Grandmother Mervil lived to be almost 100
When my family and I cleaned out my Mom’s house in Corvallis, Orgeon, getting it ready to sell in 2006, we each chose things to keep. I kept her recipe box. In the box was this card for Summer Shortbreads, written by my paternal grandmother, Grandmother Mervil, second from the right in picture. My mother is the bride in the picture (Elizabeth Mary Smith Arthur) marrying my Dad (Donald Laurie MacDonald) on June 21, 1947.
The funny thing about the recipe is that we used it to make Christmas cookies or I guess they could be called holiday cookies in December, nowhere near summer.
For converting the Summer Shortbreads into Christmas cookies (not in the recipe, but how my mom learned it and how she taught my sister and I), the changes in the recipe were that we rolled out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick and cut out circles. These we pinched on the top and indented a little upward on the bottom and decorated with an almond slice (candle) with red cherry flame and green cherry holly. We called these Shields. For the wreaths we used two different sized round glasses to cut out the wreath and decorated with red and green cherries (holly and berries). We called these Wreaths.
"Grandmother Mervil" was born Margaret Stewart MacGregor on May 2, 1882 and died almost a hundred years later on January 8, 1982. She lived her life in Toronto, Ontario in a strict Baptist household where things like playing cards on Sunday were never allowed. Maybe this was the secret to her longevity!
Peggy MacDonald, Summer Shortbread.pdf
June 2007
