~Sugar And Spice And Yummy Cookies~

My sons school is having a Renaissance Faire. I don't think anyone is as excited by this, as me.

I tell ya, I am soooo into this. It's what my focus was in art history. I love everything about the Renaissance.

Sidenote: My son will be happy when its over so his wacko mom can calm down.

It's not like I'm going to go crazy and start attending Renaissance Faire's dressed in long gowns, stomachers, a gable on my head, and nether hose on my legs. Geez! Come on. I'm not that into it.

But it has been fun watching Jack learn about this period in more depth than elementary school. His first assignment was to complete a project on a famous person of that time. He chose, Brunelleschi a famous architect (everyone remember that name it's a good one to drop into conversation at a dinner parties).

Brunelleschi invited perspective. He was a genius but not as well know amongst none history buffs, so toss his name into convo and listen to the sighs of wonder and awe at your intelligences. There are so many geniuses at this time. He seems to be over look when you think of how much press Michelangelo and Leonardo get.

Next: for the actual faire Jack had to decide who he wanted to be. He in proud to say he is the wealthiest man in Lisbon. He is a spice merchant with the finest selection of spices this side of Venice.

While he was gathering his spices I pushed my way into his project and started learning about the Spice Islands and what this meant to the people of Europe at this time.

Did you know pepper was traded like gold? And nutmeg was more important than most spices because it was thought to cure the plague.

Well, one thing lead to another which lead to a cookie and I decided to make these cookies with our left over spices. They are my boys favorites.

Molasses Honey Ginger Cookie~ You haven't had a cookie as good as these babies. I even ground my own spices and ohhhhh the smells and the fresh taste of the cookies was doubled.

I thought I would share:

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup molasses (dark or light)

1/2 cup honey

2 eggs yolks

4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 tsp ground cloves

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground nutmeg

Cream together the shortening, sugar, molasses, and honey in an electric mixer. Add egg yolks. Mix well

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Stir into the shortening mixture. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill well.

Once chilled take out of fridge and roll into small balls, then roll into granulated sugar. Place on a slightly greased cookie sheet. Press down with a fork.

Preheat over to 350. Bake cookies for 8-10 min. As usual my advice is to under bake. Only 8 min.

They are brilliant.