Story submitted by Janet Shapiro
The Story Behind the Recipe:
Janet received this recipe from her aunt Jackie. Affectionately called, Jackie, Jacqueline Louise White was born in Cleveland in 1925. Her mother died just before she was 2 years old. She was raised in Warren, Ohio in a house where much of her father’s large extended family lived permanently and some passed through between jobs and marriage. Jackie was far more interested in cooking and in baking than were her two sisters. Her skills were honed in the kitchen with her grandmother and head of the household, Fannie White. After high school Jackie became the secretary at First Street School in Warren where she knew Cleveland Brown’s great Paul Warfield - one of her students. Jackie became the Mary Tyler Moore of her day and took off as a single woman back to Cleveland. She took a job at The Cleveland Welfare Federation (a predecessor Center for Community Solutions) and at one point was the assistant to then CEO, Leona Bevis The Cleveland Welfare Federation was housed in the same building as the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland and Jackie knew many members of its staff including historian Judah Rubenstein. Jackie’s baking skills were well known to her colleagues as well as the members of her chapter of Cleveland Hadassah. For years, Jackie hosted a tea for Hadassah group. In 1963, Jackie married Dr. Jack J. Chernin, a podiatrist. They were married at Mayfield Hillcrest Temple in Cleveland Heights. To support her husband’s professional group, Jackie became a major volunteer fundraiser for the Women’s Auxiliary of the Ohio Podiatry Association. She set up a boutique at all Association meetings where she sold merchandise containing feet (key chains, towels, nightshirts, etc.) and cookbooks than she compiled, typed and edited. Jackie loved to entertain in her home for family and friends. She hosted most holiday meals for members of the Chernin and White families. When she retired from her job, she became a mainstay in the kitchen of Congregation Shaarey Tikvah (formerly Mayfield Hillcrest). She baked and sold items for the synagogue’s weekly bingo fundraisers and for Kiddush after Shabbat morning services. Her “Chip Mandel Slices” (recipe attached) were a favorite of the weekly worshippers. Most guests at her home left with a package of these slices along with samples of her other delicacies. Jackie also prepared her baked goods to be sold at the Gross Schechter Rib Burn Off. In the mid 1980s, Jackie and Jack would spend winters in Lantana Florida. While she was away, Jackie would send notes, birthday and anniversary cards to her fellow congregants. She would also bake and package hundreds and hundreds of hamantaschen that she would send to family, Shaarey Tikvah college students and congregants. She continued that practice until she was over 90 years old. Jackie passed away on October 30, 2019.
Recipe:
Ingredients: 2 Cups Flour ¼ Cup butter or margarine
1/3 Cup Sugar ¼ C. shortening
½ teaspoon baking powder 1 egg, unbeaten
¼ teaspoon baking soda 2-3 Tbsp. orange juice
¼ teaspoon salt ½ tsp. Vanilla
Instructions:
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixer bowl. Add butter or margarine and shortening.
Blend on low speed of electric mixer ( or use two knives scissor fashion) until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Stir in beaten egg, orange juice and vanilla till dough clings together to form a ball. Cover and chill.
On lightly floured surface (or between 2 sheets of waxed paper lightly floured), roll out dough. Use round cookie cutter or drinking glass to cut shapes.
Put (apricot, prune, poppy seed or other) filling in center of circle and bring up the 3 sides and pinch together at ends. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake in 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. Cool.
1/3 Cup Sugar ¼ C. shortening
½ teaspoon baking powder 1 egg, unbeaten
¼ teaspoon baking soda 2-3 Tbsp. orange juice
¼ teaspoon salt ½ tsp. Vanilla
Instructions:
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixer bowl. Add butter or margarine and shortening.
Blend on low speed of electric mixer ( or use two knives scissor fashion) until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Stir in beaten egg, orange juice and vanilla till dough clings together to form a ball. Cover and chill.
On lightly floured surface (or between 2 sheets of waxed paper lightly floured), roll out dough. Use round cookie cutter or drinking glass to cut shapes.
Put (apricot, prune, poppy seed or other) filling in center of circle and bring up the 3 sides and pinch together at ends. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake in 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. Cool.