Bistro Apron

I have a few yards of linen that I had ordered from here, sitting in the cupboard.  I found it while looking for fabric with animals on it for another project, and got momentarily distracted, thinking how the linen would make a great apron, then dropped everything, signed on to Pinterest and well, you know how it goes.  So I made an apron.

My name is Lynne.  I'll be your server this evening.

I always admired those long linen aprons the wait staff wear in chic uptown bistros, a pocket for their book, a towel hanging smartly from a loop or tucked into the waistband.  They would smile and say their name was Andouille or something just as equally hard to remember, and announce the daily specials with gusto and flourish, for dishes like roasted baby quail legs over a bed of rosemary infused polenta and masticated butter beans, or imported Chilean sea bass smothered in spring onions, lightly steamed fiddle de de head ferns and remoulade.
Whatever.  I'll have the cheeseburger and the pommes frites
Anyway, I like the apron see?  The problem is I am about 5 feet nothin' so a long apron makes me look like I've been swallowed by a bolt of fabric, and besides it would just get get tangled around my ankles.
So I shortened it a bit, to Hobbit length, added a pocket using scraps of Umbrella prints fabric, a towel loop (which is a small band of fabric sewn horizontally onto the front of the apron so you can hang a tea towel through it) and a length of twill tape for the ties.  The twill tape was once wrapped around a giant stack of washcloths I bought at Target years ago.  Don't ever throw anything like that away.  You never know.

 Eager to test drive my new apron, I scurried into the kitchen, but alas, no sea bass.  Instead I pulled out an old cookie recipe that my Grandma used to make.  They come out of the oven big and plump and just barely fit in the palm of your hand, and contain easily recognizable (and pronounceable) ingredients like cinnamon, raisins, and walnuts. So I made some.
 The kitchen smelled great, the apron did it's job, and I didn't trip over it.

Grandmas Roses' Raisin Cookies

(you can cut this recipe in half, but I never know how to cut 3 eggs in half, so I would just use 2)

In a small saucepan place 2 cups of raisins in a cup of water and boil gently about 5 minutes, or until the water is gone.  Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile cream together
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups of sugar
1 cup of shortening.
Note:  I used coconut sugar which is brown, so my cookies came out darker than if you use regular white sugar.  I also used Spectrum brand all vegetable shortening which is non-hydrogenated.  You can also use coconut oil.

To this add:
3 beaten eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups of flour (2 wheat, 2 white) or whatever you have on hand.
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

Mix everything together and add the cooled raisins.  Drop generous tablespoons of dough onto a cookie sheet.  Flatten the cookies slightly with the bottom of a small glass dipped in sugar .
Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Yum.