Ideal Cookies

I chose this recipe because it is an example of the type of Christmas cookie taught in home economics schools for blacks, in this case, at Hampton Institute in Virginia. It is many light years away from the Sweet Johnny Cake, the Dandy Jack Pudding, or even Brown Betty.

At the turn of this century, the aim of Hampton Institute was to send out teachers and professional people from its ranks, and one might say that Carrie Lyford’s manual was quite useful in bringing t