Chewy Ginger Cookies

Can you guys tell that I have a baking problem yet? I really do. After not having a kitchen to really use for over a year I tell myself that I'm making up for it now. Anyway, this will be a short and not-too-sweet post about some delicious ginger cookies. They stay chewy and aren't overly sweet. I'd recommend them for the holidays... or if you're a spiced cookie fiend.

---

Chewy Ginger Cookies

---

Preheat oven to 350°F 3/4 C butter, softened 1/4 C granulated white sugar 1 large egg 1/2 C molasses 2 1/4 C flour 2-3 Tbsp ground ginger 2-3 Tbsp cinnamon 1 tsp ground cloves 1 tsp cayenne pepper 1 tsp cracked black pepper 1 tsp baking powder

Cream the butter with the sugar in a large bowl. Beat in the egg and then the molasses. Sift the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. I would taste the dough at this point and probably add more spice than I listed here because I actually like spicy cookies. Note that you can also add more granulated sugar into the butter. I don't like overly sweet cookies and I felt like the molasses did the trick. Everyone agreed they were perfect but it's up to you! :) In your palms, roll balls just smaller than a ping pong and slightly flatten (about 1/2 to 1/3 inch thickness) onto an ungreased cookie sheet. You can sprinkle the cookies with coconut or even roll in sugar and cinnamon like a snickerdoodle. Pop in the oven for 10 minutes and consume hot with milk or the next day with whipped cream and ice cream. I'm already salivating.

---

If you want to try rolling these cookies out and using cookie cutters, I suggest you chill the dough for an hour or so because it's quite soft.

Modern Cave Woman

I will spare my reasons for another post because I do not feel ready to put them down in e-ink yet. Nevertheless, it's been an interesting past seven months, and while the journey has just begun, I am about to start a new 21 day journey into the Paleo world. Yes, that's right, I'm going to eat like a man from the Paleolithic era for 21 days. Go ahead, denounce it and call me crazy.

It's going to a a crazy and probably emotionally laced journey in which I try to resist all the things I've grown to love (maybe too much). Those things would be all common carbs, legumes, sugar, and dairy products. What does that leave me with? Lots of meat, seafood, eggs, and green things. Goodbye delicious Thai food and Dim Sum (which I have ironically set up a mass group meeting for tomorrow morning-- to torture myself), hello bacon.

Before you totally decide I'm off my rocker, let me leave you with an awesome paleo recipe for Brussels sprouts.





Brussels Sprouts & Bacon

1 lb Brussels sprouts
1/2 large onion (white is what I used)
4 strips thick cut smoked bacon
1-2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
salt & pepper

Take your sprouts and cut the large ones in half and leave the small ones in tact. Steam your sprouts lightly. Take a pan and cook your bacon in it. Once it has turned brow but is not yet crispy, remove it from the pan (do NOT discard the oil) and cut it into small pieces. Finely chop the onion and add it to the bacon oil pan. Cook on medium heat until the onions turn translucent. Add the sprouts, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. When the sprouts are warm and slightly golden add the bacon, stir, and you're done!

Yum. One thing Paleo does is let you eat tons of animal fat. It sounds counter intuitive but you'll just have to read up on it to discover why it works!

jeans + food goodies

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies absolutely divine, especially when hot out of the oven

Sleek a scrumptious Syrian dish

Pumpkin Butter & Apple Spread perfect for the cold weather, the coming of autumn, and topping off your crepe

I had the bus ride from HELL on Saturday!!!! but I got AWESOME new jeans for only 40 bucks! I'll post photos later. Anyway... I've been cooking a lot more in this cold weather, mostly to get warm and to avoid my homework. I guess also because I have an addiction to cooking. If you guys are looking for the recipes to any of these I will gladly post them... I might just do it anyway, but it's getting late and I'm sleepy from all that cooking and my bus ride from hell. :(

Goodnight!

Queen of Mayhem

what is an choctopus?

A choctopus is a chocolate octopus. An example of one of its forms would be chocolate cake with a chilled chocolate gnache.

It was my boyfriends birthday so I made him an octopus cake.







Last year for my birthday I had a cinnamon octopus cake with a butter cream frosting. It was pretty cute and purple.