted butter (I’m sure you could also use olive oil instead), a generous sprinkling of salt, several generous grindings of black pepper, and a teaspoon of sugar to jump-start the caramelizing process. Then I set the temperature on Low. After 4 hours of cooking, they looked like this:

After 8 hours of cooking, they were nicely browned, wonderfully sweet and caramelized. They had reduced down to about two cups:

I divided them into four 1/2 cup portions and froze them in freezer bags. The portions thaw quickly and the onions are absolutely terrific on pizzas and bruschetta. I’ve also added them to homemade spaghetti sauce and soup. Using the slow cooker is much easier than standing at the stove and cooking and stirring the onions, and I love having caramelized onions ready to go in the freezer. All in all, I would say this experiment was a big success!

The Best Gingersnaps on the Planet

I woke up in a baking mood today (perhaps it’s the pending snowstorm that’s supposed to hit tonight) and decided to make some gingersnaps. These are an adaptation of the “Elevator Lady Spice Cookies” from “The I Hate to Cook Book,” by Peg Bracken, published in 1960. I’ve always loved Peg’s sassy writing style and unfussy recipes, and my mom, sister and I have been making these cookies for decades.

Once I made a batch with blackstrap molasses because I didn’t have any ‘baking’ molasses in the cupboard. The flavor was so drastically improved, I’ve never gone back. And then I found a bag of Australian crystallized ginger at the little gourmet food shop and tried chopping it and mixing it in the recipe. The result is a nice little crunch in the chewy cookie and a very bright ginger taste that dances in the mouth…definitely a worthy addition.

Last year I read a recipe for “Triple Ginger Cookies,” that also called for minced fresh ginger to be added to a ginger cookie batter. I tried that in this recipe, too, and concluded that the fresh ginger was sort of lost in translation. Plus, peeling and mincing fresh ginger is no walk in the park. But if you want to try it sometime, add a tablespoon and a half of minced fresh ginger to the recipe. One other caveat:  these gingersnaps don’t exactly “snap,” because they’re tender and chewy. Just let me know if you think they’re the best you’ve ever eaten.

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses (you can substitute regular molasses)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
3/4 teaspoon powdered cloves
1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger
extra granulated sugar for rolling

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix the shortening, sugar, egg and molasses together in a medium bowl until well-blended. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Mix the dry ingredients into the egg mixture and stir until well blended. Add the chopped crystallized ginger and mix well. The mixture will be somewhat sticky and can be refrigerated for a little while, but it’s not necessary. Roll into balls using a dining teaspoon*. Roll in granulated sugar. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Makes about 3 dozen.

*You can also make these into larger cookies, using a dining tablespoon as your measure. After you arrange the balls on the baking sheet, flatten them a little with your fingers so they’ll spread more easily when they bake. After you flatten them, sprinkle the tops with a little more sugar to replace the sugar that came off on your fingers, and then bake as usual. This recipe will yield about 18 oversized cookies.