Not So Soft Gingersnaps

The actual name of these cookies is Soft Gingersnaps, but there's too much crunchiness for them to be called soft, plus having soft along with 'snaps' seems like an oxymoron to me, so my new name for them is Not So Soft Gingersnaps. I will admit that they're semi-soft in the middle, but not enough to let the word sneak into the name of the cookie. I'm weird like that, and in other ways too, but that's for another post. Anyway, these cookies have a nice bite to them, and are quite good, if I do say so myself. I got the recipe off of allrecipes.com. You can click here for the recipe, or you can just get it off this here blog.

I made these for Thanksgiving. I took some of them to Thanksgiving festivities and left some at home, and we're still eatin' on 'em. This recipe makes A WHOLE BUNCH of 'em. You may want to do half the recipe. I made the dough early on Thanksgiving, baked half of them, and put the remaining batter in the fridge and finished them up the next day.

Here's the recipe...

Ingredients:



1 - 1/2 Cups Butter (no substitutes), softened (i always use no-salt butter when baking)

2 Cups Sugar

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup Molasses

4 - 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

3 Teaspoons Baking Soda

2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

1 Teaspoon Ground Cloves

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

Additional Sugar - This is to roll the cookies in before baking.

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and nutmeg; gradually add to creamed mixture. *Refrigerate for 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.

Roll into **1-inch balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 - 12 minutes or until puffy and lightly browned. Cool for 1 minute before removing to wire racks.

* I was in a hurry when I made them, so I ended up putting the dough in the freezer so I wouldn't have to let them sit so long before rolling them; this worked for me. Just thought you might like to know if you're in a hurry when baking them.

** I rolled most of the cookies into 1 inch rolls, but did make some bigger, and baked them for the same amount of time as the smaller ones, and they came out just fine; so if you like a bigger cookie, go for it.

The cookies below are 1 inch in size and rolled in sugar.



I think these would make nice Christmas cookies.

Black Friday Blues

We looked at the Black Friday sales ads the day before... we had it all planned out... we got up before the break of dawn(the other two did, i, the serious one, stayed up all night), but we came home with only two items(neither was the main item we had hoped to obtain), tired feet, and a fret of ever having to meet up again with non-early morning people.

Our first stop was Wal-Mart. I can't even begin to describe what the crowd and lines were like, let's just say if the smoke alarm had gone off, we probably all would have been goners... you couldn't move an inch without bumping into someone, and believe me when I say that most, if not all, of the people there were not morning people. It was a challenge to just move around, much less find the item you wanted and check-out. By the time we got there, it was between 4:30 and 5am(this store is open 24 hours, the sale started at 5am), and all the laptops that we were interested in were gone. We did, however, get a blu-ray DVD player at a really good price. Ask us if we would go through the same hassle again to get one... the answer would be an unequivocal no.

We went to the fabric area of the store to get some breathing room(no claustrophobic should attempt Black Friday), and to take a break before heading back into rush hour pedestrian traffic. Caitie was eyeing some red yarn she wants to get the cats for Christmas. After leaving Wal-Mart, we headed to Lowe's. Michael wanted to get some shelves for the garage; they were listed at a good price. There wasn't much of a crowd there, thank goodness, so we went in, found the item, and departed. It was very pleasant. We also went to Kohl's(we found caitie hadn't been strapped in her carseat on the card ride from lowe's to kohl's; it's still a mystery how that happened); the crowd was almost as bad as it was at Wal-Mart, so we hightailed it outta there(we made sure caitie was strapped in this time). The next stop was Staples. Michael wanted to look at a labeler that was on sale(everybody should have a labeler; it just makes life easier); it was a good price, but the labels were expensive, so he decided to pass on it. Staples is in the Target parking lot, so we planned on going there next, but when I saw where we had to park, which was a county over, I asked Michael to keep his foot on the gas pedal and get us out of there. He obliged. Our final shopping stop of the morning was Best Buy(we found a decent parking space, otherwise we would have hightailed it out of there too). We found some DVD's we wanted, but the check-out line was the last straw for us, it was a mile long, so we put the items back, and ran to the truck, sank into our seats and listened to a donkey Christmas song on the radio before heading to Whataburger to get some breakfast. Once home, we ate, watched a movie and collapsed. After relaxing for a bit, I finished baking some cookies from dough left over from the day before; more on this in an upcoming post.



