Gingerbread Boys

Every Thanksgiving I enjoy making gingerbread cookies.  My recipe is a slight variation of one that appeared in Country Living Magazine ten or so years ago. Thinking that the dough was too dry, I cut down on the flour.  What I really love about this recipe is the strong spice flavor and slightly less strong molasses flavor.  

Gingerbread Boys

Country Living Magazine

(Makes 2 to 2 1/2 dozen cookies depending on cutter sizes)

2 3/4 c flour

1 TBSP ground ginger

2 tsp ground cinnamon 

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

6 TBSP butter, softened

1/4 c brown sugar (packed)

1 large egg

1/4 c molasses

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 c molasses

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Combine flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. In another bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed. Beat in egg, molasses, and vanilla.

4. Gradually add flour mixture.  Form into a ball and wrap in plastic.  Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

5. Roll, cut, and bake for 7-9 minutes on lightly greased sheet or Exopat Mat.

I always frost mine.  You can make your own icing using powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk. Just keep adjusting until you get the consistency you want. Cake icing in the tub is also good.

Christmas Album: Snow Angels by Over the Rhine

'Tis the Holiday Season! Time to find your holiday playlist and add a new album.  This year I highly (yes, HIGHLY) recommend Snow Angels by Over the Rhine.  Please (PLEASE) follow the link to amazon and listen to the music samples.  

It's hard to pick a favorite song on this album.  "Snowed in With You" is a nice romantic holiday song and is perfect for slow dancing after dinner..."when the lights are gleaming I'll be leaning into you." "North Pole Man" is a bluesy song about getting your man warm..."it takes good friction to make good heat."  Uh huh...uh huh. "Snow Angels" is a sentimental piece about love lost in war.  The last words of the soldier to his true love are..."Snow Angel, Snow Angel I'll meet you in the sky."  There's also a nice Peanuts tribute song and a new take on the classic carol, Oh Little Town of Bethlehem. The music is original and truly beautiful. One amazon reviewer described it as "beautifully haunting."  I couldn't agree more!

The Last Piece of Birthday Cake

Another birthday come and gone. All that is left is this last piece of cake with one bite missing. It was a good one, and I enjoyed it all week. (Thank you, Mom!)  Luckily, I have the recipe book in which this cake appears, so I can share it with you even if I didn't actually bake it myself.  

Amaretto Cake

from The Cake Mix Doctor 

(I highly recommend this book.  The recipes include cake mixes that you "doctor up" to create fancier cakes.  One of my favorites is the Macadamia Fudge Torte!)

Cake:

Vegetable Spray for misting pan

Flour for dusting the pan

1 pkg yellow cake mix

1 pkg (5.1 oz) vanilla instant pudding

3/4 c  amaretto

1/2 c water

1/2 c vegetable oil

4 large eggs

1/4 tsp pure almond extract

Glaze and Garnish

1 c powdered sugar, sifted (I'd be too lazy to sift.)

3 1/2 TBSP Amaretto

1/3 c slivered almonds, toasted

1.   Preheat oven to 350. Mist 10 in. tube pan with spray and dust with flour.

2.  Blend all cake ingredients on low for 1 min.  Scrape sides of bowl and beat on medium for 2 more minutes.

3.  Pour batter into the pan with a rubber spatula.  

4.  Bake 48-52 minutes until golden brown.

5.  Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes.  Run a sharp knife around the edge and invert onto rack, then again onto serving plate.

6.  Mix powdered sugar and Amaretto.  Drizzle over warm cake.  Scatter toasted almonds over the top.  Allow to cake to cool before slicing.

If you don't feel like making this cake, you could always just buy some Amaretto.  My Dad assures me that it's quite tasty all on it's own.

Here are some other Birthday highlights:

cute new shoes...

a comfy sweater...

And a new cookbook!

Christmas Reading Challenge

I've been checking out book blogs lately and came across The True Book Addict: Christmas Reading Challenge.  Since I've already purchased several holiday books, I decided to sign up for fun.  It starts on Thanksgiving and runs until New Year's.  You only have to read 1-3 books.  Join us! 

Here are my picks:

The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans

An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Glad Tidings by Debbie Macomber

Tidings of Great Joy by Sandra Brown

By the way, this is last year's tree.  I don't believe in putting up the tree until after Thanksgiving, but I do know people who have already put theirs up...you know who you are!

Window Washing: Eliminating Nose Prints, Handprints, and Misc. Goo

Windows do not stay clean at my house.  They are always smudged.   I yell.  I plead.  I shake my finger.  I am ignored.

Here are The Culprits:

After a few years of buying window cleaner at the store, I finally learned a better way...a cheaper way...a less chemical way.  It doesn't leave streaks.  It doesn't leave paper towel lint.  It is the way professional window cleaners do it.  (My Father-In Law asked one.) 

Here's what you need:

A bucket

Liquid dish soap

Water

Squeegee 

Window Scrubber (Found in the car washing area at Wal-mart)

An old bath towel

Here is what you do:

1. Fill your bucket with soap and water.

2. Dip your scrubber in and scrub the window all over.

3. Dip your fingertips in water and rub along the blade of the squeegee.  This will make the squeegee glide smoothly down the window.

4. Start at the top on one side and in one stroke and with moderate pressure, drag the squeegee down the window.

5. Wipe the excess water off the blade of the squeegee with one swipe of the towel.

6. Squeegee the other side.

7. Clean-up any excess dripping water with a swipe of the towel along the edges of the window. 

8. Repeat, repeat, repeat.....

Mitford Series Week 2: Louella's Buttermilk Chess Pie

You, like me, may be wondering why this pie is called chess pie.  After looking it up on Wikipedia, I learned that no one really knows why it's called that, but there are a few theories. One is that the look and consistency of the pie is like that of soft cheese.  After making this pie, it seems like a plausible explanation.  It is a cross between a sugar cream pie and a custard pie...very sweet and very eggy and looks a little like soft cheese.  Another theory is that the pie kept well in a pie chest.  Chest pie turned to chess pie eventually.  The last is my favorite. Once there was a clever housewife (domestic engineer) who created a new type of pie.  When her husband wanted to know what her delicious new creation was called, her not so clever answer was "It's jes pie."  Just pie in a southern accent turned into Chess pie eventually.  It is an apt name for this pie.  It's not too fancy, but it's oh so tasty.  If you don't want to make this pie, please take note of the pie crust recipe, also from the Mitford Cookbook.  It is the perfect crust and would please the pickiest 4-H judges in the "flakiness" category.  

Louella's Buttermilk Chess Pie

(from Jan Karon's "A Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader" pg. 128)

1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled, more for greasing the pie pan

1/2 recipe Pastry for a Double Crust (see below)

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 TBSP all-purpose flour

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup buttermilk (I used low-fat.)

1 TBSP fresh lemon juice (I used lime)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Dash of nutmeg

Dash of salt

1.  Butter your pie dish.  I like to use clear so that I can see if the crust is done on the bottom.Roll out crust and press into dish.  

2.  Mix sugar and flour.  Add beaten eggs.  Add the butter and buttermilk.  Mix well after each addition.

3.  Stir in the lemon juice, vanilla, nutmeg, and salt.

4.  Pour into the crust and bake at 400 for 15 min.  Then lower heat to 350 and bake for 35-40 minutes.  Mine actually went for 45 minutes.  It will be lightly browned on the top...kind of reminded me of creme brulee in appearance. Cool before serving.

It is very good slightly warm.  I stored the leftovers in the fridge, and it made a very tasty, if unhealthy breakfast.  

Pastry for a Double Pie Crust

(From Jan Karon's "A Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader" pg 4)

***Remember to halve this recipe if making this pie.

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1/2 cup butter chilled and diced

1/2 cup shortening chilled and diced

1 TBSP sour cream

4-5 TBSP ice water.

1. Place flour, salt and sugar in large food processor and mix.

2. Add butter and quickly pulse five times.  Repeat separately with shortening and then sour cream.

3. Pour into a large bowl and add ice water until dough starts to form.  Form into two disks and place in the fridge to cool for 30 minutes.  (If you half the recipe, make just one disk.)  

The recipe suggests cooling the crust for 30 more minutes after you put it in the pie dish.  I worked quickly and didn't have to do this.

Insanely Delicious Apple Streusel

This is one of  the best apple recipes ever, and it is very simple to make. Here is the link:  http://www.ourbestbites.com/2009/05/apple-streusel-bars.html