A Tragic Event...

I regret to inform my audience of this most tragic event. This afternoon, at 2:27 P.M., Gingy Gingerbreadman committed suicide off of his front porch and died. He and his wife Ginger were sitting on the front porch of their newly built house in Gingerville when the incident occurred. They were in the process of moving their house from their old address at Tableside Drive to their new address on Countertop Lane. We do not know what caused Gingy to take the leap onto the cold tile below. He died from a severe blow to the head along with broken ribs and both of his legs broken. The couple did not have any children. Please pray for the family and the now widowed Ginger Gingerbreadman.

Gingy and his wife Ginger sitting on the front porch of their new home shortly before the accident.

The tragic scene of the crime.

Rachel Scott
Dept. of Safety and Home Baking

Gingerbread House and Recipe!

Usually I decorate a gingerbread house each year before Christmas. You know those Wilton gingerbread house kits. This year we ran out of time before Christmas so I decided to do it after Christmas. And I also used homemade gingerbread pieces. They were so much fun to make! Here is the recipe:

Construction Gingerbread:
(This recipe makes a sturdier cookie used to make houses and other 3-D creations.)
5 cups bread flour
2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tbsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. ground ginger
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 7 tbsp. margarine (I used butter)
3/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. whole milk

1. Stir flour, spices, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.
2. Combine sugar, butter, corn syrup, and milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the butter has completely melted and the mixture is the consistency of thick syrup.
3. Remove from the heat and stir into the center of the dry ingredients until smooth and free of lumps. The dough will be shiny and somewhat sticky.
4. Divide the dough into two portions, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill until firm enough to roll.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
6. Using one disk at a time, roll onto a lightly floured surface about 1/4 inch thick but no less than 1/8 inch. Use cookie cutters or templates to create the desired shapes.
7. Transfer to a cookie sheet and bake 10 to 12 minutes for small (2 1/2 to 3 inch) cookies and closer to 15 minutes for larger (5 to 6 inch) cookies. (my house pieces had to bake for almost 20 minutes) When done, they should be firm to the touch and well browned.
8. Cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheets before transferring to a cooling rack. Cool completely before using.

 Construction begins...

 Eleanor was helping.

 The finished house.

 After the construction was complete, it began to snow in Gingerville.

 How lovely...

 Gingy and Ginger with their new house.

Fly with Christ!
Rachel : )

Hot Cocoa

I hope that everyone had a very merry Christmas. I know I did. On top of winning an entire pan of my Aunt Annie's broccoli cornbread (this stuff is to die for!), it also snowed Christmas night. Now we didn't get more than about 1 to 2 inches, but it sure looked pretty. Snow is about the only reason to make Hot Cocoa around here. So here is a super simple recipe for y'all!

Hot Cocoa:
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup sugar
Dash of salt
3 1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla, milk, salt

Put the cocoa powder, sugar, salt and 1/2 cup of water in a pot.

Stir until well mixed.

Bring mixture to a boil and then boil for 1 minute.

Stir in milk.

Heat until it is just about to boil. Take off the heat and then whisk in the vanilla.

Ladle into mugs and serve with marshmallows or whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Fly with Christ!
Rachel : )

More Sashay...

Christmas is only 4 days away!!!

Did I mention how easy these scarves were to make? They knit up in an afternoon!!! I am using them for Christmas presents this year. So here is a semi-tutorial for making these scarves:

You will need 1 ball of Sashay yarn and a pair of knitting needles. Use a size knitting needle that you feel comfortable using. I will be using size 13 needles but I have also used size 11 and 9. Because the "stitches" come from the top row of loops, the gauge is not important. If my directions are a little confusing, a video can be found on the other Sashay scarf post.

This is what the yarn looks like when open. You will have to continue opening up the yarn as you go.

 Weave the needle through every other loop on the top loops. This will "cast-on" 6 times. 

 Turn the needle and knit the first row. To knit, insert the other needle into the first stitch, stick the right needle into the second loop on top of the yarn, pull through the first stitch on the left needle as in regular knitting, and then push the stitch off of the left needle. Continue with the other 5 stitches.

Continue knitting until there is about 6 to 10 inches of yarn left.

Cast-off like with regular knitting until the last stitch.

 Pull the last of the yarn through the last stitch.

 Tie a knot around the last stitch and then trim.

Two new Christmas scarves!

And this one is called "Hip Hop"

This one is called "Tango"

Merry Christmas!
Rachel : )

Sashay Scarf

Merry Christmas Y'all! I can't believe that Christmas is only 6 days away. Don't panic if your shopping list is not finished yet. Mine isn't either. Anyway... onto the project!

This scarf turned out sooooooooooo CUTE! The yarn is like netting that you stretch out and then knit the top of the netting. It was so easy and fun to make! The instructions on the label were a little confusing to me so I attached a video that I found helpful. I hope you enjoy the pattern.

Merry Christmas!
Rachel : )

Red Velvet Cupcakes!

For her birthday Eleanor wanted red velvet cupcakes! They were so fun to make, and they tasted so good! We got the recipe from Christy Jordan at Southern Plate. They were a good ending to the Papa John's pizza that Eleanor wanted for supper.(Oh yeah! We now have a Papa John's! We are moving up in the world!) Enjoy the recipe!

 Aren't they RED!!!

 Eleanor's TEN! Her fingers are red from the food dye in the batter.

 Happy Birthday El!

Fly with Christ!
Rachel : )

Orange Rolls!

Happy 10th Birthday Eleanor! (you make me feel so old)

Yes, the 14th was Eleanor's birthday.(I am really behind on these posts) One of my presents to her was homemade orange rolls. I got the recipe from Janet at Simply So Good except I made a few alterations. I used half whole ground flour and half unbleached white flour. I also made the rolls a little bit bigger and put them in a 9x13 glass baking pan like you would for cinnamon rolls.

Fly with Christ!
Rachel : )

Buttery Pecan Cookies

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Today is a day to show how thankful we are for everything God has given to us. I am especially thankful for this recipe! : )

Fall is here y'all! I love to make this recipe in the summer to eat with homemade ice cream, but it could also be made in the fall with fresh pecans! This recipe is super easy. I got it from The Kid's Cookbook. The recipes from this cookbook are all really easy, but they taste excellent! These cookies are just like the Keebler Sandies, but my Grandmother says that these taste better. They are the bomb with homemade vanilla ice cream in the summer. I can make these "healthy"(some what) by using demerara instead of white sugar, and freshly ground spelt instead of all-purpose. (Though they taste great either way)

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2\3 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1\2 cup chopped pecans

Butter, flour, pecans, sugar, salt, and vanilla.

Cream the butter sugar salt and vanilla until smooth.

Add the flour and nuts and continue mixing until combined.

Take the dough and form ito a log shape on some wax paper about 2 inches in diameter.

Wrap the dough in the wax paper and twist the ends to seal.

Refrigerate for about 3 hours, or until firm.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap the chilled dough and cut into slices 1\4 inch thick.

Arrange about 1 inch apart on a baking sheet and bake 14 to 16 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.

YUM!!

The dough can also be stored in the freezer until ready to bake.

Fly with Christ!

Rachel : )