Delicious Gingerbread Cookie Recipe

I have to admit I’ve never been a fan of Gingerbread Cookies. They’re sort of hard and taste a little like spicy cardboard. But we just got this adorable Christmas book called “The Gingerbread Mouse” that comes with a recipe for gingerbread cookies, which prompted my children to ask if we could make them. I thought, sure, that sounds fun, even if they aren’t worth their weight in calories. But I was wrong! These cookies are damn good. Contrary to the visions of gingerbread cookies in my head, these were soft, moist, and, well… DELICOUS!

So here you go my friends, the first and only delicious gingerbread cookie recipe, compliments of The Gingerbread Mouse.

Ingredients
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 ½ teaspoons ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground cloves

1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon

1 2/4 sticks (14 tablespoons) butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions
Sift flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon and cloves into a large bowl. Beat butter and brown sugar in a medium bowl until creamy. Add egg, vanilla extract and beat until blended. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture, blending well. Refrigerate dough until firm (about 30-45 minutes). Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out a portion of the chilled dough onto a floured surface. Cut cookie shapes with a knife or cookie cutter. Bake cookies on a cookie sheet (I used parchment paper too) for 9 minutes. Cool cookies on wire rack. Frost cookies with your favorite icing (I cheated and bought some at the store that was already in an easy to use tube) and your favorite sprinkles, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Holidays!

 

 

Hashbrown Casserole (For Easter Brunch!)

Whether you're having Easter brunch or dinner, this hashbrown casserole will work for either one. And it makes a TON. I served it as a side dish for my St. Paddy's potluck and had half a pan left to take to a small potluck the next night too. I love this stuff! I love the panko crust versus the cornflakes version. And the bonus is you can fry it up the next morning to make hashbrown patties for breakfast....

Hashbrown Casserole
Thank you, JustAPinch.com

2 lb frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
1/2 c  plus 1 tbsp. (1 stick) butter, melted
1 can (10.5 oz.) cream of chicken or cream of celery soup
1 pt (16 oz.) sour cream
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 c panko bread crumbs

1. Chop onion, green pepper and garlic

2. Melt 2 Tbsp. of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onions, pepper and garlic in butter until the onions are transparent.

3. In a large bowl, combine the sauteed vegetables with the thawed hash browns. Add 6 Tbsp. of the remaining butter, soup, sour cream, cheddar cheese, salt and pepper.

4. Place mixture into a greased 11x14-inch casserole dish. Mix the remaining 1 Tbsp. melted butter with panko bread crumbs and sprinkle over the casserole.

5. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 45 minutes, or until casserole is bubbly and the panko crumbs are golden brown.

Holiday Side Dish: Butternut squash with pear, pecans & blue cheese

Here's Kirsten's delicious side dish!

For the side dish, I slightly adapted a recipe I found on Pinterest by adding pear. It just seemed like it needed a little something extra! This recipe comes together really quickly, especially if you prep the squash in advance. Enjoy & happy holidays!

Butternut squash with pear, pecans & blue cheese

(adapted from Nigella Express)

serves 6-8

4 1/2 cups butternut squash

4 pears

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 stalks fresh thyme

1 cup pecans

1 cup blue cheese

1. Preheat oven 425° F

2. Peel the squash, cut it half and scoop out the seeds. Cut the squash into 1-inch pieces. Cut the pears into 1-inch pieces.

3. Put the squash and pears into a roasting pan with oil and strip about 4 stalks of thyme of their leaves and sprinkle over. Roast for about 30-45 minutes or until tender.

4. Once out of the oven, remove to a bowl and scatter the pecans and crumble the cheese over top, tossing everything together gently.

5. Check the seasonings and add the last couple stalks of thyme, torn into small sprigs to decorate.

So yummy and festive! 

Holiday Appetizers: Apricots with basil-goat cheese and almonds & Pomegranate Avocado Salsa

The Beauties definitely know how to set a weekend agenda. Santa, please bring me another weekend filled with delicious food & drinks, and a full day at the spa, with a little dancing at the Brick thrown in for good measure.

