It has been a hum dinger of a year. (I know it is only Oc...

It has been a hum dinger of a year. (I know it is only October). And you know what? My spell check cannot seem to decide whether hum dinger is two words or one.
Anyway, in the midst of a summer traveling and working on my new book and trying desperately to stay ahead of the ever-growing mound of papers that need to be graded and that seem to follow me everywhere I go, I've let this blog slide. For the past seven weeks, I've been camping out at my parents' house, helping care for my dad after he decided once and for all to make all the doctors stop poking him and injecting him and radiating him. He's doing really well. (Thanks for asking).
I'm headed back home now, or at least I will be in a day or so. It will be nice and weird to be back there. I know my over-stuffed and over-indulged cat will be happy to have us back full-time and it will be nice to be able to leave my dishes in the sink if I want to… not that I will. I'm pretty OCD about that stuff.
I'm including a recipe that's kept me going this summer. This isn't for the faint of heart. These are for people who like a little kick in their cookie. I hope you like them. No photos for now, but soon. :)


Seriously Ginger Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 egg
1 1/4 cups chopped crystallized ginger (6 ounces)
Granulated sugar, for rolling the cookies (I use turbinado sugar for this, but then I'm sort of a snob that way.)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and salt and then combine the mixture with your hands.
2. In another bowl, beat the brown sugar, oil, and molasses. You can use a mixer or just stir like the dickens.
3. Add the egg, and beat for 1 minute.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix until combined. Add the crystallized ginger and mix until combined.
5. Okay… now this is just a suggestion. At this point, you could get a little crazy and add some chunked bitter sweet chocolate if you want. I don't because I like my ginger cookies straight, but if you're a chocolate lover, try this. It's really good.
6. With your hands, roll each cookie into a 1 3/4-inch ball and then flatten them lightly with your fingers.
7. Press both sides of each cookie in granulated sugar and place them on the sheet pans. (You can line your pans with Silpat or parchment for easier clean-up.
8. Bake for exactly 13 minutes. Don't mess this up. EXACTLY 13 MINUTES! The cookies will be crackled on the top and soft inside. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 1 to 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely