Gingersnaps Without the Snap

What to do on a Friday night... another Friday night when I'm like.. gee.. I'm kind of bored! Almost all of my friends are taking some sort of test in the next few weeks, my sis is out in Vegas and my closest friend who is not busy is.. "just" 35 miles away haha... which leaves me here...watching my baby boy aka Fish, blow his millionth bubble nest and poop... while I'm blogging on yet another Friday night... haha. I worked a lot this week... the most I've ever worked this year! As tutoring is coming to an end... I've come to realize that teaching kids is really rewarding. I've learned a lot about them, their families, their learning styles, their area... which is also my area haha (I have way too many stories about this one....,) and a lot about just interacting with kids. Anyway, something I'm so glad I've started to pick up is giving praise. One of my new years resolution was to be less negative. I'm the type of person who will most of the time tell it like it is, like it, great, don't like it, leave. Sometimes the truth hurts, and that's what I do. I am honest, and it's hard for me to verbally like something I don't actually like. I found that I can't be that type of person, while teaching... or well, I'm sure they'll start crying. But.. teaching these kiddies... boy... they do make a lot of mistakes, but it's ok, I see that they're trying, and it's so adorable, and saying "you got it!" "great work!" "good job today!" might be all the praise that they need to keep them going. Whether it's a kid writing a funny paragraph about how "anoying" (annoying) his brothers and sisters are and how they drive him "blistic" (ballistic) to playing restaurant with a kid who drew an entire menu himself in which he named after me<- :), tutoring these kids have really given me a new perspective on how to be more positive, and how staying positive really does increase and encourage productivity. I think I've given 6 out of my 10 resolutions a good attempt this year, something I really should be quite proud of, in a year when a lot of people just don't understand, why I had to take it off, in which some days I feel like I've kind of failed. So back to my life... this past week aside from the crappy mixer tragedy. haha

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Ginger cookies! I actually do love to switch it up once in awhile by making cookies that are not so "typical" i.e. chocolate chip, oatmeal, peanut butter. These cookies were yummy. They were soft with a chewy texture. I've only made gingerbread cookies before this, and the recipe is pretty similar, just I rolled them up into balls and coated them with cinnamon sugar. I wish I had more cracking on top. I don't know what the secret it to getting that beautiful crack. For the chocolate crinkles the secret was to place it on the highest position in the oven, i did the second highest for these cookies and only a few turned out slightly cracked.

These were not a hit with my family. I guess they're not a fan of cloves. My mom couldn't figure out what she didn't like about them.. but said there was a flavor in there that made it weird... I'm thinking cloves. I wanted to try a spicy cookie! The aftertaste was a little peppery... and well.. my mom cannot stand heat! Oh well, more for me. :) I got these off of allrecipes.com. I did half a batch, and yes I did use shortening. Yum. I don't think there's anything wrong with shortening in very small amounts. I made 13 cookies, and there was only 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp of shortening.. so not too bad. I reduced the sugar from 1/2 cup to 1/3 cup, and it was plenty sweet due to the sugar coating. I would make these again, and would probably serve it has an ice cream sandwich at this time of the year.. maybe pair it with some pistachio ice cream? I love when they spice pistachio ice cream a bit... so I'm sure this combination would be wonderful... I'm becoming my own Diddy Riese... ahh those were the days... every Thursday after math discussion, I would walk down to Diddy Riese and get some cookies... and people watch while sitting in front of their shop... then trek back to my dorm to burn off the calories... haha.. I miss Westwood.. Recipe: Grandma's Gingersnap Cookies - Allrecipes.com
(I added 2 pinches of cloves, reduced the sugar to 2/3 cups <- full recipe) I did sift it many times, as directed... sifting flour into a bowl on a mixer is hard.. I got flour all over it!)