Deep Dark Honey Molasses Ginger Unsnaps

After lots of other disappointments trying to substitute honey for the sugar in recipes, I’ve finally hit upon a success!

My little  helper and I set out to bake some ginger snaps using my mom’s recipe (a spicy family favorite).  The recipe  calls for 1 c. brown sugar, so I used 3/4 c. local raw honey.  I ended up adding a few tablespoons of flour in after all the ingredients were mixed together, but only until it didn’t feel so wet. Here is a photo of the dough at the right consistency:

You may be tempted to add more flour, and you will end up with a more puffy, cakey cookie if you do. At this point, you MUST chill the dough, or you won’t be able to roll it into balls. You must also lick the beaters and the spatula.

Note to self: NO SUGAR for this kid. Even honey. He was so cranky for the next hour, and couldn’t fall asleep for another hour after that.

I won’t be winning any foodie bloggy awards for these pictures, but you can trust that these cookies are delicious straight out of the oven and stay moist all day.

Deep Dark Honey Molasses Ginger Unsnaps

350 degrees, 9-12 minutes

In your kitchenaid (with paddle attachment), CREAM:

• 1 egg
• 3/4 c. raw honey
• 3/4 c. softened butter
• 1/3 c. molasses

In another bowl, SIFT:

• 2 c. all purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• a dash of nutmeg

Add flour mixture to honey mixture, mix well, then add a few spoonfuls of flour as needed, just until dough is no longer wet. CHILL well. Roll into 1-inch balls, cookies will flatten as they cook.

These cookies are so dark that you must tell doneness by texture rather than color. When they progress from spongy to firm-spongy, they’re done!

Stirrings-Mantel Display

I have really enjoyed my Stirrings Collaboration with new friend Jen from Painted Fish Studio, in which we’ve been looking for signs of spring. We’ve both known all along that spring comes sooner to Salt Lake City than to the midwest. So just as I’m thinking of wrapping up my contributions to the project, I’m looking forward to seeing more photos from her warming  climate.

In a time of year when I might have been discouraged or gloomy about the grayness of late winter, or the dampness of very early spring, instead I was encouraged to notice, to observe a quickening, to hope for small signs, and to share the sweet burgeoning of spring.  To me it has felt like a long, delicious season, when some around me are still complaining about the crispness at mid-morning.

Salt Lake’s spring is in full force, now. In bloom, in leaf, in music. From here, summer is so close at hand, a rapid ascent into often triple-digit clay oven conditions. Life is rampant and the birdsong is worth waking up for.

I want to thank Jen for co-publishing with me, and I hope to show you more of her thoughts and photos as winter withdraws from her neighborhood. I hope she feels spring as luxuriously as I have this year!

P.S. The flowers above sit on our new mantel, now installed in the great room, atop oiled floors and freshly painted buttery yellow walls.

We turned on the gas flame to test it and immediately turned it off: the season for that has passed. Something to look forward to in 6 months!

Tung Oil Floor

Because I work for a school, I actually get to take this thing called “Spring Break”, which I’d only ever heard about when I worked more corporate jobs. In the past, Zach and I have traveled, or camped, or otherwise vacationed. This time, though, Zach was determined to take care of the last, biggest project of home improvement: refinishing the hardwood floors in two adjoining rooms on the main floor (used to be three rooms before this renovation).

This is what the floor looked like in two rooms before we moved into the house (Zach had to completely clean the whole place…that was part of the reason we got a good deal). This was one of the only places the floor was even visible beneath the garbage:

One room was covered in pee-soaked gray carpet with cigarette burns. Underneath the carpet was awful linoleum tile that Zach pried up early on. He had to sand down glue squiggles. Last year we painted that floor a glossy chocolate brown as an interim solution to the UGLY. Here is a great “before” shot showing the state of the hardwood floor, the chocolate dining room floor (now showing a lot of wear), and the new patch Zach had to make in order to replace a piece of plywood that had been acting as a temporary patch and “lid” to our crawlspace. View: southwest.

Zach spent days sanding the floor (all red oak), and putting wood putty into every little flaw and crack. For perspective, just behind that black garbage can you can barely find the floor patch. View: west.

Then, each day for 5 days, he spent 5 hours on his hands and knees, removing every little dog and cat hair and then rubbing tung oil into the wood. Here is the first pass of many. View: north.

We are so pleased with how the oil made the wood grain pop, and how shiny it is now that it’s finished!

Oh, the work, though. It never ends. Mouldings are next. I am so thankful to have such a hard-working husband!

Stirrings: A letter from Jen

Jen, my springtime collaborator at Painted Fish Studio is finally feeling the warmth in the Midwest. Check out her tulips.

Rock Hunting

My mom has such a way with toddlers. At the end of a long spring break, when I didn’t know what to do next to keep the Boogedy occupied, mom announced that they were going for a walk around her apartment complex to look for rocks to put in the “rock bag”.

