As a little girl I wanted to be Martha Stewart.

My best friend and I took it upon ourselves to create a publication for young girls, such as ourselves, who dreamed of being the crafter, cook and exceptional decorator that Martha is. Our magazine was called, Mini Martha Living.

It ran for one issue.

Oh but what an issue it was. We included recipes and how-to’s. There were sewing, beading and origami projects with hand-drawn illustrations to aid in the learning.

We studied the grownup version of the magazine with precision and mimicked the layout right down to the fonts that vary in size in boldness adorning the cover.

We were so proud of our magazine and quickly learned that publication is a tough business.

That childhood dream has followed me into adulthood.

I get goosebumps at the site of her crafting closet filled with neatly labeled boxes and spindle after spindle of delicate ribbons. Her potting shed makes me weak in the knees as I dream of spending hours out there starting seeds and arranging beautiful cut flowers freshly plucked from my garden.

A perfect afternoon is me with a cup of good coffee completely immersed in a pile of past issues eager to crease the corner of the page that will soon be my next project.

As I’ve grown up I have come to realize that I will never rise to the status of Martha Stewart. I am okay with this. I will never find the need to iron my sheets. And I’m pretty sure – as hard as I try – it is impossible to fold a fitted sheet as concisely as she seems to be able to.

But what I have recently realized is that I can decorate gingerbread cookies. Now they aren’t as perfect as hers but again she irons her sheets – I do not. In fact I call it an accomplishment if I manage to make my bed (sorry mom).

I take it one project at a time, ever increasing my Martha Stewart-ness. Today I start with cookies.

These gingerbread cookies are as lovely on the inside as they are on the outside. Soft and spicy. Sweet and complex. A beautiful and rich mahogany color with an dark molasses flavor.

Gingerbread Cookies

I love the heat of these cookies. I increased the amount of pepper but if you don’t like that much warmth feel free to keep the pepper to 1 teaspoon.Some other delightful additions may be orange zest, lemon zest or finely chopped candied ginger.

6 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup dark-brown sugar, packed

4 teaspoons ground ginger

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoons nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 large eggs

1 cup unsulfured molasses

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in spices and salt, then eggs and molasses. Add flour mixture; combine on low speed. Divide dough in thirds, and wrap in plastic. Chill for at least 1 hour.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside. On a lightly floured work surface, roll dough 1/8-inch thick. Cut into shapes then transfer to prepared baking sheets.

Freeze for 10 minutes before baking (or refrigerate for 15 minutes) Bake for 9-12 minutes. If you like a crisper cookie you can bake longer. I like them soft so I took them out at 9 or 10 minutes. Let cookies cool on wire racks.

Decorate with royal icing.

In all honesty this past week was one of the hardest weeks our little family has had. First I was sick and I am not talking about *cough* *cough* *sniffle* sick. It was more horrific than that, but I will spare you the details. Then poor little Baron came down with it. Gabe watched in horror fearing the inevitable, mistaking every off feeling in his body as “the sickness” as we lovingly refer to it as. It eventually hit him too. Then came the snow which has yet to cease. Now the snow isn’t really a bad thing, in fact it makes the view from out of our windows quite lovely. It is however very cold which is fine if you have a furnace, we did until it decided to stop working (and is still not working). Cold, sick and confined to our little home.

Things could be a lot worse and this time of year is a great time to be reminded of all that we are blessed with. A little stomach bug sure makes you appreciate the good health we do have 90% of the time. And a loving family who would endure the treacherous roads to come and try to fix our heating issues.

I absolutely LOVE this time of the year. Everything about it. The generosity, the cold, the gifts, the joy, the baby and of course the hours and hours spent baking sugary treats for loved ones. Sadly with all that happened this past week my hours of baking have been cut short but I have had some time to peruse some of the baking that is going on around the Internet. Here is a compilation of all the treats that I would have love to bake this year – because really it’s the thought that counts? If I hurry maybe I’ll have some time to in the few short days before Christmas.

Fleur de Sel Caramels (I have tried these and they are delicious!! A little soft but full of yummy flavor…. I would suggest caramelizing the sugar to a deep amber color but don’t burn it! )

Chocolate Caramels (These are also FANTASTIC!)

Peppermint Patties (Seriously?! yum.)

Peppermint Bark (I’m not a big white chocolate fan but this looks tasty!)

Stained Glass Cookies (a craft you can eat)

Saltine Toffee with Chocolate and Almonds (since we have a lot of saltine crackers around these days)

Peppermint Meringues (so cute… do you notice I really like peppermint things?)

Sugar Crusted Chocolate Cookies (sugar, good. chocolate, good.)

Oliebollen (these a traditional dutch favorite. Little fried donuts studded with raisins and apples… these make me proud to be Dutch)

A blondie is simply a variation of a brownie but contains no chocolate…. so it really is something quite different than a brownie. The similarity comes through in the method and also all the ingredients, excluding chocolate of course, are similar but the blondies primary flavor comes from brown sugar. As with brownies a multitude of mix-ins can be added and slight variations to the ratio of ingredients can be manipulated to alter the end product. You can cajole your blondies to be more cakey, chewy, crispy… or whatever you desire.

Usually I am a purist when it comes to blondies and brownies. Added ingredients are merely a distraction from the pure flavor and texture that I crave… but again this particular craving urged me to include milk chocolate chips. If you know me at all you know that milk chocolate is not typically in my vocabulary. Most often chocolate isn’t chocolate unless it’s bittersweet. I don’t know what came over me that day but it was super sweet blondies laden with milk chocolate chips that I desired and who am I to say no to my cravings?

One other note…. I made these two days in a row (don’t worry – I shared them with a multitude of people) The second time I made them I was short an egg…. since I am using my own chicken eggs they are quite a bit smaller than conventional eggs (they are also a beautiful blue/green color – I really must show you soon). So the first batch I used four of my eggs and the second time I only used three but I also increased the amount of butter. The second batch was my favorite. They were super chewy!

So if super sweet is what you crave… please try these.

Another add-in suggestion, which is what we would do at Spago. Once blondies are baked and cooled poke multiple holes in bars then fill the holes with caramel sauce. Warning – this version is ridiculously sweet!!! but so delicious.

Blondies with Milk Chocolate Chips

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter 

1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

2 large eggs (or four eggs from a bantam chicken)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 cup milk chocolate

For chewier version decrease eggs – I used three small instead of four so I don’t know exactly how much the recipe would change if you eliminated an entire egg… if you try this please let me know how it goes. I also increased the butter by two tablespoons bringing the total up to 12 tbl.

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 12-inch square baking pan. Mix flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda in medium bowl. Melt butter in large saucepan over low heat. Remove saucepan from heat. Add sugar and whisk to blend. Whisk in eggs and vanilla extract. Gradually stir in flour mixture (batter will be thick). Spread batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips  Bake blondies until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 25 minutes. Cool blondies in pan on rack. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.) Cut into squares and serve.