I arrived late for the Christmas dinner feast, so I was glad my cooking responsibilities were limited to appetizers and a side dish, especially since I was mostly looking forward to catching up with the Beauties and enjoying Megan’s cocktails. I can vouch that these recipes didn’t require me to set down my drink for very long.  Thank goodness.

I discovered this recipe for an apricot appetizer in Sunset magazine and it has become one of my staples. The combo of savory/sweet + cheese is hard to turn down.

And what is there to say about the avocado salsa except it has avocado, so of course it’s decadent and amazing. Plus the addition of pomegranate makes it just about as festive as your favorite holiday sweater.

Apricots with basil-goat cheese and almonds (from Sunset magazine)

Makes 40 appetizers

4 ounces fresh goat cheese such as Laura Chenel, at room temperature

About 2 tsp. milk

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil

40 dried apricots

40 salted almonds, preferably Marcona

2 teaspoons honey

1. Mix together cheese, 2 tsp. milk, and basil with a wooden spoon until spreadable. Thin with more milk if necessary.

2. Spread a heaping 1/4 tsp. cheese on each apricot and top each with an almond.

3. Drizzle with honey.

Pomegranate Avocado Salsa

makes about 2 cups

1 small shallot, chopped

1 large avocado, diced

juice of one lime

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

salt and pepper to taste

*If you like spicy foods, you could add a diced jalapeno to the mix!

Place chopped shallot, avocado, lime, and cilantro in a small bowl and stir to combine. Add pomegranate seeds and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Easy Artisan Bread Appetizer

Obviously I am the one most interested in baking. I think it’s the scientist in me (compared to my creative Beauties.) This recipe started with some fresh baked Bialys (an East Coast favorite) one morning on Lopez Island after some make-your-own pizzas the evening before. The same friend that blew me away with her fresh baking gave me the book she used for Christmas, “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day,” by Jeff Hertzberg, MD and Zoe Francois. Now that is my kind of time commitment!

I have been playing with the main recipe ever since and it’s pretty hard to mess up. That is not to say I didn’t explode Pyrex glass containers in my oven twice before I realized what a broiler pan was but that is part of the hands-on learning I had to experience.

The Master Recipe can be shaped into a Boule, Baguette, Ciabatta rolls, or any variation you’d like. The concept is you make the dough, let it rise for 2 hours, and then throw into the refrigerator for as long as 14 days. Anytime you need a fresh loaf you grab a handful of dough out of your container.

What you need: 

3 cups of lukewarm water (do NOT use to water that is too hot)

1 ½ tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)

1 ½ tablespoons kosher or other coarse salt

6 ½ cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour

Cornmeal or Whole wheat flour for the pizza peel

1:  Add yeast and salt to the water in a the large bowl you will be storing the dough in or you can use an electric mixer (that is my method and I use the dough attachment.)

2:  Mix in the flour—kneading is unnecessary.  The key to this recipe is do NOT knead at any point!

3: Allow to rise: cover with a lid (not airtight).  At least 2 hours or up to 5 hours.  You could use it at this point to bake but the book suggests that the refrigerated dough is easier to handle.  Put into the refrigerator.

On Baking Day:

4: The gluten cloak: DON’T knead, just “cloak” and shape a loaf in 30 to 60 seconds.  Sprinkle your surface with the cornmeal or whole wheat flour.  Sprinkle the surface of your refrigerated dough with flour.  Pull up and cut off a 1 pound piece (grapefruit size) of dough.  Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.  The correctly shaped product will be smooth on the top and bunched ends on the bottom.

5: Rest the loaf on the pizza peel (or surface) for 40 minutes.

6: Twenty minutes before baking preheat the oven to 450 F with the baking stone on the middle rack and an empty broiler tray on the bottom for holding water.

7: Dust with flour and slash the dough with a cross or X.

