Ginger Molasses Cookies

I love these cookies' soft texture and bright spice flavor. They are so perfect for this time of year either as a gift or at a cookie swap. I found this recipe back in 2006 in Sunset magazine. The original recipe is called Frosted Ginger Cookies. But, I've changed the name and I don't include the frosting in my version. Of course, you can make a little frosting to drizzle over  these with powdered sugar and some lemon juice. However, I've always found these to be perfect without the frosting. They are sweet enough since they're rolled in sugar. And, though I normally love the combination of ginger and lemon, I'm not a fan of the lemon frosting on these. Frosted or unfrosted is your choice...regardless, you'll be happy you made these.

Ginger Molasses Cookies

(adapted from Sunset Magazine,  December 2006 issue)

Makes approximately 36 cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling cookies

3/4 cup butter, at room temperature

1 egg

3 tablespoons molasses

2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

Preparation:

1) Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream 1 cup granulated sugar with butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg and molasses.

2) In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and spices. Add to butter mixture and blend well.

3) Fill a shallow bowl with granulated sugar. Break off walnut-size pieces of dough and roll into balls; roll balls in sugar. Arrange on greased cookie sheets or ones lined with parchment and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to cooling racks and enjoy.

Happy Halloween

Samhain

(by poet Annie Finch, 1997)

In the season leaves should love,

since it gives them leave to move

through the wind, towards the ground

they were watching while they hung,

legend says there is a seam

stitching darkness like a name.

Now when dying grasses veil

earth from the sky in one last pale

wave, as autumn dies to bring

winter back, and then the spring,

we who die ourselves can peel

back another kind of veil

that hangs among us like thick smoke.

Tonight at last I feel it shake.

I feel the nights stretching away

thousands long behind the days

till they reach the darkness where

all of me is ancestor.

I move my hand and feel a touch

move with me, and when I brush

my own mind across another,

I am with my mother's mother.

Sure as footsteps in my waiting

self, I find her, and she brings

arms that carry answers for me,

intimate, a waiting bounty.

"Carry me." She leaves this trail

through a shudder of the veil,

and leaves, like amber where she stays,

a gift for her perpetual gaze.

My Leaf Obsession

I admit it, I have a leaf problem. I've become obsessed by them. After spending much of my life living in Los Angeles where autumn is some what ho-hum at best, I now find myself overcome with the beauty of autumn in the Pacific Northwest and Portland, OR in particular. In spring and summer, I am in love with the glorious colors and varieties of the flowers and other plants around me. Now, that fall is here, I  am again in love but with the visual feast that this season offers. Though taking images of the trees in their fiery, fall finest is what we think of when having an image of this time of year, I prefer to look down and see the fallen beauty at my feet. It is everywhere, if only we would look down and appreciate it.

Longing for Fall

Today is the last day of September and I am longing for autumn. The calendar says it is fall. The autumnal equinox occurred last week on the 22nd. And, the harvest moon was last night and then again tonight. The days are getting shorter. But, it still doesn't feel like fall to me. There have been too many sunny days and warm temperatures. Portland has seen barely any rain since July. The only measurable rain in September was 0.04 inch, which came earlier in the month. That makes this is the fourth driest September on record. But, this is Portland, Oregon...the Pacific Northwest. There should be rain. I know I will probably regret writing this sometime in February when there have been some many grey and drizzly days that I have lost count, but I miss the rain. I want that lovely balance of drizzly, grey mornings with the sun breaking through in the afternoon (charmingly referred to as sunbreaks in this part of the Lower 48). And, then there is the smell that fall has here. A deep and earthy scent of turning leaves with a touch of decay and change that the brisk air enhances. I hope autumn arrives soon. My soul is craving it.

Apple Season

Autumn is here and that means apples. Lots of apples. Dan and I headed out the weekend before last to the Hood River Valley area known as the Fruit Loop. It's a gorgeous part of the state that is filled with farms and farm stands, plus wineries (that's a whole other post). The Saturday that we visited was part of the annual Pear Celebration weekend. And, we did indulge in pears. But, I was focused on apples. Why? Because I wanted to make more apple preserves. It's not a fancy recipe, just one from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. However, it is a really tasty recipe that Dan and I discovered a couple of years ago when some friends gifted us about 10 lbs. of Gravenstein apples. We needed to do something with all of them and there are only so many crisps and pies that you can make and eat before they go bad. Plus, we did not have enough room to properly store them for any length of time. So, since we had just started learning to can, we decided to make preserves. Much to our delight, this recipe turned out to be a keeper. It is not a preserve that is great on toast. But, it is fantastic with pork and even better with cheese. Wonderful to add to a cheese board when you have guests over. Needless to say, we picked up a few pounds of Gravenstein apples and I made a batch of preserves earlier this week. Last year, we made a batch of this preserve with some Tokyo Rose apples. It was good but not as good as with the Gravensteins. We might give another variety of apples a try for second batch just see which we like better. It is fun to experiment with the different varieties of apples. 