“Rock Bag Rock Bag!” the Boogedy repeated excitedly to himself.

They searched for the best rocks:

They put ‘em in the Rock Bag (!):

Then, we came home and she gave him a bowl of soapy water and a scrub brush to wash the rocks.

After the rocks were toweled and put on display in a plastic bin, I realized that the rock game occupied him for more than an hour! What a smart grandma!

Easter Recap

Forgot to post these pics earlier…

On Easter Sunday I got up and made a lemon cake with cream cheese frosting, coconut flakes, whopper eggs, and some kind of gross edible easter grass. This was more sugary and less “whole food” than I usually do (especially considering I used box mixes), but the end result sure was pretty!

I went early to my sister’s house to play Liar’s Dice (Perudo) with my niece and nephews. I did some trash-talking about how I was going to kick some butt and take no prisoners, etc. But I wasn’t there for the warm up rounds and my family is merciless:

I lost all my dice and was completely out of the game on my second turn.

So, I gave up and put the Boogedy down for a nap, fell asleep myself, and didn’t wake up until the lasagna came out of the oven and the garlic bread needed cutting. A yummy meal!

I will have to whollop those nephews at dice another time. mwah ha ha. One can’t be a dice-shark without a humiliating loss to make your naivete more believable!

Florida Sunshine Quilt

Several weeks ago my nephew Josh and I helped my mom lay out a quilt on the floor of the clubhouse at her apartment complex. This is an “Orange Peel” quilt, and my mom spent many years of her childhood in Florida, so she named it “Florida Sunshine”.

On Easter we took photos of the finished (GORGEOUS!) product. She wanted me to show it off here. I dare you to find a brighter quilt.

Front:

Back:

Detail:

Here we are, Team Florida Sunshine:

Grandma’s House

It’s Spring Break for me and so Zach is using this opportunity to completely sand and refinish the hard wood floors downstairs. Here is a photo of him looking exhausted only 3 days into his labors, and a sneak peek of the floors, now sanded and puttied:

The good news is that I get to stay at my parent’s house and they get to have some quality time with the Boogedy. Here is my dad getting fed rice cracker snacks…this is the only time I’ve ever seen my father willingly eat peanuts:

My mom went outside and found a little friend for the Boogedy to examine:

And every night we get to sleep under the most glorious quilts ever made. This one is called Venetian Tiles my sister Jeaka made:

I topped that one with a coordinating “Woodland” throw my sister Marian made:

As the Boogedy says, “PECKY BOO!!”

Snakes and Frogs Birthday

The Boogedy’s 2nd birthday was actually in February, but the house was in shambles under construction, so we opted to wait and hold the party once the house was decent again. It was part birthday, part grand re-opening of the house party. The theme was snakes and frogs, inspired by this great hat I made for the Boogedy and a cute froggy invitation we sent to everyone.

Here is the awesome coral snake I made using two chocolate bundt cakes and cream cheese frosting. This was ideal for our family, most of whom do not care much for frosting. The dark sections are unfrosted. This snake is enjoying his frog dinner.

We played a great balloon stomping game where everyone tied a small balloon to their ankle and took off their shoes. Then, they tried to pop everyone else’s balloon while keeping their own balloon safe. The last person to remain unpopped is the winner. This was really fun, but the little kids in attendance were a bit overwhelmed.

Then, we played pin the fly on the frog, using a frog face modeled on the invitation we’d sent out and using hand-drawn flies.

We had visited the wine store the day before and picked out wines based on their labels (the wine specialists on-site do not approve of picking wine by our criteria). Here were some of the possibilities:

We couldn’t find any with snakes on the label! Lots of bicycles and kangaroos. Lots of estates and abstract color blocks. Lots of hoofed animals. But no snakes. So we went with the Nathanson Creek because they had white and red wines for a good price.

We put out some decorations:

And I made a baked potato bar with lots and lots of toppings. About halfway through the evening, Zach lit a bonfire in the backyard firepit and sent someone to the store for s’mores fixins. The weather was just right for sitting outside at night, just nippy enough to appreciate a fire.

It was the nicest (and biggest) party we’ve ever held, and the Boogedy received so many adorable presents. Thanks everybody!!

Happy Birthday Snake Boy!

Last year I made a crazy chicken butt hat for my sweet Boogedy when he turned 1. I knew it would be hard to top. I tossed designs around in my head all year. Zach came up with this idea and it was up to me to research snake markings and design this gluttonous creature. He may be deadly, but perhaps he bit off more than he could swallow!

What you can’t see in this picture is that the hat tapers to a long, skinny snake body that hangs down off the top of the hat to the Boogedy’s neck. I’ll try to get that shot uploaded soon.

To tell if this is a poisonous Coral Snake or the look-alike King Snake, you can use this handy rhyme: Red next to yellow, you’re a dead fellow. Red next to black, You’re OK, Jack!

Happy 2nd birthday Boogedy!!