8:  Quickly slide the dough off of the surface onto your baking stone.  Quickly and carefully pour 1 cup of hot water into the broiler tray and close the oven door to trap the steam.  Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is browned and firm to the touch (less time for Baguettes.)  When you take the bread out of the oven it will crackle to the room temperature and cool on a rack.

That is it! I encourage you to get the book if you are interested in other variations or are interested in other details like problem solving your challenges. Once you practice a couple of times you really could come home from work and have fresh bread within the hour. Then opening a can of soup for dinner seem that bad!

~ Jolie

Ta-da! Finished product.

Blue Cheese & Rosemary Scalloped Potatoes

THESE ARE THE BEST POTATOES I HAVE EVER HAD. Period. Done. No more explanation needed.

I would end there but I need to give a big shout out to my sister-in-law, Kari, who brought these to Christmas dinner a few years back and introduced me to THE BEST POTATOES I HAVE EVER HAD. Do everyone a service this Christmas and bring this side dish to dinner. Like Rudolph, you'll go down in history...

Blue Cheese & Rosemary Scalloped Potatoes

5 lbs. russet potatoes
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup sour cream
2 cups cream (this is not a time to go light, use the heavy cream!)
1 tsp. salt

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.
Butter a 9x13 glass baking dish.
Peel and slice the potatoes into 1/4 inch slices. Toss them in a large bowl with the salt, pepper, and rosemary.
In a small bowl, toss together cheeses.
Layer half the potatoes in the buttered dish. Sprinkle with half the cheese mixture and top with the remaining potatoes.
In a bowl, whisk together sauce ingredients (sour cream, cream, salt) and pour over potatoes.
Tap the baking dish on the counter to spread out the sauce and help release any air bubbles.
Sprinkle with remaining cheese mixture.
Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until browned and completely tender all the way through when poked with a knife.
Take out of oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

You can also make these in advance and store, covered and refrigerated, for up to 2 days.
Bring to room temperature and reheat in a 350 degree oven until hot.
Missy's note: I use more blue cheese and Parmesan than called for because why wouldn't you?

Glazed Holiday Ham

Beautiful Jolie, our bread baker. This picture captures how happy we were to be together that night! 

For our Christmas dinner test run, we used a Kirkland Signature Applewood Smoked Master Carve Ham from Costco. This is my favorite ham because it's boneless, fully cooked and can be sliced for sandwiches or quickly heated up, just 10 per minutes per pound at 350 - much quicker than a bone in ham, and stays so moist and delicious.

The rich, naturally sweet, smoky flavor of this ham will win everyone over. It comes with a really good red currant glaze, but Rachel treated us to her famous mustard glaze we've all come to love. The next day I made my mother-in-law's raisin sauce to go with our leftovers (glaze and sauce recipes below).

RACHEL'S HAM GLAZE 

Recipe modified from Epicurious

Ingredients:

1/2 cup apple cider

1 jar whole grain Dijon mustard

2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and warm over low heat until smooth.  It should be a fairly thick consistency, like honey.  Spread about half the sauce over ham during the last 30 minutes of cook time.  Thin the remaining sauce with a little more cider and serve on the side for those who want a little for dipping.



RAISIN SAUCE FOR HAM
Recipe from my awesome mother-in-law, Molly

Combine in a saucepan:

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt (this is optional)

Stir in: 

1 cup fresh apple cider

a handful of raisins

Sprinkle in: 

Ground cloves

Cinnamon 

Cook and stir for about 10 minutes. 

Add: 

1 Tablespoon butter

Serve the sauce very hot over ham. 

Christmas Dinner Menu

All the beauties got together in November and made Christmas dinner. We started late and ate late, but had fabulous cocktails, multiple courses and the best company. There's nothing quite like a bunch of close girlfriends getting time to catch up. And thanks to Megan for making the long trip across the country to visit us.

