In 1939, Eddy County Home Extension Agent Vernita Conley shared some recipes with local women, including these St. Patrick’s Day treats. Vernita’s other recipes can be found in “Artesia’s Most Wanted: Pioneer Recipes 1900-1960,” available at the Artesia Historical Museum and Art Center, 505 W. Richardson Ave.
St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Tea Cookies
Allow one-half a cup of butter to stand at room temperature until it can easily be creamed. Add gradually three-fourths of cup of sugar and one egg. Beat until well blended and add one tablespoonful of cream and one teaspoonful of almond extract. Sift one teaspoonful of baking powder with one cup of flour and stir into the mixture. Then add enough flour (about two cups) so that the dough can be rolled. Chill. Toss on to a lightly floured board and roll very thin. Cut with a shamrock cutter. With a spatula place cookies on a well-greased cooky tin. Brush the tops of the cookies with egg-white and sprinkle with green sugar. Bake in a hot oven (425 degrees) until delicately browned.
St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Rolls (With Yeast)
In a mixing bowl place four tablespoonfuls of butter, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and one teaspoonful of salt. Over these ingredients pour three-fourths of a cup of scalded milk. Cool the mixture to lukewarm and add a few drops of green vegetable coloring. Dissolve one yeast-cake in one-fourth a cup of lukewarm water, add one beaten egg and pour this mixture into the milk mixture. Stir into the combined mixture two cups of flour and beat well. Then stir in one cup and one-half more of flour and mix thoroughly. Cover tightly and place in icebox. About two hours before baking rolls, take the dough needed from ice box. Roll out dough one-third an inch thick, cut with a floured shamrock-shaped cutter, place on a baking sheet, cover, and let rise a short while. Bake at 425 degrees, about twenty minutes.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: The above recipes are courtesy Nancy Dunn, Artesia Historical Museum manager.)
