blue artichoke

Happy December!

We got quite a bit of snow dumped on us last night. Before the big snow, Gentleman Caller and I went outside to play in the sleet. We ran and slid down the street and had a hop-down-the-sidewalk-backwards contest (I won the first time; GC the next). We took Fat Larry outside; he ran around for approximately 1 minute, then high-tailed it to the porch and yowled at the front door. Not a SnowCat, that one. I took him out again today (he wanted to go) and dropped him in a big snowdrift, taller than he is. He scrambled back to the front door. He'd never survive a night on his own in the wild.

So, back to last night, after our romp in the sleet, I made some gingerbread. It seemed the right thing to do. I noticed that I have 10 recipes for gingerbread, so this begins the Gingerbread Snackdown, aka The Ten Gingerbreads of Christmas! 'Tis the season. And though this is only the first recipe, it's tops! The molasses flavor, which I find overpowering in many gingerbreads, was subtle and took a backseat to the spices. And the texture was so light and spongy and moist. Oh, yes, M.F.K. Fisher's mom knew how to make a good gingerbread. You can't go wrong with this one, but, mind you, a better one may be forthcoming:

Gingerbread

Recipe of M.F.K. Fisher’s mother. I thought it kind of strange to stir baking soda into molasses, but whatever. I did it. And it was awesome.

1-¼ c. flour, plus extra for pan
1 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. ginger
1 t. ground cloves
½ t. salt
¼ c. butter, plus extra for pan
¼ c. sugar
¾ t. soda
½ c. molasses
1 egg, lightly beaten

Sift together first 6.

In a separate bowl, combine butter and sugar until well mixed.

Beat ½ t. of the soda into the molasses and mix well. Add to the butter and sugar. Add remaining ¼ t. of soda to ¾ c. boiling water and stir. Alternately with the sifted dry ingredients, add the water to the butter mixture. Fold in the beaten egg and pour into a greased and floured 8” square pan. This mixture will seem much too thin to make a cake but do not increase flour.

Bake in a preheated 325 oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Eat as is or top with whipped cream, ice cream or wine sauce.

Bonus: if you don't have a real Christmas tree, gingerbread will make your house smell like Christmas. Guaranteed.