That evening we headed back out. We always go to Target and Fry's Electronics on Black Friday, it's tradition. Most of the early morning sales were over, but some stores had sales that continued through the day. We stopped at Fry's Electronics first; we saw this Coke display outside the snack shop. I decided it was a good photo-op, so I told asked Caitie to stand in front of it so I could get a pic. Not everyone thought it was a good place to get a pic; someone that walked by commented on how it was a bad place to try and get a pic, this was said with irritation in their voice. It had to have been an early mornin' shopper, the kind that doesn't do mornings; I think I was their 'last straw' of the day. ha

Caitie always checks out the keyboards(i think I took a similar pic last year). We were at this Fry's Electronics a week ago and looked at a karaoke machine; Caitie loved it. We were hoping it was still there and that the price had dropped, but it was gone. We then headed to Target, got some popcorn(yum) and walked through the store. We got some DVD's and a book for me, then headed home. We were worn out. Just having it fresh in my mind from writing all this wears me out. Will we do Black Friday again next year? The answer would be an unequivocal yes. It's tradition, and yes, we're crazy like that.

Gobble, Gobble

I didn't get many pics on Thanksgiving, and of the few I did get, only a few of those few came out halfway decent; this is due to my questionable photography ability and also due to trying to get people from behind(not everyone is crazy about having their face exposed to the blog world), which isn't easy, so I got maybe one or two. Here are a few of the few...



I had just done Caitie's fingernails with glittery fingernail polish; this was her first time ever having her nails polished. I would be outdone later that day, as you will see below.



There's a couple of reasons for this pic, first, take a look at the entertainment center, Michael's brother is building it from scratch. It looks like an expensive one you would find in an upscale furniture store. He's still working on it. Second, Michael, his brother and his dad are looking at my wedding ring. Why, you ask? Well, here's the deal... a few days before this, Michael moved a rug that was getting in the way of one of our master bath closet sliding doors; up until this point, whenever we opened or closed this door, we would have to use a lot of muscle power since the rug was pressed against it. The night before Thanksgiving, I was closing that door, and had forgotten about the rug being removed, well, I used the same force I had always used, and let me tell ya, that door went a flyin', and smashed my hand into the wall... I mean it hit hard, I think it shook the house. What I noticed afterwards wasn't pretty... my wedding ring had taken the brunt of the force, which sent my engagement ring's diamond flying and smashed the prongs that held it in, and both bands of my rings were pushed in. The ring probably saved my hand from being smashed. I'll always be grateful to it, but at the time I was thinking of how I now had the perfect excuse to upgrade my ring; my wedding anniversary being next week didn't hurt either(what timing). Some might say I planned it... ummm... no, I wouldn't do a thing like that... really, I wouldn't. But it didn't matter because I'm the sentimental type, and didn't want it replaced, plus it is a nice ring, so I was hoping there was a way it could be repaired. This is what Michael's brother is doing in this pic, he's trying to repair it. An interesting part to this story... the day before the smashing ring incident, I came across my first wedding band and promise ring; I found them when looking through things we had in storage. I hadn't seen them in a long time. The timing was interesting, to say the least. I'm wearing them until my wedding ring is checked out.

He did a good job. He fixed the prongs and got the diamond back in and aslo fixed the shape of the bands. We're going to have a jeweler look at it to make sure the diamond is in securely; we all decided this was best since Michael's brother had a few beers before working on it. ha

One of Caitie's cousins did her nails in bright red. They really stand out against her fair skin. She also put a bit of makeup on her. Bright red nail polish, sitting on a pool table holding a ball... not your typical Thanksgiving pic.

Lucky Little Donkey

Enjoying the first half of bath time

Here is Caitie enjoying the first half of her bath. These are the 'before shampoo' pics... she's a giddy, happy, playful, little girl.


You didn't really think I'd show the 'after shampoo' pics, did you? Let's just say the 'giddy, happy, playful' description doesn't work for those pics. Caitie still doesn't like to have her hair washed.

Sold! to Bidder # 880

We went to an auction on Saturday; we attend this particular auction occasionally. The weather was wonderful. Here are some pics and details...



A wheely cool pic, don't ya think?(sorry, couldn't help it) This was the wheel on a big rig up for auction. We were sitting next to it looking at the auction catalog to see where to go next when I caught a glimpse of us in the wheel; I thought it made for an interesting pic.



Caitie's a tractor gal; she loves John Deere. Caitie asked a lot of questions about different parts on this tractor; she likes to know how things work.



Michael and his dad took notice of this antique gas pump while walking through the auction lot on preview day; these are held on the Thursday and Friday before the auction on Saturday. Michael's dad was interested in it.

I thought about bidding on these festive hens, but I refrained. They were hard to pass up; I was picturing them under our tree in the front yard. ummm... yeah...

This dog looked interested in the hens too; I have a feeling his reason of interest was different than mine.

The gas pump was open for bids... the orange sign is on top of it. We were interested in the windmill blades and stand behind it, but we didn't bid on those items. They were being auctioned off separately; I guess with the hopes of bringing in more money. You wouldn't want one without the other.

Guess what... we finally won something! Michael was the highest bidder on the antique gas pump; it sold for $200. Remember this post about another auction we attended? I said I wouldn't know what to do with the gas pumps had we bid on them and won... well, we now have a gas pump. I guess it can always go in the front yard as part of the landscape decor, as I mentioned in that other post. Actually, we got it for Michael's dad. His dad was glad we won it; he and Michael plan on fixing it up and selling it. (just in case you're wondering... 880 was Michael's bidder number)

Ain't it purty? We're not sure of the year, but we're almost certain it's a 1956... it's so old that it has a hand-crank on it; in the old days the attendant had to turn the crank to reset the pump for the next sale. Fun, fun. I love things from long ago... so much history attached to them. While we were in the antique area, the auctioneer announced that there would be an antique auction held in February; I can't wait! I'm sure our bank account could though.

I kept seeing this old man, mostly in the antique and tractor areas. I kept trying to get a pic of him, I thought his face had character, but he looked down a lot, so I just snapped this pic real quick. Looks like he might be a Vietnam Vet(going by his baseball hat), and possibly served in other wars as well due to his age.

Caitie takes a closer look at our new, old, gas pump.

We thought about bidding on this antique washer, it went for only $20, but we had to think fast, and didn't know what to do with it, so passed on it. Michael's dad and brother said we should have bid on it since it could be fixed up and sold at a pretty good price.

We took a break after our big win and went to Circle K for Michael to get a soda and to get a snack for Caitie, and me too(shame on me... we got candy bars). We also went to Jack-in-the-Box to get some burgers; I haven't had their burgers since way back when there was an e-coli scare, I believe it was back in the late 70's, or maybe early 80's. Let's just say I'm cautious. On our way back we went up Thomas Road near 67th Avenue and passed the apartments Michael and I used to live in, it was our first place together after we were married; the name had changed, but otherwise, it looked pretty much the same. Across the street from the apartments was Thomas Road Baptist Church. I didn't even realize we were in that area until I saw the church; it's been a long time since we've been out that way. I used to go there with my family, way back when, and would bring Michael along occasionally; this was before we were married. It looks the same, yet different, if that makes any sense. It brought back memories of days long ago.

When we got back to the auction we headed over to some trailers we were interested in bidding on. We went inside them to check them out. See Caitie way at the back there? It's a pretty deep trailer. We're wanting to get either a storage container or a trailer to put up on our property to be used for storage. The stuff we have in our trailer up north now will be moved to the storage container/trailer. We didn't end up bidding on these. This one was 45 feet deep, and 8 feet wide, I believe.

This is the other trailer, it was 40 feet deep, and the same width as the other one, I believe. Caitie enjoyed playing in them.

Here is one we wished we hadn't passed on... it's an ol' Doodlebug(gotta love the name) antique car that may have been converted into a tractor(click here to see what a decent doodlebug car/tractor looks like; view second pic down). We're talking one of the first cars ever made, by the looks of it. I fell in love with it... so much history there. Caitie liked 'driving' it. The drive train was in place, the only things missing were the seat and some of the body parts, hood, doors, etc. At least it had a piece of wood to sit on; Michael said his dad suggested putting a couch on it(picture granny from the beverly hillbillies). ha

Caitie and her daddy still on a 'test drive'.

A trip to Discount Tire may be in order.

I miss the ol' Doodlebug.

I think the auctioneer guy was hoping we would bid on it, he kept looking our way; it went for only $175, which is shocking to me. We're talking history here, people. When Michael told his dad and brother about it, they got on to him for not having bid on it, especially since it went so cheap. It would have been a neat project for all of them to work on together. Oh well... you live and learn.

Michael is doing the paperwork for the gas pump. You can't miss him, he's the one in the farmer's hat; he'd be a cute farmer, don't ya think?

Michael is giving the ol' gas pump a love tap. Well, not really... he's just giving it a look-over before heading out.

This is Caitie's favorite stuffed animal. We got it for her on our trip to Disneyland this last May. She takes it everywhere. To lose it would be dreadful...



which almost happened on our way out... the police officer in this pic told us we dropped something, and when we turned around to see what it was, it was ol' little donkey Eeyore. Thanks, Mr. Policeman, for noticing. Policemen are worth our tax dollars and more... much, much more. We spent all morning and part of the afternoon at the auction, and enjoyed every minute of it.

