Dark Magic Gingerbread

The Move!

I was running on the treadmill in my dad's basement a few years ago, with a DVD of the Talking Heads playing on the screen about 3 feet from my face. It was during this work out that I realized something that probably everyone in my parent's generation has known for decades. David Byrne is one craaaaaaaaaazy dude. His body moves like a cooked piece of spaghetti being waved about. And then there's the move that reminds me of the hanging wooden man at my grandma's house, where you can pull a cord and his arms and legs jerk up and down. So since we're taking this playlist back a few decades I just want to share the trailer for the video that changed my life.

Weird right? Oh wait, better idea ... Chuck Berry's Duck Walk. For Thanksgiving just make it the Turkey Walk.

The Beats!

We're going back to some old school rock. Because you have a turkey to cook. And they take forever. And if you haven't taken it out of the freezer yet, do it now. When you're ready, duck walk it into the oven.

The Treats!

If you have any doubts about what your Thanksgiving dessert should be, or maybe just an open spot on the menu (because Thanksgiving is one of those days when there needs to be at least 2 varieties of pie, in addition to all the other dessert items) ... choose this recipe. My stepdad made it for Christmas dinner last year and then my sister and I proceeded to continue eating it for our post-dessert dessert, breakfast, and lunch. That good (it is called Dark Magic Gingerbread afterall, I didn't just make that up). It's already moist and then you add homemade butterscotch on top - BAM, best dessert you've ever had. And it's a fall treat so you're kinda pinched for time here. It might look a little intimidating; in fact, I was a bit scared of making butterscotch especially when I read the line "when it barely begins to smoke", oh, and where it mentions "it can sputter and get kind of wild". It's not as bad as it sounds, and as it turns out, wild butterscotch tastes even better than regular type. Happy Thanksgiving y'all.

Dark Magic Gingerbread with Butterscotch Sauce
From With a Measure of Grace 
makes at least 12 servings


What you'll need ...

Gingerbread

3 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

1 1/2 sticks butter

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups dark molasses

1 1/4 cups boiling water

 1 Tablespoon chopped crystallized ginger

Butterscotch Sauce

1 stick unsalted butter

1/4 cut water

2 Tablespoons light corn syrup

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or Scotch whiskey


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13" baking pan. Sift or stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. In a large bowl, beat butter until it's creamy. Gradually add eggs and sugar and beat with an electric mixer on high speed until batter is light in color and texture, 2 or 3 minutes. Slowly beat in the molasses.





Add the flour mixture and stir with a spoon until it's just combined. You don't want to overmix this cake. Stir in boiling water slowly, mixing well, then add crystallized ginger (make sure you've already chopped it into small pieces).

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake it for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean and the cake springs back when lightly pressed on top.

To make the butterscotch, combine butter, water, and corn syrup in a heavy bottomed saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the butter is melted.

Add sugar and stir until it's really dissolved - completely smooth and no longer making gritty, scraping sounds. Increase heat and boil without stirring until the mixture starts to brown around the edges. Start stirring at this point, and continue to stir as it thickens and turns a darker brown.

When it just barely begins to smoke, remove from heat and pour in cream (be careful here, because it can sputter and get kind of wild). Stir butterscotch until it's dissolved. If it's stubborn and won't melt, place briefly over low heat and stir the lumps out.


Add salt and vanilla extract or Scotch and stir well. Reheat before pouring over gingerbread.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Move!

 

The following playlist is a little on the electronic side, but since I'm using it as my soundtrack for solo snowboarding days on the mountain, we're going to use the moves as my warm up. Plus, I'm pretty sure I could do the jerk while on my board.  Maybe I already do.

And here's a little montage of the Biebs doing the jerk, the reject, etc. No, I didn't make it ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOyC6wJ1meM&feature=related

The Beats!

Last year I went snowboarding solo for the first time.  I would always prefer to be surrounded by my friends, screaming down the mountain and talking on the lift ride back up, but on this day my friends were taking some turns in the backcountry so I decided to ride Stevens Pass with my iPod in hand.  It was a blast.  I can't remember what I listened to that day, but I remember thinking the music sounded better and moving over the snow felt more fluid and fast.  Nope, not on drugs (that's what you were thinking, I know).  My friend once wrote, "I thought of the beauty of winter and the tracks we can leave.  After a fresh snowfall I look at the new world left by the snow, all white and so smooth. And if the sun or moon is right, then sparkling gems appear, more precious than any diamond. On this canvas left by nature we may draw or paint as we please ...".  So here's to another season of riding the sparkling snow with good friends, the rest of my apple cup waiting in the car (if you haven't stopped by the bakery in Monroe on your way out Hwy 2 you are seriously missing out), and the perfect playlist ready for my next solo ride.

