My father's mother Joyce is one smart lady. She knows how to cook and can everything, is an early and adept adopter of technology, and raised three smart, clever kids. Grandma has always been thrifty, first out of need and now out of habit. Every time I visit, as I did this past weekend, I find new tricks to save time, energy, or effort. Here are five:

1) Enlarge The Hummingbird Feeder - Grandma must have gotten tired of filling the hummingbird feeder at some point so she wisely upgraded the 8 ounce jar to a 2 liter bottle with a little wire extension of the top ring holder.

2) Know Smart Design - My dad told me that this tool rack has been around for decades. With the divided sections and hardware cloth bottom, this sturdy rack is brilliantly designed to hold a lot of garden tools. Alex, can you make me one?

3) Cord Buckets - Keep extension cords in check by winding them into a large bucket. You can't see the small hole on the bottom of the side to allow for one of the ends to stick out. This idea may have come from my Aunt Mo (hand pictured above).

4) Save Everything - Aunt Mo is going to kill me for saying this but Grandma has a lot of treasures in her house among what many would see as a lot of junk. This box of jars I spied in the garage, for instance, clearly contains some of my favorite square vintage jars. There are also some seriously antique lids! If collecting (and using!) canning jars is wrong, Grandma and I don't want to be right.

5) Use That Family - Grandma is taking all of us (her kids, their kids, and my kid) to Hawaii this summer. THANK YOU GRANDMA! Then she decided she needed a little help with yardwork. Guess who showed up and gladly put in 30 people-hours in a single hot morning? My sisters, cousins, parents, and aunt did. I told you Grandma was a smart lady.

We are leaving for a road trip vacation to Massachusetts on Thursday. One way we conserve money and stay away from overly processed food is to make our own treats for the trip. Stay tuned for several homespun road trip ideas over the next two weeks.

My grandmother makes Ginger Crinkles, aka ginger snaps, for family gatherings. My dad, his siblings, and their kids (that is, myself, my sisters, and cousins) all love these cookies and have been known to hoard them from each other.

Ginger snaps are the favorite of Dad's side of the family with good reason: they are perfectly spiced, have a delightfully crispy texture, and pair easily with hot coffee, milk or beer.

Making Ginger Snaps

These cookies cook up easily and travel well. Lil and I make them with a single bowl and only dirty a one cup dry and 2 cup liquid measure. No mixer is required. The hardest part of the recipe is getting the sticky molasses out of the measure into the mixing bowl! My trick for this is to measure the oil into a liquid measure and pour the molasses in next so the oil acts as a nonstick barrier.

After they are baked and cooled, I store ginger snaps in a wide mouthed half gallon canning jar or plastic container. They keep this way for...well, I'm not sure. They disappear in a few days around my family!

Substitutions

This recipe is originally dairy free and can be made vegan by substituting flaxseed meal and water for the egg. Follow the link for a thorough post about making and using this substitute by GNOWFGLINS.

I have made this recipe substituting white whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour. It bakes up fine but the texture and taste is noticeably different. A 50/50 mix of white whole wheat and white is almost imperceptible.

Goofy Tayse girls enjoying gingersnaps at a rainy tie dye party last summer.

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Grandma's Ginger Crinkles, aka Ginger Snaps

2/3 cup vegetable oil 1 cup sugar + 2 tablespoons sugar for rolling 1 egg (or 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal and 3 tablespoons water, whisk and let stand for 5 minutes) 4 tablespoons molasses 2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Measure flour, soda, salt, ginger, and cinnamon into a mixing bowl. Stir together.

3. Measure vegetable oil, sugar, egg, and molasses into a glass liquid measure. Whisk together until thoroughly combined.

4. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and stir together until mixed completely.

5. Drop by teaspoonfuls into a small bowl that contains the 2 tablespoons sugar. Form into balls and coat with sugar.

6. Place on a silpat lined cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool on a rack.

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My grandmother is a great cook. You may also enjoy Grandma's Rhubarb Crunch recipe.

Added to Hearth and Soul Volume 43.