Gingersnap Cookies!!!!

Tis the season for Gingersnap cookies! Yay!  I'm very picky with my Gingersnap cookies and don't like them soft and chewy, but I do like a little bite to them.  I found this recipe on Pinterest and thought I'd give them a shot!  I'm sooooooo glad I did - they're PERFECT!!!!

The recipe calls for rolling them in sugar before flattening them and putting them on the baking tray.  I decided to skip this step.  I don't like putting cookies in my mouth that are covered in sugar.  I also listened to the instructions that said you MUST cool this dough before rolling and baking it!  I put them in the freezer for a half an hour and they were perfect!

Here's the Pinterest recipe that I used:

http://dinnerthendessert.com/award-winning-gingerbread-cookies/

Here's how mine turned out!!!

YUMMY!!!!

Cold dough

Rolled into a ball and then flattened before going into the oven

Fresh out of the oven

My 2 year old LOVES to lick the spoon!

Helping mommy bake

Eating Cheerios while Deena and I bake!

Eid Cookies!

It's that time of year again......Eid Cookie making!  My fondest memories of spending family time come during this time of the year...using the Lunar Calendar of course. It comes near the end of the Holy month of Ramadan where all the women in my immediate family and my extended family get together in Oakville, Canada and make a MILLION Eid cookies together.

For those of you that don't know, the Holy month of Ramadan (Ramadan being the name of the month in the Lunar Calendar in Arabic) is when muslims all over the world fast from sunrise to sunset for an entire month!  Fasting firstly from all food and drink, but more importantly, a large effort to be a good person, reflect on yourself, your life, your goals, your relationship with God, not lie or swear, and pray and pray and pray.

Now back to the cookie making....

So each year before the end of Ramadan we all gather at Nahla's house and have a "Kahk Convention" - Kahk is the name of one of the types of cookies that is made for Eid.  It is my least favorite and now that I make cookies on my own, I don't have a picture below of it, because I didn't make it....lol.   All the aunties and kids (me and my grown cousins being the "kids") all gather in Nahla's kitchen where she busts out her mother's old cookie recipes and so begins the process.  Each mom/auntie knowing their role of which part of the cookie making their good at and each kid also knowing their role and how to follow Nahla's directions.  This usually takes and entire day or evening and we're usually up all night laughing and talking and eating.  It's amazing and has become a tradition that I want to continue with my own family, especially when we can't make it up to Canada for it.

And so this year, once again, I wasn't able to make it to Canada and did it on my own!  I was lucky to have my mom in town to help me with the cookies and the girls and we also had the hubby and a friend come and join us.  So here are the pics of the amazing cookies we made all day yesterday!

One thing I realized while writing captions to these photos is the importance of sharing!  The reason why we make a MILLION cookies, is because it is also customary to share them with your friends, family, and neighbors!  We have already set containers aside to share with some of friends and neighbors!

The completed table of Eid Cookies!  The long sticks on the left are called Pitonsalee and they are for dipping in your tea in the morning.  Also more of a biscuit taste but made with cumin seeds.

Me and my daughter making Petit Fore cookies!

These are my family's most favorite.  They are called Uruss and they are more of biscuit stuffed with dates.

These are the finished Petit Fore stuffed with Apricot Jam and then rolled in sprinkles.

More completed Petit Fore

Petit Fore ready to go in the oven.

Petit Fore before the jam and sprinkles

Kid stuff!

Since I've been off on maternity leave, I've been trying to get my 2 year old involved in some activities every day to keep her occupied and continue her learning! We signed up for art class and music class at our local Gymboree (she LOVES art class there) and every Friday we try to attend the toddler story time at the South Madarin library. The teacher reads a story, teaches a letter, sings songs, and does a craft with the kiddos - all for free! Afterwards we like to go into the kids library area and play with some of the toys they have there and, of course, get new books. Deena really loves this week's book choices which include 2 favorites that my husband and I have had to read over and over again - "Big Girl Panties" (we're potty trained, but still working out some kinks!!!!) and "May I Please Have a Cookie?". This book is about a kid that tries all of these different ways to get a cookie that his mom is baking and the mom keeps telling him no and to think of a better way. He finally learns that he has to say PLEASE in order to get one! So of course, at 7pm after reading the book for the 3rd time, Deena says "mommy can I have a cookie PLEASE", so who am I to deny her?  We got up and baked some cookies.

A few years ago I got the Tates cook book and it has a bunch of dessert recipes in it. If you've never tried Tates cookies, you must! For my New Yorkers, it's the thin, crispy cookie sold in Le Pain Quotidien and originally created in Long Island.


So here's the recipe and some pics of our cookie making! Just FYI - I didn't have macadamia nuts, so I just followed the recipe without them :)