recipe

I’m super lucky to have Ben. He’s a wonderful husband, loving father, a handy man, our accountant, deep cleaner, and our in-house baker. Yep, he can do almost anything. Which sometimes makes me jealous, but then I remember I benefit from his awesomeness.

And today, you get to benefit from his awesomeness, too. After posting a picture of his ginger cookies (that’s what she said) I asked if I could share. Ben said yes, so here it is.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

4 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup applesauce

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup molasses

3/4 cup sugar, for dipping

Optional: 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter on low-speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat until combined. Beat in eggs and molasses until combined. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as possible, then stir in any remaining flour.

3. Shape into 2 inch dough balls. Roll in sugar. Bonus points if you have large sugar crystals.

4. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, smooshing balls to about half height.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 11 to 14 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned and tops start to crack. Do not overbake. Cool on the cookie sheet a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Store the cookies in an air tight container. If you don’t scarf the cookies down right away and they start to dry out, add a slice of bread to the container to keep moist.

I’m not even a big fan of ginger, but these cookies are excellent. And the epitome of fall, in my opinion.

What’s your favorite type of cookie? Do you prefer something with chocolate? Nuts? Fruit or oatmeal? Spill!

When we teamed up with E-Mealz for a food related giveaway, I had to ask what your favorite easy meal or appetizer is to make.

Personally, I love delicious bread, roasted garlic (takes a while, but really easy), and a wheel of Brie cheese. Lightly toast the bread, squeeze the garlic out, spread on the bread, and top with warm Brie. Delicious and it seems fancier than it really is. Our winner, number 27, Liz, planned to make a chili cheese dog dip for the Super Bowl. Liz, how was it?

I also knew this was the perfect time to share a recipe, as a few of you requested. So, here it is, my version of Gordon Ramsay’s carrot soup.

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons butter {or 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter and 1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil}

1 large onion, chopped

3 or 4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped {substitute 1 to 1 1/2 Tablespoons garlic powder for fresh garlic}

5 cups carrots, peeled and chopped

3 fourteen ounce cans chicken or vegetable stock

1 Tablespoon parsley {fresh or dried}

3 Tablespoons orange juice (fresh or concentrate}

5 to 8 ounces sour cream {or get fancy and use crème fraîche}

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper {more or less to taste}

pinch of nutmeg

Instructions:

1. In a large pan, heat the butter and sautee the onion and garlic for 2 to 3 minutes. Add carrots and stir to coat with butter.

2. Add stock, parsley, and cayenne to the carrot mixture. Let it simmer for an hour. Remove from heat and blend in small batches. Or, get fancy with an immersion blender.

3. Add the orange juice. Ladel into serving bowls and garnish with a scoop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cayenne, nutmeg, and parsley.

Tips: If you’re in a hurry, cut the carrots into 1/2 wide pieces for faster cooking.

Don’t worry about the size of the onion or how uniform it is. Everything goes in the blender.

If you want to make this in a crock pot, follow the instructions, leaving on low for 4 or more hours. You can probably skip sautéed the onion, but I’ve never tried. Though I have successfully made this in the crock pot.

Even if you’re not carrot’s biggest fan, you might like this. What do you think, worth a try? Still interested in seeing our recipes? Haha.