Happy Birthday, My little six year old!
Hi everyone and please click on the title of this post to read more. What a debate, huh? Let’s leave politics to People Magazine…. Instead, I’d like to tell you about my special friend Hilda’s yearly three generation family kreplach or dumpling making party. Each year around the Jewish New Year, Grandmothers all the way down to grandchildren participate in different aspects of the dumpling making process from rolling the dough to filling the dumplings to closing them. I wish I had had such a tradition growing up. Maybe I’ll start one for my own family. Better yet, maybe I will crash Hilda’s party every year since it is an already established party with roles already given out to each participant (I have heard that only experienced rollers get to roll the dough out).. Hmmmmm, where does she live again?……
Anyhow, many of us have memories of special food moments such as eating delicious food made by a friend or relative growing up and would like to provide those “heirloom” recipes and memories for our own kids. If we can’t even fathom doing such a thing, maybe the first step is to come to terms with the fact that we may have some obstacles and to think about opening up about what those obstacles might be (sort of like when Don Draper of Mad Men surprisingly opened up just a little bit to Roger Sterling in this week’s episode about how relieved he was about having separated from his wife). We can talk to a friend, a relative or even a therapist if need be. It may surprise some of us, but cooking, just like food, can be laden with deep issues.
In addition to coming to terms with some of these cooking obstacles, just doing/cooking can help us feel more comfortable in the kitchen. Easy recipes, such as ones with just a few steps may be just the thing to jolt you into starting your cooking career. Here is a recipe for Ginger-molasses cookies that are perfect for starting your process and just in time for Fall! I got this from some magazine years ago. You basically mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, form into balls and bake. Yes, you will need to buy, take out and measure the ingredients, but those obstacles are for another blog post. Enjoy!
Ginger Molasses Cookies:
Wet ingredients
2 sticks softened butter
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 TBS Molasses
1 Large egg
2TBS water or milk
Dry ingredients
3 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon spice
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger spice
1/2 tsp ground cardamom spice
1/2 tsp ground cloves spice
Beat butter, sugar and molasses until light and smooth. Add egg and water (or milk), blending well. In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Gradually beat dry into wet ingredients, beating just until combined. Remove from bowl and knead briefly. Divide dough into 2 pieces, shape into discs, wrap in saran wrap and put in fridge for at least a couple of hours. Shape about 1 TBS of dough into balls and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet with at least 1″-2″ between the balls. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes or until they start getting golden on the bottom (check with a spatula). Let cool and enjoy!
3 Responses
I loved this blog! I feel very lucky to have a collection of heirloom recipes and try to make them often. my family also has certain heirloom bowls that are ONLY used for such things as “grandma’s potato salad”! The best part is when we get together to talk about or eat these meals we all end up having a good laugh and feel so connected to our past. It makes the actual cooking part fun!
Alma: Another stellar recipe. I had a bottle of molasses in my pantry and thought – what can I make with this? So I did a search on your site.
Our teenaged son and his friend were clearing out our garage (HUGE job) and I brought out a plate. Not only did they eat the plateful of cookies, I caught his buddy in my kitchen, eating crumbs off the cookie tray!
Thanks for keeping it simple, tasty and nutritious.
Allison-I am so glad you like them.They really are great cookies!