Ginger Molasses Cookies

 
What happens when 4 Davis' all find themselves home on a Sunday afternoon with no plans? We go for a hike.

Ben scoped out a 7 mile hike for us at Panther Creek  few weeks ago so we packed up some snacks, some sandwiches and the dog and headed north to Clarkville, Georgia. It was a beautiful day for a hike.

The boys carried their packs.  As for Courtney and I, we opted for a much lighter load.  (I did carry my SLR camera - does that count as a hiking essential?) 

 The trail followed the creek for the entire 3 1/2 miles. 

Of course we stopped to take advantage of the gorgeous scenery and snap some family pictures along the way.   Sometimes Mia cooperated...

And sometimes she didn't.

Our hike ended at the most beautiful waterfall, tucked away deep in the national forest.  

We all got our feet wet in the water to cool off but none of us appreciated it as much as Mia.

We spent about an hour at the base of the waterfall - enjoying the water, eating some snacks and resting up for the return hike.

 









Mia's pace slowed ever so slightly on the hike out of the forest but she still kept us moving along at a pretty good clip.

 I still managed to stop and snap a few photos along the way.

It was a great hike - I highly recommend it for any of my fellow Georgia residents.

Want to know what was in those packs that the boys carried on our hike?   A lot of food and water, a tent, sleeping bags and various other essentials - just in case we got stranded out in the forest.  (It's a good think at least some of us were prepared.)  Among other snacks, we took along some ginger molasses cookies - the perfect sweet, energy boost that we needed halfway through our hike. 

Ginger Molasses Cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 extra-large egg
1/4 cup regular unsulphured molasses
granulated sugar (for coating cookie dough before baking)

Heat oven to 375 degrees with the rack in the center. Line 2 baking
sheets with parchment paper or silicon pan liners. Set aside.
Sift flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves into a medium bowl. Set aside.

Cream the butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl with mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

With mixer on medium speed, beat in the egg and molasses, then increase the speed to high and
beat about 1 minute longer, until the mixture no longer looks curdled.  Scrape the sides with a rubber spatula several times while mixing.

Mix in the flour mixture on low speed. The batter will be rather stiff.
 

Place some granulated sugar on a small plate or saucer. Use a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop or a measuring cup to form 1/4-cup portions of dough.

Transfer the dough to your hands and roll each portion into a rough ball, then roll each ball into the
sugar.

Dampen your fingers with water and press down lightly on each cookie to flatten it a little and dampen the top. Refrigerate one filled baking sheet while the other bakes.

Bake for 12 minutes, or until the cookies have spread and are firm to the touch. Rotate the sheet 180 degrees halfway through the baking time.  Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on a wire rack.

Maybe not your typical trail food but delicious none the less.  Happy Saturday - make it a great one.

Ciao!

Penne Rustica

Yea it's happy day! We have been talking about a making a patio on the back of our house for years and it finally happened.

I'm pretty sure that our family and friends are just as happy to see the new patio go in as we are, because we will FINALLY stop talking about it! It's not that we were dragging our feet on purpose, we just couldn't seem to agree on what we wanted it to look like. Posts, no posts, screens, wood, stone, cement, wall, no wall - so many decisions.

After 8 years of negotiating and debating and analyzing over this patio - it's finally in! I actually did a little happy dance the first day that I could walk on the patio. Are you ready for the before and after pics? Brace yourselves.







This is what the back of the house looked like when we first moved into this house...







Several years ago, we tore down the lattice under the porch because it was deteriorating quickly. 

Thanks to the handiwork of my dad, last winter we pulled out a door, replaced it with a window and  added a set of french doors to the basement.  It was the kickstart that we needed to get this project underway. 

We used the space to store our garbage can, a wheelbarrow and any various yard clippings and garbage that we happened to collect.  Basically, it was an unusable space - for anything practical at least.  We FINALLY came to an agreement and decided to replace the twisted support posts, pour a cement pad and turn the space into an actual patio.

These are the guys who made it all happen...

 This team did a fabulous job.  They turned our empty space into a patio!!!

And after a few plants, the patio is shaping up nicely.

All that's missing now is a little patio furniture a porch swing and viola - a perfect place to sit outside and enjoy the evening.  (Can you guess what's on my Christmas list this year?)

 
Copycat Macaroni Grill’s Penne Rustica

Gratinata sauce:

1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon dill
1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary
1/2 cup marsala cooking wine
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 cups heavy cream
1 strip bacon
9 raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used way more than 9 shrimp.)
6 ounces grilled chicken breasts, sliced (1 large breast or 2 small)
8-12 ounces penne pasta, cooked
3 Tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon chopped shallot
pinch salt and pepper
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon paprika

• 
  Penne Rustica:

Instructions

For Gratinata Sauce: Saute butter, garlic, and rosemary until garlic begins to brown.

Add Marsala wine and reduce by one-third. 

Add cream and pepper, reduce by half of the original volume. Set aside. 

For Penne Rustica: Saute pancetta or bacon until it begins to brown. 

Add butter, shallots, and shrimp.  Cook until shrimp are evenly pink but still translucent.

Add chicken, salt, pepper, and mix thoroughly. 

Add gratinata sauce and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.  Simmer until sauce thickens.



Stir in the cooked pasta.

Pour into a large casserole dish or roaster. (I divided my penne between 2 dishes.)

Sprinkle with 1/4 cup more parmesan cheese and sprinkle with paprika.





Bake at 475 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes.

We didn't eat our Penne Rustica on the new patio but that sure would have been a good idea.  I can hardly wait until we get a table out there.

Ciao!