Gingerbread Modeling Dough for Random Recipe Challenge

I love Dom's Random Recipe Challenge. It truly forces me to be brave and creative. This time, the challenge was to pick a random recipe from your very first cookbook. Well, I am so lucky to have a wonderful mother who bought me a fabulous cookbook for my first forays into independent cooking. Without further ado, I present Loaves and Fishes: A Love Your Neighbor Cookbook.

 
That this was my first cookbook is in complete keeping with my parents who, despite their conservative outside appearance, are truly hippies on the inside. The authors of this cookbook for children were hoping to educate young people about the realities of world hunger and the need for sustainable agriculture. In the educational preface, some facts are given concerning American over-consumption and world hunger. THe authors also state three goals for young people (rephrased for space).

1. Become educated about world hunger.
2. Become advocates for healthy eating in schools.
3. Make healthy, careful food choices at home.

The book has great pictures and a cute little, hand-drawn ladybug who follows you throughout the book.

I made a big deal of opening the book after dinner one night to choose my random recipe. When the pages fell open to an old favorite, "Gingerbread Modeling Dough", I was simultaneously excited and terrified.  I will tell you more about that later.

First, the recipe. It is a fun recipe that encourages kids to work with their hands and to craft their own, original gingerbread men. I thought it was great fun to make all kinds of gingerbread shapes when I was younger. The texture of the cookie is very chewy, almost doughy. The flavor starts with the spicy ginger and then begins to hint at the sweet molasses until you are engulfed in the very taste of Christmas.


Gingerbread Modeling Dough
1/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
3 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup water

1. In a large bowl mix well the margarine and sugar.
2. Beat in the molasses.
3. Add the flour, soda, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
4. Add the water and mix well, using your hands to mix the flour in when the dough becomes stiff.
5. Now the dough is ready to model into gingerbread boys or girls or anything you wish.
6. Place modeled dough on greased cookie sheet. Bake the dough at 350F for 8-10 minutes or longer depending on its thickness.
7. Yields 20, 2 point servings (#7 is not from the cookbook.)

Here is the gingerbread boy I made for Simon (with raisin face and bellybutton,  and sesame seed hair).

Now, obviously I was excited to make this recipe because it is one that is familiar - one that I even love. But terrified? Well, that is another story. I try to keep my blog a happy place, but part of this bit is sad. Trust me, however, that the end is - I think - affirming.

In another life (aka for almost ten years, until three years ago) I was married to another man. Let us call him The Dark. During the first year of our marriage, I made these cookies to share with him. I wanted to share part of my childhood with him - part of myself. He hated them. He not only hated them, but he said degrading things about them. Things I won't put on a blog.

These are not, perhaps, the world's best cookie, but they don't deserve to be defamed. The Dark was defaming them because insulting what someone loves is a way of undermining their self esteem and keeping them in your control. The cookies were something sort of small, but there were bigger things as well. There was Africa. We went there, for him to see my roots, and he hated it. He hated all of it, every place and sight and sound and taste that was the fabric of my heart. He told me that we would never, ever go back.

Fast forward to now. I have a new life, and now a new husband. He wants to go to Africa. I won't take him. I will not take him because I can't risk him hating it. He keeps telling me that he is not The Dark. I know that. But, still...

I set this glass of milk and these star shaped gingerbread modeling dough cookies in front of my husband, who had no idea the emotion behind them. He took a bite. He smiled. He mmmmmed. "Oh. Oh, wow. These are spectacular. I mean, these are amazing. They are so moist! They are so chewy! Can I really only have three?"

He loved them. And, he didn't just love them because they were good. He loved them because I made them. He loved them because he loves me.

So, maybe someday I will take him to Africa. But not yet....