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Thursday, September 01, 2016

back in the saddle

Well, hello, hello! Happy September! I'm glad to be back from my blogging break! My kids started school this week and we are slowly getting back into a routine. Although I miss them during the day, man, the quiet is awfully nice!

I've been working on cleaning the slate...trying to finish some quilts. I have a hundred new ideas (at the very least) that I want to try, so I have to get some of my WIPs cleared out. It's easy to get bogged down!
I basted my scattered showers quilt this week and I started quilting it yesterday. I committed to a very ambitious quilting pattern and I spent all of my quilting time questioning my sanity. I had many problems with thread breakage and skipped stitches, which made me question this quilting pattern even more. A friend suggested going up a need size, which I tried, and things got better after that. What a relief! Now, I'm quite certain that I'm going to run out of thread, but one problem at a time....
The back of the quilt is a funky green (Kona cotton in peapod) that shows every single stitch of the quilting. No pressure there! Ha! I have a long way to go on this one, but it feels good to be one step closer to finishing!

I don't share a lot of recipes here on the blog, but this one is such a good one! I made a batch of ginger molasses cookies yesterday....they are perfect for the fall weather that is just around the corner. This makes a big batch-plenty for your family and plenty to share with others. It's a keeper!

Ginger Molasses Cookies

4 1/2 cups flour
4 t. baking soda
2 t. cinnamon
4 t. ginger
1 t. cloves
1/2 t. salt
2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
granulated sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Sift together dry ingredients and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat well. Add the molasses and beat on medium-low speed until combined. Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture and beat until combined. Cover the dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes or more.

Roll the dough into small balls, about 1" in diameter. Fill a small bowl with granulated sugar and roll each ball in the sugar until is is completely coated.  Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for about
12-13 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for about 1-2 minutes, then transfer to wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Store for up to one week in a sealed container.

If you try this recipe, I'd love to hear what you think!

See you tomorrow for finish it up Friday!

44 comments:

  1. I for one am so glad you are back! Hope you enjoyed your break!

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  2. I missed you! I hope you feel rested.

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  3. I really missed your blog! I kept telling myself it was really lucky for all of us that you took your break part way into the month so we didn't need to go so long without you. That is not a guilt causing remark. Everyone needs a time to recharge. Children grow up much too quickly so you are wise to spend all the time you can with your darlings. Thank you for all you share with us. I have learned so much from you!

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  4. It seemed like forever that you were gone. Welcome back!

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  5. missed you - glad you had a good break - I do believe I have that same recipe I use it once or twice a year and love them

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  6. Good to see you back! Molasses cookies are our family's favorite!!

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  7. I just love your blog and i missed you so much. I love seeing all your ideas and thanks for the recipe. Paula in KY

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  8. Molasses Sugar Cookies! Love those things!!! I've been baking them since the early '80s when I discovered the recipe on the back of a Brer Rabbit Molasses bottle.

    I hope you enjoyed your vacation from blogging and I can't wait to see what new ideas you want to explore. I will make note of the going up a needle size cause sometimes I run into the same problem.

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  9. Glad to see you back! Those cookies are making me hungry!

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  10. Glad you are back :)! Your quilting is beautiful. I've been experimenting.....but....well....I'm still waiting for improvement. Great cookies - I make some similar to them. I'll have to try your recipe. Thank you for sharing!

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  11. Glad you are back. I love the peapod backing. It looks good so far. Can hardly wait to see the finish.

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  12. Ooo, I haven't made molasses crinkles in about 10 years. I know what I'm baking for a co-worker's birthday party! Thanks!

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  13. Woohoo! Your back! You've been missed! (Doesn't it feel great to come back and read all these "missed you" comments? Makes blogging seem even more worth the effort.). Looking forward to seeing more of what you've been working on and the creative ideas in your head.
    I've been working all summer toward making a dedicated sewing room a reality, so I will soon have some projects to post on Finish it Up Friday's. Yeah!

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  14. Welcome back! Your quilting looks great! I'm off to make your cookie recipe.

