Ginger Molasses Cookies

My hubby asked that I make these, which I was happy to oblige. He just wanted to make sure they were BIG. He later told me how my cookies are always good, but just not BIG.

 I guess I've just always figured you can always have more, but apparently there is something to just taking a bite out of a big ol' cookie, rather than just popping the whole thing in your mouth (if you have a large mouth like Andy :) love you Hon!).

 I have to say, I was kind of doubting both my abilities to perform up to the raving about these cookies that Andy first tasted at school, but they turned out so well, that I think they may become a holiday staple for years to come in our house. And hence, I thought I'd share the recipe with you.

 The amazing thing about them is that they have the spice and holiday-ish flavor, as well as a chewy, plump texture on the inside, with a sugar coating on the outside that gives them a little bit of crunch.

 Ginger Molasses Cookies
4 1/2 c. flour
4 t. powdered ginger
2 t. baking soda
1 1 /2 t. cinnamon
1 t. ground cloves
1/4 t. salt

1 1/2 c. Crisco (I used butter-flavored, as I always do)
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. molasses

Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Combine wet ingredients and then slowly incorporate the dry ingredients. Roll into 1" balls (I did my bigger, more like the size of a golf ball-ish, just to make sure they were BIG, as requested). Dip into iced water (sound weird, I know). Place 2" apart on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for ONLY 14 minutes - avoid overbaking. They literally have to "dry" to be done, they don't look totally baked when they are done. If you do the XL size like I did, 14 minutes should be perfect, if you do a smaller size, adjust the time down accordingly.

The golf ball sized dough balls produced 2 dozen (yes that is it, with 4.5 cups of flour, that is all we got!).

So, while we still have more cleaning etc to do, we're getting ready to host family for Thanksgiving and we're excited about it! Can't you tell!

Knocking over the water bottle

Sometimes the most random thing is funny!

The Lord's Prayer

This is actually from August, but I'm trying to play catch up!

Say, "Please!"

My kids have never gone trick-or-treating. You may think I'm a lame mom or something, but actually I'm not against going out to visit people we know or my kids eating a bunch of sugar on one night, it just hasn't worked out so far.

On the day of Halloween, they did however get a piece of candy from one of Andy's med student friends when we went to visit Andy at USC. Let me tell you, the students got a kick out of the kids. That we have 2 toddlers is novel enough to most of them, but they loved seeing them all the more dressed up (even though Titus got too hot and had to get out of his costume in the 85-degree-California-fall weather).

Before arriving at school though, I had to stop by CVS. When we were checking out, the nice witch (as she called herself) behind the counter said, "Oh how cute you kids are - I have some treats for you!"

She grabbed two mini-bags of M&M's and Annaliese's eyes lit up. The witch cashier said, "Now what do you sa-ay?" Annaliese put on her biggest cheesy grin and said, "PLEEEASE!?!"

I think the lady thought it was weird that I hadn't taught Annaliese what to say even though I had obviously dressed her up. I quickly informed Annaliese of the right words which she promptly repeated. M&M's are her favorite candy, she let me know later. Titus didn't actually receive any of the benefits of the M&M's, but enjoyed a little bit of Oreo cookie with which I tried to coax a smile out of him while taking these pics.

Andy was also kind enough to bring my kids for a quick visit to my childbirth class in Pasadena that I recently began teaching on Monday evenings. It is a pretty time-intensive course for pregnant couples to learn about pregnancy, labor, birth and breastfeeding. By time-intensive, I mean a 2 hour class weekly for 12 weeks! I am really enjoying it. Andy has been so supportive helping go to training in San Francisco this summer and watching the kids for me while I teach.

It has been a great way to have some adult time, share some great info that we learned while pregnant with Annaliese, and to be out there meeting new people that I wouldn't have otherwise. Hopefully, it will also help bring some additional income, once the initial investment of the cost of training and supplies recovered. In case you're not familiar with The Bradley Method® and are interested, you can check it out here (which is where all 8 of my couples have found me), see my personal Bradley website, or visit my new blog (which is all things pregnancy/labor/birth/health/baby-related). The training over the summer, prepping for class and teaching are partially why I think I've neglected this blog for the past several months. That, and I get so impatient waiting for pics to upload. It was way faster uploading these pics though, so I think I'll try to be more regular again! I miss you all - friends and family!