Ice-Box Cookies (Ruby Williams C melted)

A plain refrigerator cookie of the type that spread through American community cookbooks once home iceboxes became common. The written method is skeletal, so the working details below fill the gaps.

• AbbreviationsC is a cup, t is a teaspoon. As written the page lists 3 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, a cup of melted shortening and a further cup of shortening, 1 egg, a scant teaspoon of soda, nutmeg (printed as '12 t', almost certainly 1/2 t) and half a cup of nutmeats.
• ShorteningIn community cookbooks of this kind this usually means lard or a hydrogenated vegetable shortening; softened butter works and gives better flavour. The recipe lists shortening twice, once melted and once not; the likeliest reading is that the two entries duplicate a single cup, but the page does not say so.
• Melted versus creamedMelted fat gives a denser, crisper, sandier cookie and a dough that firms up well in the cold. If you cream softened fat with the sugar instead, expect a slightly lighter, more cakelike slice.
• OvenNo temperature is given. Thin icebox slices are usually baked around 375F for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges colour.
• The hinge: chill hard, slice thinThe overnight rest does the work. The dough must be cold enough to cut cleanly at about an eighth of an inch; thicker slices bake softer rather than crisp. Roll into logs, wrap, and refrigerate.
• NutmeatsSimply shelled nuts; the recipe does not say which, walnuts being a common choice. Chop them fine, or the log will crumble under the knife.
• Scant sodaA scant teaspoon means slightly under a level one. With no acidic ingredient in the dough the soda is there for spread and browning rather than lift, and too much leaves a soapy taste.
• YieldAround five to six dozen thin cookies. The dough logs keep several days refrigerated, or freeze for a month, which is how these recipes earned their keep.