So...

It's morning...

I don't do mornings.



But good morning anyway.

Bye Lou Dobbs and CNN

I told Michael just last week how much I liked watching the Lou Dobbs show on CNN; this was right before Lou Dobbs announced his resignation from CNN on Wednesday night. I thought he was a strange fit for CNN, but he's the only reason to watch that news station; now that he's leaving, there is NO REASON to watch it. A spokesperson for CNN said they give unbiased news and Lou Dobbs' strong opinions on certain issues, which usually came from a conservative perspective, wasn't going along with the 'unbiased' theme... this was the reason they agreed to let Lou Dobbs go(it was amicable)... ummm, what?!? They're unbiased? News to me, no pun intended, or maybe it is. Give me a break, CNN, I think anyone with a lick of sense can see the left-liberal ideological nonsense coming across in subtle undertones on your station, or the not so subtle undertones on Anderson Cooper 360 and Campbell Brown.

I guess I shouldn't have put bye to Lou Dobbs in the post title, he still has his radio talk show, and I'm sure he'll be showing up somewhere to talk about real news and what's important in the lives of the American people today, but it is time to say bye to CNN, the best known Complete Nonsense News station.

Just had to get that out of my system. Thank you for listening reading.

Blog Recommendation

I've been reading the Coffee, Tea, Books & Me blog for quite a while, and thought you might like to read it as well. It's interesting and brings a feeling of calm and tranquility on those stressful days. Take a look, see what you think. Be sure and have the volume on, there's also nice, calming music to listen to; this makes the visit all the more enjoyable.

Here is the blog heading picture; it was in one of her posts and then became the blog header. What a beautiful picture of autumn... love it. You can either Click here or on the blog name above to view the blog.

Oatmeal Scotchies

Of all the cookies I make, these are Michael's favorite. He can eat chocolate, no problem... no skin problems, no gaining weight, no nothin'... it's pathetic, really. Here he can have chocolate, and his favorite cookies are Oatmeal Scotchies. Does it sound like I have a problem with this? If you said yes, you would be right. It's just not fair, I tell ya! But I still make them for him, and I even eat one or two or twenty of 'em; they're pretty tasty. And, of course, Caitie likes them too, but if she had her choice, she would ask me to make chocolate chip cookies; they're her favorite and mine too... there's chocolate in 'em (it's a girl thing)... enough said. You can get the recipe off the back of the Nestle butterscotch morsels bag, or you can just get the recipe off this here blog.

I got a nice compliment from Michael and his cousin when they were returning from our property up north; they had spent two days working on the wiring in our trailer and were heading home, Michael called and told me how good the cookies were and how he wished he had picked up both bags of cookies on his way out instead of just one. He said they were yummy and he and his cousin wished they had more. You can't get a much better compliment than that. We're talking two carnivore, baked potato stuffed with everything on the planet, soda slurpin', too manly for sweets, kinda guys. Maybe the saying is true... "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach"... these cookies are magical. Maybe I should make these right before asking Michael to do a major task around the house... hmmm... food for thought. Anyway, here's the magical recipe...

Ingredients:

1 - 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter (i use no-salt butter) or margarine, softened (if i forget to put the butter out to soften before baking, i put it in the microwave on the 'toppings' setting for two items, it usually comes out just right. if you try this, and it's the first time, be sure and check it a few seconds in, and keeping checking it to make sure it's not melting, it just needs to soften a bit)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract or grated peel of 1 orange

3 cups quick or old-fashioned oats

1 - 2/3 cups (11 oz pkg) Nestle(any brand will do) butterscotch morsels

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in small bowl. Beat(i use a hand mixer) butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl. Gradually beat(i use a hand mixer) in flour mixture. Stir in oats and morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes for chewy cookies; 9 to 10 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.



Looks more like canned salmon, but I assure you, this is the cookie dough.



I usually put about eight cookies per cookie sheet, and space them nicely.

Here's my little helper; she makes clean up a breeze.

Caitie couldn't wait to try a cookie; she blew on it to cool it down enough to take a bite. What can I say? I make a mean cookie... at least that's what my family tells me(just as you read above); I give them no reason to feel the need to please me... really, I don't.

The cookies are ready for the cat cookie jar; most of them ended up in ziploc bags though, it's hard to break that habit. I store most food items in ziploc bags instead of their proper containers. I'm hooked on paper, styrofoam, and plastic when it comes to serving food/drink, and storing food.