Here's our menu and because we needed energy for our big night of cooking and eating we started with cold beer and ruffles dipped in Mexican sour cream. We'll link to each recipe as we post. And we'd love to hear what your favorite Christmas dinner dishes are.

Christmas Dinner Menu

~

Cocktails

Apple Cider

Honey Bourbon

~

Bread Course

Homemade bread with assorted dips, tapenade and cheese

~

Salad

Mandarin Orange Blue Cheese Salad

~

Appetizers

Pomegranate Avocado Salsa

Apricots with basil-goat cheese and almonds

~

Main

Glazed Ham

Blue Cheese & Rosemary Scalloped Potatoes

Butternut Squash with Pears, Pecans & Blue Cheese

~

Dessert

We were too full, but here are a few suggestions! 

Gingerbread Pear Trifle

Assorted Christmas Cookies such as fudgy chocolate cake cookies, peanut butter cup cookies, and three-ingredient fudge.
Old Fashioned Apple Crisp
Tres Leches Cake 

Fudgy Chocolate Cake Cookies

I remember the first time I had these cream cheese chocolate cake cookies. My co-worker brought them to work during the holidays and blew my mind by giving me one. Of course I asked for the recipe and couldn't believe how easy they were to make. So, my gift to you this holiday season is passing on her secrets...

Fudgy Chocolate Cake Cookies

Plan 2 hours ahead of time as the dough will need to cool in the fridge.

Ingredients

1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (18-ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 bar (100g) good bakers chocolate

1. Melt the chocolate in a small pot on low heat, stirring to make sure it doesn't become hard again.

2. Cream the cream cheese, add the butter and mix. Then add the egg and mix it all together, then add the vanilla.

3. Add the cake mix, next add the molten chocolate and blend it all together. Place the bowl in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

4. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (176ºC). Get your powdered sugar in a cereal bowl and the dough out of the fridge. Start rolling tablespoon sized balls between the plams of your hand (this will get sticky) then roll the ball in the powdered sugar and place it on an ungreased cookie sheet (repeat until you are out of dough).

5. Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes. Let cool on the sheet for a bit and move to a cooling rack.

The fixings

I've never seen such aggression licking (eating) the chocolate off the spatula.

When Amber announced this month's theme, I decided I wanted to make cranberry bliss bars but in the pinterest search process, I got distracted and landed on this recipe instead. I normally gravitate toward chocolate, but these bars seemed very fitting for the holidays. They turned out well, not too sweet and not too rich, just the perfect satisfying bites with a tiny bit of tartness from the cranberries. Do note the recipe calls for 12 oz of cream cheese which is 1 1/2 blocks... I only bought one, so I ended up substituting 4 oz of mascarpone cheese. I also added extra lemon juice to the cream cheese, and a pinch of salt to the oatmeal mixture.

On a personal note, Graham finally met his Aunt Megan

and he LOVED her!

OATMEAL CRANBERRY CHEESECAKE BARS

Recipe from A Family Feast

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ¼ cups quick-cooking oatmeal
• ¾ cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
• 12 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
  
  
• 1 16-ounce can whole berry cranberry sauce 
  
  
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the flour, oatmeal, and brown sugar. Add the softened butter to the mixing bowl and mix on medium speed until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Measure out 1 ½ cups of the crumb mixture and set aside in a separate bowl.

Pour the remaining crumbs into the prepared baking dish and press evenly into the bottom of the dish. Bake for 15 minutes.

While the crust is baking, in the same bowl of the stand mixer, cream the softened cream cheese and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, lemon juice and vanilla extract and mix well.

Also while the crust is baking, in a small bowl, combine the cranberry sauce and cornstarch and mix thoroughly.

When the crust is done baking, remove from the oven and pour the cream cheese mixture evenly over the crust. Then spoon the cranberry mixture evenly over the cream cheese mixture, spreading gently with the back of a spoon so that it is evenly coated. Then sprinkle the reserved oatmeal crumbs over the top of the cranberry mixture.

