Out here in the Hinternet, one can learn a great many things. I, myself, learned how to upholster bar stools yesterday. Honest. See:
Because of the Hinternet, my mother has discovered Queen. She is a big fan of Freddie Mercury–as of about two weeks ago. And she is Very Sad that he died. Here is her current favorite Freddie Mercury song.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3o4NsRCHrI&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b]And then, for folks who love to cook, bake and eat or talk about cooking, baking and eating, there’s this. The National Food Holiday Directory. I’m not sure that there is an Official Site for National Food Holidays, but this one will do nicely. I like it because it groups all the Fake National Holidays together (and by fake, I mean the ones that do not buy us Time Off), not just the food ones. For example, yesterday was positively Crowded with celebration. Not only was it Cheese Day (hooray!), but it was also Old Maid’s Day, the birthday of the radial tire, the birthday of the shopping cart, Apple Computer Day, Socrates’ Birthday and some other less amusing observances, such as Children’s Awareness Memorial Day and National Cancer Survivor’s Day. I can only imagine that one would have to Choose One’s Celebration, partying hard for Socrates while letting the shopping cart day slip by. Otherwise, the sheer exhaustion. I’ve heard that the shopping cart fete is especially Bacchanalian in nature.
And that brings us to today. Today’s schedule is light. I wish you Happy Teacher’s Day, Happy First Hot Air Balloon Flight and Happy World Environment Day. I would wish you a Happy Attitude Day, but I don’t feel like it. Oh, and Happy National Gingerbread Day.
June 5 Gingerbread
I like thick, cakey gingerbread–big old hunks with lemon curd is Quite Nice. I also like a nice gingerbread cookie, and that’s what I shall share with you today. These little guys (or big guys, depending on how you cut them) stay pretty soft, thanks to the addition of some corn syrup. If you’d prefer crispy cookies, leave out the corn syrup and increase the sugar by 1.5 ounces. Roll them out so they are Very Very Thin, and bake them a bit longer. For softer guys, leave in the corn syrup, roll them out to maybe 1/4″ or so and bake them until set but not browned.
This makes a lot, but worry not–you can a) roll this in sheets between 2 pieces of parchment and freeze some for later or b) cut the recipe in half, or even in quarters.
- 32 oz. all purpose flour
- 2 TBSP cocoa powder
- 2TBSP + 2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp allspice
- 4 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound butter
- 12 oz. sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 c molasses
- 1/4 c corn syrup
Make these using The Creaming Method:
- whisk all dry ingredients together
- cream butter and sugar until light
- mix in molasses and corn syrup
- mix in dry
Chill the dough, sheet, cut out however you want and bake at 325F for 7-10 minutes. Feel free to add in some minced crystallized ginger, too, if you want.
So, that’s it. Tomorrow, The Beloved and I will be hosting our Pinehurst relatives. Since they’re all 90-ish, we’re going to fetch them and then take them home again, so there will be no Unpleasant Driving Incidents. Once we’re done with all the shuttling and What Not, there will be Adult Beverages on the Porch.
Have a great weekend, friends. Oh, and in case you’re looking for Reasons to Celebrate this weekend, Happy National Applesauce Cake Day. Enjoy it, along with Be-Bop-A-Lula Day, Drive In Movie Theater Birthday Day and National Chocolate Ice Cream Day!
What food holiday are you going to make up looking forward to?
fred and mary beth says
Would love to share the adult beverages with you and dearly beloved on the porch that you mentioned. And a little gingerbread cake on the side.
onlinepastrychef says
You’re on, guys! Come on up! 🙂
Donna says
The bar stools look fabulous!
I introduced Emily to Queen last year–figured it was way past time. She liked the music very much, especially the song about Fat Bottom Girls.
Enjoy the time with your relatives tomorrow. Wish I could be there for the after visit recovery and adult beverages. Next time I make it to RTP, I’ll let you know. Maybe we can get together.
onlinepastrychef says
Next time you’re in town, you’ll definitely have to come by. Would love to see you!
Drew @ Cook Like Your Grandmother says
Jenni,
Does your mother know about Freddie? I mean, it should be pretty obvious from that video that he and the female lead didn’t have much chemistry. I remember the look on my mother’s face the day I asked her, “Why do you think the band is named ‘Queen’?”
PS: You should make that link to the creaming method into a link.
onlinepastrychef says
Yes, she knows all about Freddie. Apparently the woman in the video was his soul mate. They were together (after a fashion, I assume) the last seven years of his life. He left all his money to her. My mom will tell you all about it. She learned it all on the Hinternet!
Oh, yeah–I forgot to make that a link; I’ll go fix it. Thanks, Drew!
Natasha - 5 Star Foodie says
I also heard today was National Doughnuts day too 🙂
groovyoldlady says
I love gingerbread, but the rest of the fam is noncommital.
Gingerbread cookies, however, are considered delightful by all!
Enjoy your weekend…Oh, and my grad cake pic is posted now at http://groovybell.blogspot.com/ .
Mmmmm. Applesauce cake….
onlinepastrychef says
Oh, the grad cake turned out great, groovy! Love the scroll-y decorations!
Daily Spud says
Ah gingerbread… I had a real gingerbread fixation as a child – I used to make gingerbread-everything and made sure everyone ate it too (that way nobody would get hurt!).
As for the holidays, I think it’s definitely time I started making some up. There’ll be a whole collection of potato-related ones for a start. I bet I could come up with one for every day of the year – I mean, if I couldn’t do that then I couldn’t exactly call myself The Daily Spud, now could I? 🙂
croquecamille says
I realize this is late, but I may have inadverdently celebrated National Chocolate Ice Cream Day. Awesome!
And I love big hunks of warm, cakey gingerbread, too. With butter. 😉
Tran says
Where did you get those bar stools?
onlinepastrychef says
Bought them from Overstock.com and covered them myself w/fabric from Joann fabrics.