I'm a little miffed. First I go looking for a particular recipe that Jeph and his NGBF Steven have been nagging me for, and I can't find it. My recipes are pretty organized, so no telling where it's gone to. Merde. Call my Mum. Get her to recite it to me over the phone.
Then I go browsing through the thousands of photos on the hard drive and nope, no photos of these particular cookies. Bugger. So, like it or lump it, this post will be otherwise embellished. The top shot is me and our friend Bradley doing our annual Christmas baking, this year at home here (Conrad samples but otherwise gets out of our way). The bottom shot is the result of some of the baking: jam tartlets and butter tarts.
The recipe follows:
Mum’s ginger cookies
3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp clove
Cream the shortening and sugar. Add egg and molasses. Sift dry ingredients together. Add to wet mixture. Shape into 1” balls. Roll each in sugar. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Don’t overbake. Cookies should be slightly soft when you remove from oven. Makes about 40 cookies.
Notes: I never have shortening on hand, so I just use unsalted butter. It makes for a crispier cookie, but still a good one! The recipe is easily scaled up.
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12 comments:
Oh these look good. My feelings on shortening are this.. If you're not a commercial bakery and you need shelf stable product then butter is the way to go. The less said about margarine, the better.
that should read "and you don't need shelf stable product"... to much wine with dinner.
Too much wine with dinner? Nonsense!
I agree with you on the margarine. Shortening is not something I bother with either, not even for pastry, though I know the pros and cons of using it in baking to some extent. Mum uses shortening, and the cookies do turn out really well for her, but in this kitchen, it WILL be butter!
:-)
Don't get me started on pastry. This is a butter and lard kitchen only! There is ONE use for shortening, it is superb for seasoning a cast iron pan.
As for too much wine, I really shouldn't drink an entire bottle myself and I did buy the remastered Brian Eno/David Byrne CD My Life in The Bush of Ghosts and if there's any regrets it'll be that they decided that including the trackQ'uran might offend Islamic sensibilities; which is ridiculous since it's on the 1981 pressing and the British CD as well. So stupid.
Steven, two thingss (wow, that's assuming you make it back this way!):
1. An entire bottle? That good? What was it?
2. Shortening is good for french fries, I believe. I think my Mum passed that understanding along to me. I recently had fries made with duck fat, though: kick ass!
:-)
1. Famiglia Anselma 2000, it was very good and I really didn't mean to drink it all, but I never get around to drinking the last glass when I save it and it ends up in the vinegar jug.
2. Shortening is okay for fries, but I like corn oil better and a 50-50 mix of oil and beef tallow better. I love potatoes in duck fat, but if you really want to get to know a cardiologist really well try potatoes fried in goose fat.
btw, the wine was a Barolo. I never get all the information into one comment.
I'm not too familiar with Italian wines, I admit, though I cringe at the thought of the sour watery stuff that goes by the name "pinot grigio". It's a shame since I've had some Oregon and British Columbia pinot gris that have had character.
We'll be back in Vancouver for a few days next month, so we'll be shopping for more wine there!
I never make fries at home, by the way. And heck, duck fat once in a very long while can't be all that bad!
There's some real scary stuff being served by the glass in chain restaurants that is technically Pinot Grigio, but is better used as a solvent. I'm mad for Italian wines and I use good people when I buy it.
I have not been to Vancouver I am ashamed to say. Everyone tells me I need to go.
I'll add to the chorus of people telling you to go to Vancouver. Beautiful city, good restaurants, very walkable, BC wines are better than you might guess. Get there sometime, okay?!?!
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