These are a few of my favorite things!

So now we are in the swing of things again and enjoying our family time during this month to make memories and remember how our Lord came as a child to die for our sins and give us the free gift of salvation. What a glorious gift that is! We don't get into the commercial side of the season; but I do have fond memories of all the baking, singing carols, and spending time with family and friends. So that is what we are enjoying at the moment, especially the baking :) Growing up there were so many different neat kinds of cookies that we only made this time of year, it was something I really looked forward to as a child. There is nothing like time spent in the kitchen with your family, it is a bonding experience.

Now if you know me at all I am not a fan of giving children sugar. We don't buy pre-made foods and if I make a dessert at home it is usually with honey, maple syrup, stevia, or coconut sugar. So the low to no processed options, and I try not to do that too often either. We do draw a very firm line on the high fructose corn syrup, we absolutely do not allow that for our kids. However I do let my children have an occasional "regular sugar" cookie or dessert. Because treats should be treats and enjoyed as something special and occasional. So I made our ginger bread with unrefined raw sugar, and for a batch it is a 1/4 cup for 2 trays of cookies, for a cookie not too bad in my book. Phoebe had a blast helping me make and decorate these cookies and she loved eating one too! She practically danced around the kitchen while they were baking, and that was priceless. This recipe is the one my mom used and I think it is perfect balance of spicy and sweet.

Grandma Rosner's Gingerbread Cookies

• 1/2 Cup blackstrap molasses
• 1/4 Cup raw sugar
• 3 Tbs butter
• 2 Tbs whole milk
• 2 Cups white spelt flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp each of nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon & cloves

Heat the molasses in s sauce pan till it comes to a boil, add sugar, butter and milk.

Remove from stove.
Sift dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Stir in the molasses mixture into the dry, mix well and refrigerate for 1 hour or more.

Set oven at 365 degrees
Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness on a floured surface. You will find as the dough warms it becomes sticky and you may need to add more flour if you are like me and roll it out too thin too many times.
Cut with cookie cutter, and place on a greased cookie sheet and decorate.

Bake for 10-12 min. These cookies taste better with age, so I like to leave them for at least a week to age. If you are worried about them getting stale or too hard just put a pice of bread in with the cookies and they will be as soft as the day you baked them.

Gingerbread is just one of those flavors of the season. Take time to slow down, have fun with your family, make memories and remember that Jesus came so that he could give us the ultimate gift that nothing in this world compares to, eternal life with Him!

The Farmer in the Dell