Bake for 40 or until completely set and very lightly golden brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Cover and refrigerate the baking dish for at least 3 hours so that the bars can firm up.

Once chilled, cut into bars and serve.

Peanut Butter Cup Peanut Butter Cookies

Whoever first decided peanut butter and chocolate should go together is brilliant.

This is my sister-in-law Kristi's recipe and one of our favorites that I make over and over again. I'm in charge of bringing a dessert to my work holiday party and decided this was the way to go, since these little bites of goodness are always a huge hit. I made a double batch of dough (to freeze some) and have extras for us to eat at home and to bring to the rest of the holiday events that will arise this month.

I used Kirkland Signature peanut butter cups instead of Reese's. Last year we had a big group of people at my parent's house and did a blind tasting and if I remember correctly, one did not win over the other. But if you ask me personally, I prefer the KS cups and Curtis likes Reese's better - so you really can't go wrong. I do not, however, recommend Trader Joe's version of peanut butter cups (but don't worry, I'm a huge fan of Trader Joe's and love 98% of their products!).

Available at Costco

If you want to make this a super easy, 2-ingredient recipe, then you can use store bought peanut butter cookie dough (or chocolate chip is good too) - but I  like to use Kristi's peanut butter cookie recipe, below!

Peanut Butter Cup Peanut Butter Cookies 

Ingredients: 

Mini peanut butter cups, unwrapped (you'll need lots, some for the cookies, some to pop in your mouth)

Store bought peanut butter cookie dough or the following:
1/2 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup peanut butter (I use Kirkland Signature Organic Creamy PB)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

1. Cream together the butter, peanut butter, white and brown sugar.

2. Add eggs and vanilla, beat until combined.

3. Add flour, baking soda and salt - being careful not to over mix.

4. Chill the dough for a few hours, it will make it easier to roll.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll the cookie dough into balls and put it in ungreased mini muffin tins. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Push a mini peanut butter cup into each ball as soon as they come out of the oven

Push 'em in like this!

 and let the cookies cool in the muffin tin for at least 20 minutes (I put the dough back in the fridge in between batches).

Thanksgiving Recipes - Love, BATF

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is upon us, so we thought it would be nice to help you prepare a bit. Whether you’re the one hosting or you’re the one responsible for bringing a side dish, we’ve got all the popular (and some non-traditional) recipes below. All tested and approved!

Here’s wishing you a happy, family-rich holiday full of feasting and drinking!

Love,

Beauties and the Feast

The Traditionals…

1)      The Turkey:

2)      The Stuffing:

3)      The Mashed Potatoes:

4)      The Gravy:

5)      The Cranberry Sauce:

And some non-traditional, vegetarian-friendly side dishes:

6)      Slow-roasted Tomato Tart:

7)      Zucchini Gratin:

 

The Dessert! (we forgot to take a picture...must have eaten it too quickly)

8)      Old Fashioned Apple Crisp

Fall Recipies and Cocktails

Is it bad that all we want to do at BATF is curl up with a mug of hot cider and watch a movie while a big pot of soup cooks in the kitchen? Here in the Northwest we should be happy that the forecast is still sunny for as far as the eye can see, but I was just a little bit thrilled this morning when I woke up and it felt like crisp fall in the air.

In celebration of Oktoberfest, Pumpkins, spiced lattes and Stews we thought we’d post some of the favored autumn recipes from past posts.

Bring on those brooding storms! We’re ready for them!

Our favorite fall foods:



     1)      Oktoberfest Beer Roasted Chicken

     2)      Cranberry Chicken

     3)      Zuppa Toscana

     4)      Penne with Butternut Squash & Goat Cheese

     5)      Dahlia Lounge French Toast

     6)      Ricotta Dounuts

The warmest of beverages:

1)      Mulled Cider

2)      Spanish Coffee

3)      Hot Ginger Toddy

Ricotta Mashed Potatoes

I want a do over for this one. I made Ricotta Mashed Potatoes for Easter dinner and instead of quadrupling all the ingredients to meet the quadrupled amount of potatoes needed for my family, I just sort of "eyed" everything. Included all the listed ingredients including a big tub of ricotta, a bunch of butter, salted it to the ends of the earth -- and it was good! But still too ordinary. I was expecting more of that cheesy tang that was promised in the recipe description and I think I just needed more ricotta.

