One Of The Best Gingers I Know!

Hello Sweets,

How has your Tuesday been so far?  Mine has been absolutely wonderful :D, why you ask?  Well this morning I landed in the great state of Texas, which means Nathan and I have been reunited (and it feels so good lol). 

Not great quality, but you can feel the love <3

Even though I am EXTREMELY tired, feel sore, and a little sick, no of that matters as soon as I saw him as I was coming down the escalator.  Knowing that the hand I love to hold is now always in my reach is undeniably the best feeling you can have when everything seems to be going haywire.  Needless to say there will definitely be baking going on, although you may see some old recipes, I will make small changes to keep things fresh.  Not to mention that Nathan will be cooking too, so you will be privy to his delicious bites as well :)

As I promised yesterday, I have a longer post, and tonight you are going to get a yummy treat for your taste buds :)  So yesterday I made candied ginger so my tummy would have a tasty way to be settled which then got me thinking, could I make an even tastier treat that could possibly settle the tummy as well?  Then I came across an idea for the candied ginger, and giant soft and chewy ginger cookies.  When I was growing up, the mother of a childhood friend of mine would make ginger snaps, but they weren't your traditional ginger snaps because they were crisp on the outer edge but the center was chewy.  Now this recipe is not a ginger snap in any shape or form, but the soft and chewy centers of the childhood cookies are the entire embodiment in every sense of the word :)  So let's get to the deliciousness shall we?

Soft and Chewy Ginger Cookies (via The Baker Chic)

Ingredients

 2 1/4C all-purpose flour

2Tsp ground ginger

1 Tsp baking soda

3/4Tsp cinnamon

1/2Tsp cloves (I used allspice as a substitute)

1/4Tsp salt

 3/4C butter, softened

1/2C white sugar

1/2C brown sugar

1 egg

1 Tbs water

1/4C molasses

1/2C ginger, candied (see previous post)

2Tbs raw sugar (for rolling, I used white and it worked just as well)

candied ginger not pictured

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350F, positioning the racks in the center of your oven.  Mix together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a medium bow.  Set aside.

 

2)   In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

3)  Beat in the egg, then mix in the water and molasses.

4)  Gradually mix in the sifted mixture to the molasses mix.  Stir in the candied ginger.

 

5)  Chill the dough for 15 minuted to allow for easier handling.  Shape dough into 1" sized balls, and roll them into the raw sugar.  Place the cookies 2" apart on a parchment lined baking sheet (lol I made mine a little bit too big as you will see), and flatten slightly.  Baking for 8-10 minutes.

6)  Allow to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.  Store in an air tight container.

Don't they look delicious :)

There are a couple different things that make these cookies unique; the fact that they have the candied ginger in them gives them a spicy depth that most ginger cookies don't have, and they stay soft and chewy as long as you can keep them in the house (lol which isn't long).

So now I am almost caught up with my back up recipes, although I do have one more up my sleeve which is something of a traditional, old fashion treat but with a sweet little surprise to it ;)  Now that I've got you intrigued you'll be coming back tomorrow for yet another one of Canuckette's creations.  Until next time...........

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Candy With Some Zing!

Hello Sweets,

Did you have a manic Monday?  I had a painful Monday :(, why you ask?  Well I get TPI's (trigger point injections) every month and where I get them there isn't a lot of muscle or even fat (ie my head).  It's weird though because they've always been painful, but the last few months it seems even worse, but I will keep going at it to try and get back to my regular old self :)

I want to give you all a heads up that today's post will be on the shorter side for a few reasons; 1) I'm not feeling so hot, 2) I'm tired and need to try and nap, and 3) because it will lead into a longer post tomorrow ;)
As most of my readers know I have some "go to" comforts that seem to be the only things that make me feel better or allow me to eat when I am having a bad day.  One that is definitely in my top five is ginger ale, you know the beverage that every grandmother would give you to settle your stomach (even though it should have been flat lol)?  Well still to this day I love it and with all of my not feeling well reminded me of a time when I worked for a retirement home.  Now we're going back a few years but I loved the people I was helping everyday, it honestly was like having one hundred grandparents :)  Of course each of the staff had our favorites, I know I did, and they all stood out for their own unique qualities or traits.  One specific gentlemen named Jack was funny, very friendly, and was always looking out for us girls.  I would volunteer every other weekend to have a billiards day (they had a very nice pool table), and sometimes it would just be Jack and I playing for hours.  One day while helping with cleaning his room, I had a terrible stomach ache and felt awful, he immediately picked up on it and said "I have just the thing for you".  When he came back he was holding open a small candy jar, only I had no idea what the pieces were inside.  Since I had this perplexed look on my face, he spoke up and explained that it was candied ginger and that it would help settle my stomach.  Knowing I still had a good four hours until the end of my shift I thought I'll give it a shot since I didn't have any ginger ale, and sure enough it did the trick.  Now I do keep some on hand that I picked up but it doesn't always help unfortunately, and then one day I ran out and while I was at the grocery store I saw they had fresh ginger on sale.  I took it as divine intervention, the baking Gods were putting a challenge right in front of me and telling me I could make this on my own.  So thanks to my funky little AllRecipe app for my iPhone, that is the recipe I'm bringing to you today!

Candied Ginger via (AllRecipes)

Ingredients

2C sugar

2C fresh ginger, cut into thin slices

2C water

  

I didn't use bottled water lol

Directions:

1)  In a medium sauce pan combine the sugar, ginger, and water bringing to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat and let simmer until it becomes syrupy and the liquid has been reduced by half 40-45 minutes.  Strain the ginger out and reserve the syrup (if you'd like, I didn't).

2)  I was a little impatient in regards to letting them dry so I threw them in the oven on a low heat until they became tacky to the touch.  I then tossed them in sugar and stored in an air tight container until I needed them.

 from this

to this!

I apologize for the lack of "process" pictures, not sure what I was thinking.  It wasn't overly complicated and I did it without a candy thermometer :)  The smell of the fresh ginger was a lovely aroma that you don't smell very often, and not to mention the fruits of my labor are delish!

So tomorrow you will see what I did with a majority of these bad boys, until them I'll leave you with the many ideas that run through your brains and I'll go try and nap!  Until next time.............................

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Canuckette's Pumpkin Cupcake Patch

Hello Sweets!

I hope you all had a fantastic Friday.  I know mine hasn't been the best health wise, but this is nothing new, so I trek through as always :)  Yesterday Nathan and I had a relaxing Texas day, that means we enjoyed each others company, the beautiful weather, finalized our Halloween costumes (yes I will be blogging about my favorite time of year ;)), and then I baked him some yummy pumpkin spice cupcakes.  I spoil this man so much, but it brings me the utmost joy to do so, my runner up would be my cutie nephew Miguel!

This brings a smile to my face, seeing my little burrito enjoying my treats!

Now I have only made this recipe once, and it turned out great, but this time I decided to test out different spices and the measurements.  For those of you whom don't know me, other than through my blog, this is the way I like to cook and bake.  It's actually the way I was raised.  Like my grandfather always said, "recipes are directions and guidelines only!", and I couldn't agree more (he is a wise man after all).  When I cook, I love to get my nose up really close and smell the aroma.  Of course, I will take a taste now and then (to make sure it's not poison lol), and I have even been known to literally get my hands it there too!  So when I decided to make these delicious cupcakes again, I decided to venture further with my spices than originally.  There are two recipes with this one, since you need special icing to go with pumpkin cupcakes ;), so hang on to your whisks we are heading to cupcake town!

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Ingredients

2C flour

1tsp baking soda

1tsp baking powder

1tsp coarse salt

1tsp cinnamon

1tsp ginger

1/4tsp nutmeg

1/4tsp allspice (or cloves)

1C packed light brown sugar

1C white sugar

1C butter, melted and cooled

4 large eggs

1 can (15ounces) pumpkin puree

I used both pumpkin spice and cloves in addition to what's listed above

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350F.  Line cupcake pans and set aside.  In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove, pumpkin spice and allspice, set aside.  The extra spices I added I eyeballed, approximately 1/4tsp each.

