recipes

I’ve always loved ginger cookies this time of year. To me they are the quintessential Christmas cookie. So when I overheard Hadley’s music teacher raving about a ginger cookie recipe I had to inquire. Turns out it’s her good friend’s recipe. A recipe that was the recipient of Good Morning America’s Christmas Cookie Contest a few years back. I couldn’t wait to try it out. I was putting together a Holiday gift for the kids’ teachers and thought the cookies would be the perfect addition.

I envisioned myself in my grandmother’s apron, Bing Crosby crooning on the iPod, Carson and I singing along as we mixed the ingredients together and Miss Hadley at my feet clanking measuring cups.

In real life: I started the project, Hadley had a meltdown, Carson quickly lost interest, I needed to rush downstairs to make a work deadline, and Jason stepped in. Baking them to perfection.

We delivered the packages last week and as Carson presented the gift bags to his teachers he promptly informed them of the contents.

There’s cookies in there!

There are? Did you help make them?

I did! With my dad! Mama didn’t help.

Just as with the fruit preserves, rocking chair, onesie gifts and countless other projects I embark on with the best of intentions, Jason bailed me out once again. As hard as I try, I can’t compete. He’ll always be The Domestic One. But I can still make a mean smoothie.

The cookies really are melt-in-your-mouth fabulous. They will definitely be my go-to recipe. The key is not to over bake them. I did end up rolling and baking a pan myself, so I can speak from experience.

Crinkle Top Cookies
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups granulated sugar (divided)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp.salt
1/4 cup dark molasses
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground ginger (more if you’re a ginger junkie like myself)
1 tsp. ground cloves
2 cups all- purpose flour
1 cup raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the shortening, 1 cup of sugar and egg. Add the molasses, salt, baking soda, ginger, clove, flour and raisins. Cream together. Form into walnut size balls, roll in remaining sugar and place on un-greased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 min. Be careful not to overbake. Better to underbake than overbake. They should be chewy. Remove to rack after baking to cool. Enjoy!

When I first met Jason, it was a couple weeks shy of Thanksgiving. From that holiday forward I’ve heard about his mother’s amazing homemade pies. A couple years into our relationship when I finally tasted a slice for myself I realized he was not exaggerating. The woman has some sweet pie baking karma. Slices of heaven. And it’s all about the crust. The flaky, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth crust. Perfection. So when it came to knocking of #26 on my list I naturally turned to her to teach me the art of pie making.

She spent a couple hours in my kitchen this weekend patiently teaching me how to cut in the shortening (I didn’t even know what that term meant until now), and roll out the perfect pie crust (it helps to roll gently). I think it will take some practice to perfect it on my own but she graciously told me I’ve got potential.

No Fail Pie Crust
5 cups flour
1 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
water
2 1/4 cup shortening

Mix flour sugar and salt. Cut shortening into flour mixture. In a 1 cup measuring cup beat 1 egg slightly. Add 1 tsp. white vinegar and fill with ice cold water. Add to flour and shortening mixture until mixed well. Will keep a week in refrigerator. May freeze; thaw before using.

Yield: 6 single crusts for 9-inch pies; perhaps 7 for smaller pie plates.

He’s The Domestic One

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