A Very Late Thank You

Outside of the family, I don't really do a lot of holiday gift exchanging. The one exception, is that The Actress and I always send each other gifts. I don't know which one of us started this, but it was probably her. When Thatboy and I had our pinning back in college (yep, we were that couple) she called her mom to find out what the appropriate gift would be, and sat across the street in her car watching the whole thing.


Anyway, I was delighted to receive this year's gift from The Actress - a great set of Christmas cookie cutters. We received the gift just before heading up to the inlaws, and I told Thatboy I couldn't wait to get back home so I could send them a home-made thank you: cookies made with their cutters.

Except life gets a little whirl-windy between December and February, doesn't it? We jumped right back into the swing of things, and this Sunday was the very first day I was actually home and able to be in my kitchen for longer than the time it takes to cook dinner. Better late than never, right?

I had made gingerbread cookies (spiked with whiskey) for my coworkers for Christmas this year and they got RAVE reviews. Thatboy got these virgin cookies for his office and I had several requests for the recipe. I thought I would send them along to The Actress, using the least Christmas-y of the cutters. Besides, it must be snowing somewhere right?

Gingerbread Cookies
3 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract (sub in whiskey here if you feel a little risky)

1. Combine flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
2. Beat butter, brown sugar, and molasses until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in egg and vanilla.
4. Gradually stir in the flour. When thoroughly combined, refrigerate 2 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 350. Roll out dough and cut with cookie cutters. Place on lined cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes.