Debra LaValley's Blog

Snicker All You Want – It was the 80s! 🙂

I was going through some old photos and came across this shot – taken sometime in the late 80s. That is my guess. I laughed so hard that tears were coming out of my eyes. Yes – that is a picture of me. Dig the HUGE glasses and the permed hair. I was VERY Cool! By the way, did you notice the large reptile on my leg? (I just started laughing again!)

The creature was Baby – my brother Ken’s pet iguana. When he bought it – Baby was only a foot long and very skinny. Baby was fed monkey chow soaked in water. I still remember him tilting his head and then – gulp!

Baby grew quite large. I would say at least 3 feet long. He also had a wide girth and was a handful. I remember once that I was checking on the house since everyone was away and Baby was not in his aquarium tank. I found him upstairs in a room – basking on the floor. It was much warmer up there.

I didn’t mind Baby at all. I have always liked salamanders, lizards, alligators, and crocodiles. Iguanas cannot retract their claws – many a time we were scratched big time and being whipped by that tail smarted a bit too.

If I remember correctly, Baby was returned by my brother to the Pet Shop owner where he purchased Baby. My mother tired of caring for Baby, and my brother was away at UNH most of the time.

You are probably still snickering at the photo so I will leave you with my Mom’s recipe for Snickerdoodles. A family favorite. My dad especially loved them.

Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup oleo (that is what they called margarine back in the day)
1/2 cup Crisco
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. soda
2 tsp. cream of tartar (What is cream of tartar anyway? Sounds kind of gross.)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 3/4 cups flour

Roll in 2 Tblsp. sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon. Bake in 400 degree oven until done.

Enjoy!

PS from Cousin Joan Smith:

Cream of Tartar is one of the ingredients in baking powder.  It comes from the residue left in wine barrels when the wine is drained off.  Many old bakers used cream of tartar along with baking soda in their biscuits, cookies etc.  Today we also use it in egg white meringues in a very small amount to stabilize and keep the meringue from weeping, shrinking and breaking down.   It is a nice ingredient in snickerdoodles because it helps to give the cookie a smooth and silky texture.  Hope this helps.  Keep the pics coming!!  Cuz Joan