Am I weird because I love these types of photos??

2)  In a large bowl, whisk together: brown sugar, white sugar, butter, and eggs.

:( harder to keep liquids separate

3)  Add dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.  Whisk in pumpkin puree.

loving the fall color!

4)  Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about 1/2 way (I only had a 12 and 6 muffin tins).  Makes 24 cupcakes.

waiting is the hardest part

5)  Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a toothpick comes out clean.  Takes about 20-25 minutes.  Rotate pan once if needed.  Transfer to wire rack; let cool completely.

your kitchen will smell divine mmmmm

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Icing

Ingredients

8oz cream cheese, room temp

1 stick of butter, room temp (1/2C)

1/4C brown sugar

1tsp vanilla

1/2tsp cinnamon

4-6C icing sugar

I also added pumpkin spice, allspice and food coloring to make it more festive

Directions:

1)  With an electric mixer, mix cream butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.

2)  Beat in brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, allspice and pumpkin spice until fully incorporated.

3)  Gradually add icing sugar(powdered sugar) in small portions, (I only used about 2 1/2 - 3C), scraping down the sides with each addition until desired consistency is reached.  When you think it's ready, slowly add the food coloring until you reach your desired color :)

Tada!

There will be plenty of icing for 24 cupcakes and plenty left over.  Since I was going with a pumpkin patch theme, I decided to top the cupcakes with green decorative sugar to imitate the stems lol.  The last time I topped them with graham crumble in an ode to pumpkin pie.  Go with whatever inspires you ;)  The addition of the extra spices gave the recipe a more robust flavor, in other words......delish!!!

My little pumpkin "cupcake" patch

I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as my family, friends, and myself do!  Let me know what inspires you in this recipe, I always love to experiment with an already great recipe!  Until next time.

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Pumpkin pancakes for my love

Hello Sweets!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day, do you have fun plans for the weekend?  As I told you yesterday my other half is coming to visit me today EEEKK!!  Actually he should  be here within the hour so I need to type quickly lol.  I have a fun filled weekend planned for the two of us, first stop I will be taking him to the Belmont Haunted Corn Maze, this is something I've done with friends for years (I'll write a mini blog tomorrow night so you can see some pics).  Then we're off to the drive-in on Saturday!  I know what you're thinking "drive-in in October??? must be cold!", but it's not too bad when you bring a blanket to keep you warm plus because it's so late in the season it won't be as busy :)

So in trying to be the super organized freak that I am, I prepped my pancake batter this afternoon to have on hand for the next few days (in case of late nights!).  I promised you all that I would have step by step pictures and a recipe, well get ready for your tummy to growl because we are going on a pancake adventure!!   I know what you're thinking, who gets this excited about cooking?  This girl does especially when it's for Nathan <3  

Pumpkin Pancakes (recipe adapted from www.food.com)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 c all purpose flour

2 tbs sugar

2 tbs baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1 pinch of allspice (or clove)

1 c low fat milk

6 tbs canned pumpkin puree

2 tbs melted butter

1 egg

Directions:

1)  Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, spices and salt in a bowl

2)  In a separate bowl whisk together milk, pumpkin puree, melted butter, and egg.

 3)  Fold mixture into dry ingredients.

4)  Spray or grease a skillet and heat over medium heat; pour in 1/4 c of batter for each pancake.   These are very hearty pancakes, batter is not as runny as regular pancakes.

5)  Cook pancakes about 3 minutes per side.  Serve with butter and syrup.  Makes about 6 6" pancakes

 YUM!!

Of course I had to make one....for you guys to see, certainly not for me to eat hahaha!  They turned out great!  I always use a recipe as a guideline only as I always use more spices since I love robust flavors.  The pancake embodies all the things that make you think of fall, and the smell is spectacular!  I chose to use allspice instead of cloves because that is what I had on hand, and the smell screams fall to me which is probably why I added more than the recipe called for.  Try the recipe and let me know what you guys think!!  And if you change or add anything let me know because I love tweaking an already great recipe :)

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo