I learn something every time I prepare to write this article. This time I learned three things. First, make sure you have all the ingredients on hand. This way I can take photographs without having to stop and figure out a substitute. Second, think about how much work may be involved before starting. Wow, making the home made grape-nuts was a lot more effort than I had anticipated. And last, scale back the recipe to a more reasonable amount before getting yourself into more than you need. (I will be eating graham crackers for the next 5 years, so I have scaled back by half the graham cracker recipe for you).

For this issue, my plan was to find a few recipes from the past to make something we are all familiar with but don't make anymore. I had been thinking of granola, but you can find all kinds of recipes for that. I have wanted to try this recipe for homemade grape-nuts since I found it. It is a fairly uncomplicated recipe, but I had no idea it would be so much hard work. Oh, it was an easy batter to mix and bake. Then I had to turn this huge thick roof shingle into something edible. Once it was good and dry, though, it was a lot easier to break off chunks to put in the food processor. It took a while, and it was almost worth it.

The graham crackers were a challenge in the sheer volume of dough to make into thin little crackers. As I have said, I scaled it back for you. This version should make about 4 dozen. I also have a terrible time rolling out any kind of dough like this. Sugar cookies are most often made in a simpler fashion. Use a cookie scoop to form 1 inch balls of dough and flatten with a juice glass. Try it - you should have better luck this way, too. Just in case you are wondering, graham flour is ground more coarsely. Either type of flour will work fine.

Oh, and the ingredient I ran out of was brown sugar. If you ever need some and find the canister empty, try what I did. Measure out the amount the recipe calls for in granulated white sugar. Put it into a large bowl and stir in molasses a teaspoon at a time. Be careful though - go by flavor, not color.

Mix all ingredients, spread on a jellyroll pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Let cool overnight then break into pieces and grind in a food processor until of desired consistency. Toast in a 250 degree oven for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cream shortening and sugar together until fluffy. Add vanilla. Sift flour. Measure, and add salt, soda and baking powder to flour. Sift again. Add sifted dry ingredients to shortening mixture, alternating milk then flour. Mix thoroughly after each addition. Chill dough in refrigerator overnight. In the morning, turn out on floured board and roll as thin as possible. Cut in squares or any shape desired. (As I said, I roll this dough into balls and flatten with the bottom of a juice glass). Place ½ inch apart on a greased cookie sheet. Dust with ground cinnamon and prick with a fork to make these cookies look more like 'crackers' and bake at 350 degrees until crisp and golden brown.