acchikocchi | rl, fic challenges, & a recipe

-- and a very happy birthday to

procreational, who is extraordinarily thoughtful and caring and generally great. ♥♥♥ Thanks for putting up with me and my oft-dodgy taste in music... ;)

Various Obligations finally completed just in time to get into the whirl of baking and shopping and mailing. Speaking of, just started on cards and things today so basically none of you will get anything before Christmas, I'm so sorry. XD They will be like nice little surprises! To keep the holiday season going! ...shh. Also, I feel sure that I missed some address collection posts while I was snowed under with work and school -- if you didn't get my address, I didn't see yours because I always sign myself up for mail. XD Point me in the right direction, please? (Likewise, if you would like mail from the Home State of Sarah Palin -- hahahaha I can see you all wincing -- shoot me an email or a screened comment here. I'll send you a caribou antler or something.)

No less than four people told me how awesome the

je_holiday fic for me was, before I had a chance to read it, and they were SO RIGHT. :D Honestly, given the numbers distribution I was expecting Pin and Gokusen 2 fic was the most pleasant of surprises! I have a Sneaking Suspicion, fed by Matchy, that the author is on my flist so if you are reading this THANK YOU. ♥♥♥ When all the fics for both that and

je_ficgames I'll do one of those guess-my-fic-and-I'll-do-something-nice-for-you, once I have a chance to think about it more.

Just took two batches of gingerbread out of the oven and my mother tasted it and said, quote, It is Nectar and Ambrosia. I'm a pretty mediocre cook but a good baker and gingerbread is a specialty. :D The family recipe, that is -- it's very dark and rich and frequently causes trouble at parties because people think it's chocolate cake and then their tastebuds are all unpleasantly shocked because they were expecting something else... To give you an idea, the other recipes I've seen (from various cookbooks, backs of molasses jars, etc.) call for anywhere from a tablespoon to half a cup of molasses; this one calls for a full cup. XD Since I have been snagging recipes from the flist right and left, thought I would share:

Ingredients:
1 cup oil (vegetable or canola)
3 well-beaten eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp soda
1 cup molasses
1/4 cup warm water
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup hot water
2 cups flour

Sift together flour, spices, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Mix oil, sugar, and molasses in a large mixing bowl. Add beaten eggs. Beat a few minutes. Dissolve soda in 1/4 cup warm water and add. Slowly stir in dry mixture. Add last cup of hot water. Mix well. Bake 45 minutes in large pan (greased and floured) or in two small pans for 30 minutes, at around 350 degrees.

Meredith adds, It'll be done when the edges begin to separate from the pan and a toothpick to the middle comes out clean. Let cool a bit before tasting, but not too long because it's best warm. :)

I was going to say, if I were more organized (or had more foresight) I would have thought to document today's batch photographically, but I did double the recipe (and it got Very Messy) so maybe that wouldn't have been the best idea after all. XD;

P.S. Have a friended a few people recently and want to say, usually I don't post this often! It's been building up over a long time of LJ-lessness. XD

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Chanticleer - In The Bleak Midwinter