Just a Smackerel of Something

It was the kind of day—with a crisp fall breeze and cloudless sky—that demands a particular type of appreciation.  A sit still and remember kind of day, and (to take a phrase from A. A. Milne) I needed "just a smackerel of something" to help me get the remembering right.  Something rich and satisfying was in order, and I knew just the thing: The Bumper Book.

Edited by "Watty Piper" (who is apparently not a real person, but that's another story), The Bumper Book is full of fair-to-middling 20th century children's literature.  What makes it great, however, is the art, by a woman known simply as Eulalie.  As children, we all have those things—a book or a letter; a trinket or photo—that make us feel magical. For me, it was this book, and I poured over the pages again and again hoping to somehow make it real. 


And so it was, on this particular sit still and remember day, that I found myself remembering how badly I wanted the book's world to be real.  I slowly turned the pages until I came to  "Animal Crackers" by Christopher Morley.  Suddenly I was dreaming of the kitchen Christopher and Eulalie imagined for me:

Animal crackers and cocoa to drink,
That is the finest of suppers, I think;
When I'm grown up and can have what I please
I think I shall always insist upon these.

What do you choose when you're offered a treat?
When Mother says, "What would you like best to eat?"
Is it waffles and syrup, or cinnamon toast?
It's cocoa and animals that I love the most!

The kitchen's the coziest place that I know:
The kettle is singing, the stove is aglow,
And there in the twilight, how jolly to see
The cocoa and animals waiting for me.

Daddy and Mother dine later in state,
With Mary to cook for them, Susan to wait;
But they don't have nearly as much fun as I
Who eat in the kitchen with Nurse standing by;
And Daddy once said he would like to be me
Having cocoa and animals once more for tea!
_________________________________________

I have a black cat like the one on the photo, and there's a kettle on my stove.  The kitchen is the coziest place that I know, and I love having tea.  But one line had me panicked:  What do you choose when you're offered a treat?

Suddenly tea time had become an existential crisis.  What do I choose!?  With that, I shut the book and headed straight to the kitchen.  Faster than you can say "Eulalie" I was preheating the oven, fishing out cookie cutters, and searching for my best animal cracker recipe.

In truth, there aren't that many good animal cracker recipes.  Oprah has one, but I don't trust it.  (It included frosting and sprinkles.  Too fussy.)  I found another that listed allspice, mace, and ginger in the ingredients, which all sound completely unnecessary.  William and Sonoma's recipe...well...I just refuse to believe their recipes are real.  In the end, King Arthur Flour has the best animal cookie recipe.  (King Arthur's Flour is my one and only;  I don't bake with anything else.) 

And yes, the recipe is important, but let's be honest:  What you really need are stellar cookie cutters.  Though I don't have an entire zoo, I do have a few animals to choose from:

Lions and elephants and giraffes...oh my!

The list of ingredients is brief:

• 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) soft butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon Princess Cake and Cookie Flavor, or flavor of your choice
• 1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 cup oat flour or finely ground rolled oats   

A few caveats: I hope to never cook with anything that has the word "Princess" in it.  I am assuming this is a play on the whole "King Arthur" thing.  I skipped the special "Princess Cake and Cookie Flavor" and just used vanilla extract.  The results were terrific.  Next time I will use 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, just because I am crazy like that.  Also, I did not have any oat flour.  I did have plain oats, though.  I ground it up and used it instead.  

Last but not least, I added my own special touch:  I sprinkled a very small amount of vanilla sugar on top of each cookie before I baked them.  Last spring I bought a jar of vanilla sugar at the world-famous Demel café...

As far as I am concerned, this jar is worth more than all the gold in Fort Knox.  I use it very sparingly on special occasions like sit still and remember days and mornings when my sister, Sharen, is visiting from Texas and doesn't have her special Coffee Mate for her coffee. 

The verdict?  Absolutely delicious animal crackers, with or without the vanilla sugar.  You'll need to line the pan with parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes.  Do all that, and you'll have these:

See the crystals of vanilla delight?

Like the plate?  Check out Miss Blackbirdy

Go ahead, bite me!

If you want to get wacky and super size it, go ahead:

Whether you have vanilla sugar, appreciate the day for what it is--it's only 24 hours.  Make it real.  Sit still and remember:  life's what you bake it.