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Cicero: Joe Froggers truly were a sailor's delight

It's a bit of an oddity that we've had two requests in recent weeks for recipes that had the word frog in them - but did not in any way involve amphibians. First we learned of a Hungarian crepe that was nicknamed frog's eyes, and now readers have inundated us with recipes and anecdotes about Joe Froggers, a big New England spice cookie that dates back to colonial times.

William French wrote to tell us that Joe Froggers are still served Sunday nights with a pitcher of milk at The Publick House in Sturbridge, Mass.

The instigator was a reader named Leslie who wanted a recipe for "a cookie I grew up with in Boston."

Renae Midence describes Joe Froggers as "similar to a ginger snap cookie, with a slightly more complex flavor."

Eleanor Chilson recommended the Web site marblehead.org, where she found that Joe Froggers have been "cherished by generations of residents of Marblehead, Mass. The cookies were originally baked by a man known as Old Black Joe Brown and an Aunt Crese, who maintained a tavern on Gingerbread Hill. Because the cookies would keep for long periods of time, fishermen would take barrels of Joe Froggers along with them on their journeys."

Debbie Cornelius of Huntsville, Ala., found more information in "Heirloom Recipes" by Marcia Adams: "This is one of those New England recipes that should be reprinted regularly so it never drops from sight - and so the story isn't forgotten. There really was a Joe Frogger, and he lived in Marblehead, Mass., during the 1800s by a pond called Uncle Joe's Frog Pond.

"The local fishermen would give him rum, and in exchange, he would make batches of very large chewy, spicy molasses cookies for them to take to sea. He never gave out the recipe, but he did allow that it was the rum and seawater that kept them soft. When he died, people feared that was the end of those famous cookies, but a woman named Mammy Cressy, who claimed to be Joe's daughter, gave the recipe to just one fisherman's wife. Soon every woman in Marblehead was making Joe Froggers, and they became the town's favorite Sunday night supper, along with a pitcher of milk."

These are big, chubby cookies that burn easily, so check often the first time you bake them since ovens can vary in temperature. These are not very sweet, which is traditional. You may want to add a frosting or sugar glaze.

JOE FROGGERS

3 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup dark molasses

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup vegetable shortening or butter (1 stick), at room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons dark rum combined with 5 tablespoons water (or 1/2 cup water and 1 t

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