CPS Butter Cookies!

As I have aged my memories from the past have faded. This is especially true when it comes to memories of my very early years. Yet, some of those times remain present in my mind.

I attended a CPS (Chicago Public Schools) grade school for Kindergarten and part or all of my first grade. I know that the second part of that sentence makes little sense, so let me explain. It was expected that my parents would send me to our local parochial grade school, St Clare. However, that school didn’t have a kindergarten, so I was sent to the public school for that. I have very distinct memories of attending first grade at the public school, as well as memories of attending first grade at the Catholic school. I’m not sure how all of that happened, but it did happen. Did I have to repeat the first grade? Did they transfer me mid-semester? I graduated grammar school at the appropriate age, so I don’t think I had to repeat the year. It is possible that my parents transferred me mid-year due to their moral convictions or due to peer pressure to “do the right thing.”

It is interesting what I remember from those early experiences. I remember feeling calm as I stood in line at the start of my first day of kindergarten. Suddenly, the boy in front of me started to hysterically cry. After a minute or two I felt the need to cry, as if this was a social expectation. I wasn’t alone and soon the entire line of kids were sobbing in unison. I remember that my kindergarten teacher had a thing for Jergens hand lotion. She kept a bottle in a cupboard with a glass door and would constantly smear the goop on her hands. I recall its almond/cherry fragrance. My mother never used hand lotion, and so I thought that the Jergens was the height of class and sophistication. Who wouldn’t like a teacher who smelled of almonds and cherries? At Christmas time our teacher gave each of us a transparent blue plastic peacock ornament. I proudly hung that ornament on our tree for years, and I still am sad that it has been lost to time.

First grade had its memories. I remember being taken out of the class to be tested. The middle-aged tester was a prim and proper no-nonsense woman. One test involved a series of pictures in rows. Simple objects like a tree or a dog. On one line the first picture was a sled. I knew what it was, but I couldn’t recall the name so I took a logical step. On that line I identified objects backwards, starting from the end of the line and working my way up to the beginning. I felt that giving myself a few extra seconds would allow me adequate recall time. This did not please the tester who scolded me with the racial slur, “What are you, Chinese!” I had never seen an Asian person, so I was perplexed. “No, I’m Slovak,” I replied earnestly. She gave me a harrumph and in a disgusted tone told me that Chinese read from right to left. This was a revelation to me so I explained that I was just extending my time so I could remember the name of…the name of… the sled! The word came to me. We moved on. I am not sure why I was tested, possibly because I was dyslexic or perhaps it was just standard practice. I never heard its purpose, and I never received any additional help, so go figure.

If you know me you will completely understand the next sentence. I have vivid memories of CPS cafeteria food. Mid-morning we were allowed to go down to the school’s cafeteria to buy milk and a snack. In those days food was prepared from scratch by “lunch ladies.” Much of the stuff available was subsidized by the government, so it was very inexpensive to buy. You could get a carton of white milk for two cents, or upgrade to chocolate for three. Naturally, I went the chocolate milk route. You could also buy an unhealthy but delicious snack for a few pennies more. These snacks would rotate and I clearly remember eating half peanut butter sandwiches, crumb streusel coffee cake, peanut butter cookies, and butter cookies. I have very fond memories of those snacks, which I thought were beyond delicious.

My sister, Carol also has memories of those delicacies, but for a different reason. She is 15 years my senior so when I was in first grade she was a college student studying elementary education. She became a teacher for CPS and enjoyed CPS cookies at her respective school. Carol, is now in her 80s, but still loves the buttery and sweet CPS butter cookies as much as I do.

Today, my family and I will travel to my sister-in-law’s place for an Easter Saturday family party. We are all assigned a dish to bring, mine being cheesy chivy potatoes (mashed potatoes with cheese and chives added). Yesterday, my daughter asked me if I wanted to bake something with her to bring to the party as a bonus. She had found a recipe for decorated mini-cupcakes, but I wanted to bake something different. I knew that my sister would be excited if I brought some humble CPS sugar cookies, so that is what we made.

These cookies are extremely simple but delicious. They are firm, but they give way when you bite into them. Your senses are immediately flooded with the creamy luxury of butter, the sweetness of sugar, and the fragrance of vanilla. They evoke happy memories in me, so I thought I would share this easy recipe with you. We doubled the recipe for 70 average-sized cookies. The ones that I remembered from grade school were about twice the size of the ones that we made. Yum!

CPS Sugar Cookies

Oven at 350F

2 sticks butter

⅔ cups granulated sugar

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour (scoop the flour into your measuring cup, don’t dip the cup).

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Pinch salt

-Cream softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

-Add the vanilla extract.

-Add the flour one cup at a time until incorporated.

-Distribute dough onto a cookie sheet and flatten with a finger (two fingers for large cookies).

-Bake until the edge of the cookies is golden brown. Don’t overbake, the top of the cookies won’t brown. Bake between 11-15 minutes, check the cookies so you don’t burn them.

-Allow cookies to rest on the cookie sheet until they are partially cool, and then transfer them to an appropriate container. Great with coffee, tea, or milk!

Note: the dough will be very stiff. We used a mixer, which is what I would recommend.

See the photos below for step-by-step instructions.