what's cooking wednesday - ginger snaps

This past weekend I was invited to attend the first annual Festivus cookie exchange over at my friend Normie's (aka The Mommy Project) house. Now I realized I talk about her all the time, but there is no photographic evidence of us ever having been in the same room. Even though it's happened on several occasion. And this time is no different. Although I did get this.....



There she is..... the hostess with the mostess, The Mommy Project, doing what she does best.... taking pictures!



Then we turned the camera on her. Or her sister in law, who we crowned Ms Festivus '09, did. Festivus was a huge hit. I'm glad I got to spend the afternoon hanging out with my Jersey girls and meeting some more of Normie's friends. I'm already looking forward to next year.

So I realize this recipe is a repeat. I'm not even going to lie to you. I went back and copied the entry as I originally wrote it, but this is the cookie recipe I used for the cookie exchange. Enjoy!

Are any of your attending or hosting cookie exchanges this year?



Ginger Snaps

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp molasses
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
granulated sugar

Cream shortening and sugar together. Add molasses and egg. Beat well. Add dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Shape into balls. Roll balls in sugar. Do not flatten. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes.

Recipe Notes: These just might be the greatest ginger snaps I have ever eaten. I made some last year from I recipe I have long since forgotten that were really heavy on the molasses taste. This recipe has everything in perfect balance. It's a simple and very quick recipe to make and it has a high yield. The recipe made just over 6 dozen cookies (and I imagine I'll have to make more before Christmas) so it would be great if you were involved in a cookie exchange (Robin I'm looking in your direction). You might want to watch the first batch you bake off. I found 8 minutes left the cookies a little crispier than I liked, so I ended up baking mine for 7 minutes.

*Just for a festive holiday touch, I rolled them in red and green coloured sugar.*




What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page. *All front page links will be deleted!* Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday