Ina's Ginger Cookies

Ginger cookies are one of my favorite cookies. They are a close second to my sugar cookies.

It's not officially fall at the Tucker household until a loaf of pumpkin bread and a batch of ginger cookies are made! When I was on my baking and cooking rampage a couple weekends ago, I made my first batch of ginger cookies for the season. My family's recipe never fails, but I've had Ina Garten's bookmarked for a while now.

I've seen Ina make these on her show before and they come out so puffy and pillowy (my kind of cookie).  The ingredients are pretty similar to my recipe with some adjustments in quanities. She also adds chopped crystalized ginger to give them and extra level of flavor.

Ina Garten's Ginger Cookies
yields about 18 cookies

Ingredients:
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 molasses
1 extra-large egg, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups chopped crystallized ginger (6 ounces)
Granulated sugar, for rolling the cookies

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and salt and then combine the mixture with your hands. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the brown sugar, oil, and molasses on medium speed for 5 minutes. Turn the mixer to low speed, add the egg, and beat for 1 minute. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula and beat for 1 more minute. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the crystallized ginger and mix until combined.

Scoop the dough with 2 spoons or a small ice cream scoop. With your hands, roll each cookie into a 1 3/4-inch ball and then flatten them lightly with your fingers. Press both sides of each cookie in granulated sugar and place them on the sheet pans. Bake for 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.

Great minds think alike I guess because my sister is sharing a recipe today for some incredible pumpkin ginger cookies she made. Us Tucker's love our ginger cookies.

Annie

Bites of My Life

Another week went by, but no pictures to prove it unfortunately. I sat down to write this post, checked my camera roll and it was empty from this past week. 

Here's quick recap minus the pictures--

I saw "The Butler" late Tuesday night and it was incredible! Apparently no one else had the same idea because we had the theater to ourselves, but that was no sign for how good the movie was. 

Nashville returned, and now I'm anxiously awaiting this week's episode. My sorority had our first date party of the semester. The night was too fun and was a great start to the weekend. We then spent Saturday watching OU beat Notre Dame!

I ended the weekend by making breakfast for dinner for a good friend and I. We made scrambled eggs with canadian bacon, tomatoes, green peppers, and feta. We are already planning on making this for our next breakfast for dinner!

Now for some bites I've found from across the web this past week...

{Bites}

-How cozy does this outdoor space look? I would die to curl up with a cup of coffee under one of those buffalo check blankets.
-We have been getting a little taste of cooler temps in Oklahoma. I am more than ready to pull out the fur vests and pom pom hats!
-I constantly daydream about how I want to decorate my bedroom in my house next year. I have been loving the idea of a gallery wall mixed with faux animal heads. Here is a great resource.
-All the pumpkin recipes floating around have me already mentally planning out what I want to make for Thanksgiving. For some strange and unknown reason I have become the only person in my family to eat the pumpkin pie anymore. This pumpkin galette may be an alternative I can get the rest of my family to try with me! 

I'll try to do better with taking more pictures this week!

xo annie

Pumpkin Quinoa

You guys know I love quinoa and if you didn't know, I loooooooove pumpkin. Anything pumpkin flavored, gimme. I now have a Pinterest board dedicated to just pumpkin recipes. I know it's cliche to be a girl and love pumpkin things, but sorry, I do. 

So, when I saw a recipe combining two of my favorite things, you know I was all over that. I made this pumpkin quinoa for breakfast last Sunday. It was the yummiest fall breakfast. I'm a big oatmeal person, but quinoa is a fun replacement. 

To make this quinoa, I just cooked about a 1/4 cup quinoa with 1/2 cup water. Once it was ready I stirred in spices and a spoonful of pumpkin puree! Simple as that. This is a super nutritious breakfast and has all the flavors we crave in the fall!

Below is the recipe making enough for 4 people. If making for a group, following these instructions, but if you're making just one serving you can just guestimate on the mix-ins!

Pumpkin Quinoa
serves 4 (about 1 cup servings)

Ingredients:
1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups water
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
toppings-greek yogurt, granola, dried cranberries, pecans etc.

Directions:
Cook quinoa with water and salt according to package directions. While it is still warm, stir in pumpkin, brown sugar, and spices. 

Feel free to eat plain or top with various toppings. Kathleen's fall granola would be perfect with this!

Annie

Open-Faced Smoked Salmon Sandwich

We had a major salmon moment this past weekend. It was salmon for dinner, salmon for lunch, and if we had any leftovers we would have scrambled some into our eggs for breakfast! 

When I was waiting in line at the butcher counter to get our salmon filet for dinner, the smoked salmon caught my eye. I love bagel and lox but rarely get the chance to eat it. My dad and I have been talking about how we need to get some smoked salmon (lox) and do something with it. I picked up a package and then created this super easy sandwich for lunch the next day!

It's a take on bagel and lox (the classic breakfast bagel with cream cheese, smoked salmon and red onions), but I switched it up a little bit to make it more acceptable for lunch. The recipe makes one sandwich, so the ingredients are a little vague. 

Smoked Salmon Sandwich
recipe makes one open face sandwich

Ingredients:
1 slice of whole wheat bread, toasted
Big spoonful of mascarpone cheese (cream cheese will work too)
dash of dried dill
pinch of minced garlic
2-3 thin slices of packaged smoked salmon or lox (I used Spence & Co.)
a few spinach leaves
a few scallion or red onion slices
salt and pepper 

Directions:
While your bread is toasting, mix together the mascarpone, dill and garlic. Spread the mixture on your toasted bread, layer on the spinach, then salmon. Top with scallion slices and garnish with salt and pepper. Slice diagonally and enjoy!

The sandwich was so good and made for the perfect lunch! It was a good change from the standard ham and cheese. I've been thinking about it since last Saturday...

Annie

What I'm Listening To

To save you from a food post overload, I'm giving you a little hump day treat. I can't get this song out of my head (probably because I play it on repeat all day). 

Katy Perry's new song featuring Juicy J came out last week and it is too good. If you haven't heard it, stop what you're doing and take a listen. If you have heard it, you probably know why I love it so much.

I might have thought the lyrics said, "so you wanna play with matches," before I was quickly corrected that it is actually "magic." I'm notorious for thinking a song says something other than it actually is. Despite singing the wrong lyrics I still belt the whole thing! 

Annie