Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Gingerbread...finally!

For the past five years or so, I have wanted to make gingerbread; house, men, women, any kind! But December always comes and goes so quickly and I never have the time to bake it.  My mother-in-law even suggested baking it in the summer when I had time and then defrosting it before Christmas.  Awesome idea, yet I never manage to do it.  Since I have some extra helping hands this year, I made it a point to make some.  It took me over a week to completely finish the cookies but I did it and to my surprise, they actually turned out! I had the tiniest bit of tough left over, so I smashed it with a snowflake press and it turned out to be my favorite cookie. Icing on the other hand was impossible to make for some reason.  After three attempts of making icing with egg white and confectioners sugar, I finally just mixed confectioners sugar with a little bit of water to create a paste. The piping bags kept breaking but with a lot of patience all of my gingerbread were given eyes, a mouth, buttons and if they were lucky, clothes.



The dough must be chilled for at least three hours and up to two days.  When the dough is rolled thin, it will bake crisp and almost cracker-like. Yet, when rolled thick, the cookies turn out plump.
Ingredients

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly milled black pepper
  • 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg


Directions
Preheat to 350 degrees F.
Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, salt and pepper into a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and vegetable shortening until well-combined. Add the brown sugar and beat until the mixture is light in texture and color, about 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses and egg. Using a wooden spoon, gradually mix in the flour mixture to make a stiff dough. Divide the dough into two thick disks and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours. 
Bake, switching the positions of the cookies from top to bottom and back to front halfway through baking, until the edges of the cookies are set and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire cake racks to cool completely. 

Friday, December 21, 2012

It Begins...

For about five months now, I have been saying that I wanted to start a blog.  I knew I needed to get it started before Deaglan was born because I figured I'd never get it started after he was born.  Well, here I am finally three months after he arrived to attempt my first post!  I have to thank my brother, Tom, for designing my title graphic.  After he created this for me, I knew I was one step closer to getting this thing started.

It's my hope that I can fill family and friends in on Deaglan (without being too annoying), new recipes, my attempts at DIY projects, or any other simple thing going on in our lives.  Although I am a teacher, my grammar may not always be the best, so please don't judge!  As for my pictures, I am trying to get better with photography but I really just don't have the eye to take really neat photos.  But, practice makes perfect, right?

Here is my quick five month summary:

I wanted to make a collage of baby bump pictures to share with everyone.  I laughed when I searched my pictures because I hardly had any bump photos.  My bump didn't start to show until around 24 weeks or so and even then I felt so tiny up until the day he was born.  I think you get so used to having a stomach that you don't realize when it grows.  Next baby, I will be sure to take pictures week by week so it's more fun to look back on!  Everything with labor and delivery was wonderful.  Luckily, he was a good sleeper when he came home for the first six weeks or so, which gave me time to pack our house.  Yes, that's right.  The day Deaglan was born (he came a week early), we put our house on the market.  We were so glad it sold very quickly because Rory was commuting most days to Baltimore for his new job (which he loves :-) ).  We said goodbye to Northern Virginia and are now living with my parents in Baltimore until we find a house of our own.  At first, the thought of being 26, with a newborn, living at my parents didn't sound ideal.  However, it has been nice to have the extra helping hands around the house and I am not lonely during the day.  It is great that Deaglan can interact with other people than just me!



Right before Thanksgiving, Deaglan started cooing and talking a lot.  Then, the best day, was when I changed his diaper and afterwards he gave me a huge smile!  I knew he wasn't gassy since he just had quite the explosion.  After that, he started smiling more and more and now it just melts my heart to see him laugh and enjoy his surroundings.  He is now 13 weeks old and I can't believe it.  Last week he started teething.  Not fun! Even though it is cute to watch him grab anything he can and put it in his mouth. On a fun note though, the other day he rolled over from his back to his stomach for the first time.  He has only done it twice but nonetheless it is still exciting.  He is also finally enjoying tummy time more and more.  So for now, our day is filled with looking at his stuffed animal bugs, talking, spitting up, smiling, pooping, spitting up, pooping, sleeping, talking, smiling, pooping, did I mention pooping?  I keep waiting for him to start rolling over more but I guess I will still try to enjoy this calm, stationary baby while I can.