Friday Finds, and a Bonus Cookie Recipe!

I've been out helping my husband split wood this afternoon. What an ideal day for it!  It's sunshiny but mild. I enjoyed the exercise, and hope I won't pay for it tomorrow! So often I have to force myself to ignore the inside tasks and go outside. How silly that even a job like splitting and stacking firewood should seem like a guilty pleasure. It's one of the things I hope to get a better handle on in the months to come.

We did go out to a moving sale about 3 miles up the road today and I found some very good goodies, at prices that were very fair. And yesterday, on the way home from getting groceries, we stopped at a fund-raiser rummage sale where I got some lovely bargains also. You'll be very proud of me--I didn't haul home more than a few items from each.

At the rummage sale, I got two terrific vintage syrup pitchers for 25 cents each, and a handful of beautiful embroidered linens for--are you sitting down?--10 cents each!

Pink Irish linen placemats and napkins. Can you believe how sheer these are?

 

Assorted goodies from two sales... all costing 25 cents or less apiece.

This little blue pitcher reminds me of the sugar bowl and creamer my grandma had which, I believe, were premiums from the Lipton Tea company back in the forties or fifties. I don't know if this is part of that collection or not, but it's sweet.

Now for the really good bit of this post--the cookie recipe!

 

I've come to the realization that, if I want to gain a "following" on this goofy blog, I'm supposed to do the occasional "tutorial". All the popular blogs have them.  How to knit fair isle socks out of old t-shirts and newspaper clippings, how to paint a miniaturized copy of the Last Supper on the head of a pin, or perhaps how to crochet a custom hubcap out of Brillo pads for the man in your life

I'm not very good at that sort of thing. 

However, I do make a mean drop cookie. This recipe I have adapted and tweaked to perfection. Last night I made a double batch for a church event tonight. They are so good, it's going to be tough to keep from wolfing them all down before leaving.

Here's my recipe. Try it, you'll like it!  They're tasty, easy, and don't even contain shortening or butter. They're the perfect autumn treat.

Molasses Drop Cookies 

In a large mixing bowl, combine the following:

      1/2 cup molasses

      1/2 cup brown sugar

      2/3 cup of cooking oil

      1 egg

In a second bowl, combine the dry ingredients:

     2 1/2 cups flour (you can use white, whole wheat, or combine)

     2 tsp. baking soda

     1/2 tsp. salt

     1 tbsp. ginger

     1/2 tsp. each of ground nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and allspice

Now add the dry ingredients to the moist ingredients and mix well. 

Chill the dough for about 2 hours in the refrigerator.  Roll in balls about the size of a walnut or use a cookie scoop. Coat the balls in granulated sugar, and place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for about 12 minutes at 350 degrees. 

The tops will develop pretty crackles when they're done, so don't overbake unless you prefer a crunchy cookie. Remove to cooling racks after baking. The cookies firm up as they cool, but still remain chewy. Enjoy!

These are even better the second day, if you can keep them around that long.  The spices all mellow together and taste heavenly!

I thought you might enjoy seeing my torn, spattered, much revised recipe as it exists now. I've been tweaking the spices and flavoring and recopying this recipe for years. I think it's finally perfect!

Now I did ask you all to hound me about finishing projects before starting new ones, but you were far too polite to inquire. So I will voluntarily report that I have finished one project (sewing buttons on a vintage men's shirt that's been in my sewing room closet for about a year...whoopie, right?) and I'm about 2/3 done with an actual craft project which I will have ready to show you in my next post. I haven't started any new projects in the meantime. 

Drop me a line, check out my shops or my Pinterest site. I'm loading new stuff fairly often.  Thanks for reading!