Our next project involving apples is making hard cider. More on that to come...

Winter Squash

It's hard to believe that back in May, I planted several, tiny winter squash plant starters and I have ended up with actual squash. This is the first time that I have had any success growing them. Given the size and the huge growth of all of the vines, I thought for sure that I would be harvesting dozens of squashes but that was not the case. A number of them literally died on the vine. And, though, it was not a large haul, it has been gratifying nonetheless. I am looking forward to using some of them for autumn and Halloween decorations. And, a few, like the Baby Blue Hubbards and Sweet Dumplings, I look forward to eating. I cannot wait to grow more next year.

Beef Daube Provençal

With a nice low pressure system over the West, Los Angeles has been experiencing actual fall weather for the past several days. We have had cool temperatures and even rain. So, with the fall season finally in full swing, it's time to enjoy some stews. So, yesterday, after the trip to the fall harvest festival, I came home and made Beef Daube Provençal for dinner. I found the recipe in an old Cooking Light magazine from last October. It sounded perfect for a chilly and drizzly Sunday evening dinner. And, for once, I did not mess with the recipe. I actually prepared it as stated. This is unusual since I almost always change things. And, I discovered, much to my delight, that I didn't need to change anything. This recipe is great as it is. I know I'll be making this a few more times this fall and winter. To give it a try, just click on the link above. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

Fall Harvest Festival

Yesterday, Dan and I went with our neighbors to the annual fall harvest festival out at Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark. It was antique tractor weekend. This is our third consecutive year attending this event.  We love it. Lots of fun for families and even those of us who do not have children. As you can see from a few of my photos, there are barnyard animals, sunflowers, scarecrows and, of course, pumkins. Lots and lots of pumpkins. I love pumpkins. And, I love that fact that this farm has a lot of different varieties rather than just the standard field pumpkin that people commonly use for their jack-o-lanterns at Halloween.

The other thing that I love, is that Underwood Family Farms is actually a real farm. They are not organic but they do practice sustainable farming methods and they are pretty damn local considering the geography of the Los Angeles area. Also, they sell produce year round at many of the Los Angeles farmer's markets. I buy from them at the one in Pasadena every Saturday. Nice people with wonderful, fresh and delicious produce, I highly recommend them.

The Last Days of Fall

Fall is my favorite season. I will be sad to see it end on the winter solstice, December 21. Because we live in Southern California, we are blessed to be able to garden all year round. So, even though we will be heading into winter soon, the garden is still flourishing.

Our Meyer Lemons are ripening up and a few should be ready to be plucked in a few days. I'm thinking that lemon shortbread cookies would be the a nice choice to use them in. And, the arugula has been growing like crazy. I will need to harvest some soon. There is even a good chance that a couple of radishes will be ready as well.

Tomorrow is supposed to bring some more and much needed rain to our drought stricken city. The garden will be grateful.

Oh, and I'm grateful, that for the moment, the squirrels have stopped digging in the lettuce bed.

Starting from Seed

It's now September, so Dan and I thought we should get started on planting some late fall and winter veggies in the garden. But, this time instead of working with transplants, we decided to start from seed. This is a first for both of us so we'll be keeping our fingers crossed that this little experiment works.

We selected a number of greens and root vegetables and discovered that only a few of them should be started indoors. The rest need to be sown outside. We just finished assembling the little seed pots and planting the seeds for Red Velvet Lettuce, Little Gem Lettuce (a mini-Romaine), Oak Leaf Lettuce and Black Tuscan Kale. Five little pots of each.

In a couple of more weeks, we will prepare the beds and sow the rest of the seeds directly into the soil. Right now, it's still too hot in sunny L.A. during the day and too warm at night to get the rest started. But, with any luck the weather will start to get a bit milder as we move closer to fall.

The other veggies we'll be growing are Bordeaux Spinach, Detroit Dark Red Beets, Easter Egg Radishes, Scarlet Nantes Carrots, Five Color Silverbeet Swiss Chard and Arugula. With any luck, we'll be able to provide some of our own produce for Thanksgiving this year.