Pineapple Cookies

Frank & Elsie lived right up the road from us. When I say “right up the road”, I mean that it was a narrow, oiled path, just nearly wide enough for two vehicles to pass if both kept their outer wheels in the ditch. It was a “lease road”, carved thru the middle of the section to provide access to the wells that were producing in that field and covered with oil to keep the dust down and make it able to travel on when it was muddy.  You didn’t want to drive on it when it had just been freshly oiled, but after the work trucks had used it for a few days, it was passable. It also had a cattle guard, which could cause problems for a little girl on her bike. Inevitably, if the rider was not watching, the front tire would turn sideways and fall between the joints of pipe that formed it. Believe me, I took a lot of spills on that cattle guard and always felt like the hardest part of the journey was behind me when it was crossed.

Frank & Elsie were transferred to our area from “oil city” PA when the company they worked for moved their drilling and production operations to our town. They also lived in a little lease house, one mile north of us, but they had an outdoor shower!  It was a large “cistern” tank that set next to the house with a shower house under it. It had no top, so it seemed like you were outdoors when you used it.  It was a wonderful place to scrub the dirt off me when I went to visit and before I returned home after one of those bike trips.

Elsie was like a surrogate grandmother. She and my Mother were very good friends. Since Elsie was older and had been married to an oil field worker much longer and had grown children, she was always there when Mom needed some advice or just someone to talk to. She told me once that she would have been a millionaire if she could have saved all the oil she had washed out of Frank’s clothes. Frank was a dear, kind gentleman and was always there when my Dad could not be, to fix a bicycle tire, teach me a new card game, or haul me home when I was too tired to ride back. Though Frank was known to drink a little too much, he was nevertheless a “happy drunk” and someone I loved very much.  My Dad was called often to take Frank home from the pool hall when he had been there a little too long.

The greatest treat was when Elsie would call and say that she had just baked a fresh batch of pineapple cookies. They were my favorite then, and still are today. There is so much more to Frank & Elsie’s story but following is Elsie’s recipe for that which always provided me with love.  They make everything better!

Pineapple Drop Cookies

1 cup shortening
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 9 oz. can of crushed pineapple
3 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. soda

Blend salt, & lemon juice with shortening, Cream in sugar until fluffy, beat in eggs one at a time, add pineapple & sifted flour & soda. Drop by spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet & sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400 deg. for about 12 min. Wash cookie sheet each time and re-grease. Makes 4 doz. Cookies.

Just as an add on, you may want to reduce the over temp. If you use a modern “coated” cookie sheet, and with today’s bake ware it probably would not be necessary to wash and re-grease after each batch.