Gingerbread Men

Only 10 days left until Christmas and today was the day for the Gingerbread Men to be baked. ..The house smells so yummy... I just love the smells of Christmas.. gingerbread, cinnamon and spices, pine smells from the tree, hot chocolate...all of them have a special meaning for me.

These little guys are the best ever. Gingerbread made without molasses and it doesn't take a steam roller to roll it out. I've always had trouble with traditional gingerbread recipes, I've always found them so hard to roll. These are as easy as pie crust, and as yummy as any Christmas cookie you will ever make. My daughter found this recipe on line a few years ago and now it's the only one we use. So I want to thank the creator of this lovely confection.

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The Best Ever Gingerbread Men

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1 pkg. of butterscotch pudding mix (not instant, the one you cook, serves 6)

1/2 cup butter of hard margarine

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon of ginger

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

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Cream together the dry pudding mix, butter and brown sugar. Add egg and mix well.

Mix the dry ingredients together, flour,baking soda, & spices and add to the wet mixture.

Chill dough for 1 hour or more, roll out 1/8th inch thick ** and bake on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper in a 350 degree oven for 14 minutes or until just brown

bottom. Cool on cookie racks. Ice with a thin icing. You can add raisins for eyes and

buttons, chocolate chips work well also. Makes about 3 dozen.

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** I used 2 wooden paint sticks on my counter and I place the dough in between

them. I then use my rolling pin and roll out the dough to the thickness of the

of the paint sticks. This assures me of nice even thickness to bake, and you

don't get any burning of the thin ones. I've been doing this for years. Works for me!

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Tonight is Christmas concert night for our granddaughters and I have to make sure they're all ready to go when mom gets home from work at 5:30, so I better get off this computer, make sure the camera is ready to go, and get the girls all dressed up on time.

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Until next time....

~~Fran...:c)

Friends Gather Here

Well by the looks of our yard I think it's official, winter has arrived, and that means SNOWMEN!

Snowmen and gingerbread men are my favourite things to add Christmas flavor in my kitchen. In the basket you will see them together with a little sign that says "Friends Gather Here".

For the next few weeks I thought I would give you all a peek into my kitchen one shot at a time...ok...so maybe 3-4 shots.

My Christmas Cactus's are anxious and started blooming all over. They are beautiful, it's too bad that such a lovely flower has no scent. Here you see the red one along with a couple of snowmen sitting on my freezer.

And a close-up of the flowers.....

And here you see the pink one on top of the fridge with a bunch of snowmen buddies keeping it company.

So that's my first venture into Christmas decorating, putting out a few snowmen. I've sewed up some new curtains for the kitchen and I'm cleaning and spit polishing all the silver and the crystal. All the Christmas dishes need a spiff up also. Thank goodness for a dishwasher. I figure I only use these once a year for Christmas dinner and the 'gold' around the rim should be good for a few years, seeing they only get washed, twice a year, before Christmas and after Christmas dinner. And if it doesn't?...Well the kids can deal with it 30 years from now. By then I won't care..*lol*...
So welcome to my kitchen. Stay tuned for more ....

Until then

~~Fran