I couldn’t wait to get into the kitchen yesterday and start baking. I really thought I’d get more done than I did, but I was happy with the results. I decided to make the Appalachian Gingerbread I saw on YouTube. Actually, the video was originally posted on TikTok. I don’t know if you’ve seen many TikTok videos, but they are only sixty seconds long. Try to recite an entire recipe along with the video in just sixty seconds. She talks really, really fast! But, I was determined. 

The first thing I did was sit down with my iPad and watch the video several times to make sure I got the gist of it. My friend Lynn actually managed to grab a screenshot of the recipe at the end of the video. As with many Appalachian cooks, the recipe wasn’t exactly word for word like the one in the video. I learned hot to cook in my grandma’s country kitchen so I am well versed in the “dab of this and dab of that” method of recipe interpretation. I added the sour cream they mentioned in the video, and used the buttermilk they mentioned in the recipe. And, I threw my own touch in and used butter instead of shortening or lard and added a teaspoon of salt for good measure.

As often happens with making a new recipe, the results didn’t look exactly like theirs. They said the gingerbread was done when the surface cracked but mine didn’t. It also didn’t rise as much as theirs did, but it was really quite good. The recipe has a full eight tablespoons of ground ginger. Ginger is a hot spice. I bought two jars at TJ Maxx a month ago specifically for this recipe. I really don’t know a lot about ginger, other than the pickled ginger you get with sushi. This particular ginger came from India. I don’t know if that makes it hotter, or if it’s merely the quantity, but these gingerbreads pack some heat…in a good way. I think I may put a lemon glaze on them to balance the flavors.

We took the huge turkey out of the fridge in the garage and placed it in a cooler full of ice overnight. I’ll put it in the oven today so I’m not really sure if I’ll get more cookies baked today. My next baking endeavor will be Spritz Cookies….a buttery, crisp shortbread cookie squeezed from a press with interchangeable disks to create different shapes. The spritz cookie press was invented around 1930-35. We never had one when I was growing up, but I remember the first time I saw these pretty little shaped cookies and tasted their rich, buttery goodness. I scored Pampered Chef’s version of the cookie press at a thrift store this summer for $5 so I’m really looking forward to trying it out.

So it’s going to be another busy day here on the Ponderosa. Mr. FixIt had to remind me yesterday what day it was. I though it was Wednesday. This safe-at-home thing is great for our health but my sense of time is pretty well shot.

It’s not forever…it’s just for now.

You can watch the Appalachian Gingerbread video HERE.

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“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”

2 Peter 3:8 NIV