The Treats!

I've always been a big fan of cookies.  As long as they are warm and chewy then they're probably my favorite unhealthy thing to eat.  After trying many, many different recipes in search of the perfect chocolate chip cookies, I've decided there are three deal breakers on whether or not I'll give a new recipe a try.  The deal breakers:
1. There should always be more brown sugar than white sugar.
2. Every recipe needs at least a tablespoon of vanilla extract.
3. Mixing semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips make them that much better. And if you're feeling rich, buy the Guittard brand, but try not to eat them all before they make it into the batter.  It's harder than you think.
This was the first time I'd tried this recipe and I wasn't disappointed.  I recommend rotating the baking sheets halfway through and make sure not to overbake them.  As long as you give them time to cool  they will settle into big, chewy, chocolatey cookies.  And what's not to love about that?

Chocolate Chip Cookies           

Makes 1 1/2 dozen cookies

What you'll need ...

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar 
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips


Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.  In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.  







Beat in the vanilla, egg and egg yolk until light and creamy.  Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended.  Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon.  Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets.  Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.  






Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted.  Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before removing to cool completely.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

The Move!

Wow, right? It's almost too hard to pick a move from this video because they are all soooooooo good.  And if you don't know the running man by now, well, you should.  Look it up.

The Beats!

This playlist is taken directly from my playlist made in 2008 for the 80's Jazzercise party.  I'll spare you a play-by-play of the night and pictures of the spandex, but I will not spare you the totally sick beats.  What is there not to like about 80's music?  What, you don't wear your sunglasses at night?  Your number isn't 867-5309?  Doesn't matter.  Just make sure you look like a champ when you're rockin' out.  Which brings me to a quick story (don't worry, I promised to skip a full play-by-play): Among the crowd of people that showed up to the party was someone I didn't know (not unusual).  He was dressed in sparkly celestial black spandex tights with a light turquoise belly tanktop (I will refer to him as Belly Tank from now on).  Oh and a sweatband around his head of course.  Belly Tank decided to lead the party in a team stretch so no one would pull a hammie doing the sprinkler.  And at that moment, mankind came together, sharing the same goal - a pre-Jazzercise stretch.  Limbered up, we all got back to dancing and drinking and talking way too loud.  I still don't know Belly Tank's name (clearly) but I've always appreciated this strangers concern for the well-being of everyone there.  So, (I kept that pretty short right?) inspired by Belly Tank, I recommend you put on some spandex, strrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeetch, and then bust a move.

The Treats!

As a pre-party to the 80's jazzercise party we hosted a cut-throat brownie bake-off.  Four contestants resulted in about 100 brownies which we then served by walking through the crowd with an enormous tray raised overhead, yelling over Salt 'n Peppas "Push It" that people need to help judge the competition by trying a brownie between their beers and dancing.  I should admit, I lost the bake off ... which is why this won't be a brownie recipe and will instead be a pumpkin cupcake recipe. This is one of my favorites and I usually try to make as many batches as possible between early October and late November. I guess I've spared you by waiting until October has passed, but do make sure to try these out before Pumpkin season is over.

Pumpkin Cupcakes              

From Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

Makes 12

What you'll need ...

Cupcake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
scant 3/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup whole milk
2 eggs
6 1/2 oz. canned pumpkin puree


Frosting:
2 1/3 cups confectioners sugar
3 Tablesoons unsalted butter, room temp
4 oz. cream cheese, cold

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a freestanding electric mixer.  Beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.








Gradually pour in the milk and beat until well mixed. Add the eggs to the mix and beat well (scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula).  Stir in the pumpkin puree by hand until evenly dispersed.





Spoon the batter into the paper cases until two-thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until light golden and the cake bounces back when touched.  Let the cupcakes cool slightly in the pan before turning out to cool completely.






For the frosting: Beat the confectioners sugar and butter together in a freestanding mixer on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.  Add the cream cheese in one go and beat until it is completely incorporated.  Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed.  Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes.  Do not overbeat, as it can quickly become runny. When the cupcakes are cold, spoon cream cheese frosting on top and finish with a light sprinkling of cinnamon.