Made these with a friend about a gazillion Christmases ago.

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup crisco

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp almond extract

2 1/4 cups flour

maraschino cherries

• Preheat oven 350
• blend butter and crisco
• add sugar slowly while mixing
• add extract and blend well
• add flour and blend, but not over do it
• place in ungreased cookie sheet in tablespoon sized balls
• Place a sliced bit of cherry firmly into each ball of dough.
• Bake about 20 minutes (until slightly brown at the edges)

The original recipe for these calls for almonds, but I think they are scads better with pecans. I suppose they could probably be made with any kind of nut, really. But I like pecans.

creme:

1 C butter

add:

1 C sifted confectioners sugar

½ t salt

stir in:

2 C ground pecans

1 t vanilla

add:

2 C flour

shape into smallish balls (maybe 2-3 cm diameter) on ungreased pan

bake 15 minutes at 365 °

when done, roll in confectioners sugar and let cool

I usually don't so much "roll" them in the sugar as put a little sugar in a paper sack, drop a couple of cookies in the sack, and shake gently. You have to be gentle to avoid too much breakage, but that works pretty well.

Honestly, I don't know if you have to sift the confectioner's sugar, but it sure cuts down on lumps. If you don't have a sifter, you can use a mesh strainer for about the same effect. A sifter is actually a pretty handy baking tool, if you can get ahold of one. It gives you a lot better control when adding dry ingredients.

Oh, the recipe also says that you can substitute brown sugar for confectioner's sugar (in the dough, I presume). I've never tried that, although I suppose it would give the cookie a more butterscotchy flavor.

This recipe is also from my mother's little brown notebook.

Cream:

0.75 C butter

Gradually mix in:

1.25 C sugar

Beat in:

1 egg
1 egg yolk (save the second egg white - you'll need it later)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp grated lemon rind

Gradually stir in:

3 C all purpose flour

You can usually start the flour with the mixer, but eventually you will have to stir by hand or even knead a little.

Chill the dough for several hours.

Roll the dough very thin, cut with cookie cutters and place on a greased tin.

Use a pastry brush to brush the egg white over the tops of the cookies (I told you you'd need it later). Decorate with sugar (or nonpareils - red hots will melt, though, so be careful).

Bake in a quick oven at 400 F for about 8 minutes.