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  15. I am so happy you are back!!

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  16. Welcome back! I hope that you enjoyed your time away from the blog.

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  17. Welcome back; I'm looking forward to reading about all your finishes!

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  18. Welcome back! You and your lovely blog have been greatly missed. But all is now OK in blogger land again.

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  19. Welcome back! You were missed. I hope you return feeling refreshed and energized!

    I love to see your projects and can't wait to see your 100 new ideas! Interesting that the larger needle helped your troubles with the quilting. I'll have to store that info away for future reference!

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  20. Yay - You're back! I missed you and your scrappy wonders that you bring to us with each blog post. I hope you enjoyed the break. It is good to have time away and come back at it all refreshed.

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  21. Hope the summer was all you wanted it to be. Spending time with your family is pretty much priceless. Welcome back.

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  22. So Good To Hear From YOU! Thanks! for the recipe!

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  23. Missed you, so glad you're back. I love these cookies, been making them for years. One of the first recipes I made with my grand daughter, she loved rolling the dough in the sugar.

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  24. Those look very tasty and a lot like what my family calls Ginger Sparklers. So tasty with a cold glass of milk!

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  25. Welcome back! I'll have to share my pincushion photo with you now. ���� I just might try those cookies this weekend! Thanks for the recipe!

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  26. Yay! Welcome back!

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  27. Oh those biscuits look amazing! I still bake your 'Ben Bread' so I shall definitely have to give these a whirl :)

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  28. So happy your back! I was thinking of you today while I made your spraystarch recipe from your book! Cookies look yummy, I'll save the recipe!💟.

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  29. Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed your break from blogging, but I missed your colorful and informative posts! It'll be good to check in again! Those cookies look yummy!

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  30. Welcome back! I love how that quilting shows up so much on the back of your quilt, even if that does mean it show any wobbles more clearly too :) Thanks for the recipe...I think I'll have to give that one a try this week.

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  31. Nice to see you back, your quilting is so lovely, thanks for the recipe.

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  32. I'm thankful you had a good break. Your machine quilting is very nice.

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  33. Glad you are back! Love molasses cookies -- especially a large batch! I'll have to give your recipe a try. Also, thanks for the tip on skipped stitches.

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  34. I read about 15 different quilt blogs daily, since I have a lot of down time here at work. Yours is one that I really missed seeing the post. You have great tutorials, lots of beautiful pictures. We all appreciate the time, energy and extra effort you put into your blog.
    Welcome back! mburnette912@bellsouth.net

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  35. Your quilting looks great! What a fabulous motif! So glad you are back. The molasses cookies look yummy. I think you just guilted me into making a better effort to do some baking for the kids this fall as they head back to school next week.

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  36. Glad to see you're back. Visual quilting like that is so stressful. Gingersnaps are some of our favorite cookies.

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  37. Welcome back! That quilting you're doing looks great, but sounds challenging! Ginger molasses cookies are a favorite at our house, and they were the one kind of cookie that traveled well when our son was in college .

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  38. Your comeback was very timely for me. I was also having trouble while quilting with thread breakage, ect. Your comment about using a larger needle fixed the problem for me also. Thanks heaps!

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  39. "must resist.....", she said to herself as she read this post on the way out the door to a Weight Watchers meeting.....

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  40. Wish I was closer, I would pop in for a cookie. :)

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  41. It's wonderful that you're back! Now we can party again and catch up with your quilting shenanigans. I'm loving that quilting motif, btw, and can't wait to see the end result.

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  42. The best ginger cookies I have ever eaten. Really, this is the perfect cookie.
    Thank you for the recipe.

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  43. I have a funny story about these gingerbread cookies. My son would always bring his HS buddies after school to our house b/c I would often have fresh baked cookies and they would usually devour several of them. One day, I thought I would out smart them and make a cookie they probably would not like so much so that some of the cookies would be left over for later. I thought, 'what HS boy would eat gingerbread cookies?" Well I made them and boy was I disappointed when they were more popular than the usual chocolate chip cookies--not a single cookie was left.

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