So here's what I plan to do next time because I still have faith in this little recipe: I'm going to make a much smaller batch for my little family using the proper amount of ricotta cheese, and I'm going to add Parmesan too. Oh and maybe garlic for good measure.

When I make mashed potatoes, I rarely prepare them the same way -- on purpose! Because mashers are the perfect food to take on any bold flavors you like. They're like a clean canvas waiting for your culinary artistry... (Inspired yet?)

Don't be dissuaded by my less than thrilling review of these mashers; I really think there's potential for greatness here:

Ricotta Mashed Potatoes From Country Living

Ingredients
2 pound(s) Yukon Gold Potatoes
2 teaspoon(s) Salt
1 1/2 cup(s) Fresh Ricotta
1/2 cup(s) Whole Milk
3 tablespoon(s) Butter
1/2 teaspoon(s)
Ground Black Pepper

Directions
Heat oven to broiler setting. Peel and cut potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Place potatoes and 1 teaspoon salt in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and continue to cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes more. Drain and return all but 1 cup of potatoes to the pot.

Mash the potatoes with a potato masher. Stir in the ricotta, milk, butter, remaining salt, and pepper to blend. Add the reserved potatoes and mash just until combined. Spoon 1/2 cup potatoes into 10 six-ounce ramekins and set on a baking pan. Place under broiler until browned. Serve hot.

Notes: I left the skins on and obviously opted out of the individual portions. Use a mixer to really blend flavors well.

And just because I can:
My fam scarfing Easter dinner with
the OSU baseball game in the background --
that's my nephew pitching on TV!

Thirsty Thursday: Hot Ginger Toddy

THE CURE FOR cabin FEVER

It was three days of being stuck at the house due to a snow storm in the Northwest that beat out every snow storm since 1985.  And for some reason, we, on Kansas street, got it even worse and were totally socked in.  No work, no school, no mail (the mail truck did try, but it slid into the ditch, took out our mail box and had to get pulled out by the neighbors.)  What did we do the whole time?  For three days straight of not leaving the house?  Well, I'm glad you asked.

We tried to ride our balance bike in the snow.  No go.

Andy built a sledding hill on the deck stairs.

Andy made another sledding hill when that one got boring.

We sucked on binkies.

We shook trees on ourselves

We made a snowman.

Frosty, meet Ching: he's one bad-ass Mo Fo.

Andy made a snow fort.  It took him three hours.  We all went inside.

We went back outside to see it and stand in it.  And then we went back inside.

We built a bus out of pillows and a lounge chair and we drove to the bread place.

We wore our pajamas even though it was 4:00 p.m. while watching a lot of TV.  Stop judging me.

I discovered a love and appreciation for stretch pants.  Yes, they make my hips look large and my ankles look crazy skinny, but this is high fashion, yo.

By the third day we had a fever.  Cabin fever.  And there's nothing better to cure a fever than a Hot Toddy, so I looked online and found out that some people add ginger and/or ginger ale to their toddy's.  And we already had Ginger Ale in the house left over from when we made Dirty Santa's.  We didn't have any Bourbon or lemons though, so Andy braved the weather and went to the store.  Priorities.

Ingredients:

4 oz. ginger ale

2 oz. water

1 healthy squeeze of lemon

drizzle of honey

1.5 oz. Bourbon

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except the bourbon in a mug and microwave until nice and hot. Add Bourbon.  Drink.

I made this recipe up and was a little nervous to try it, but it was one of the most surprisingly delicious drinks I've ever had.  It's going to be my #1 go-to hot drink.  It's so yummy, spicy on your throat (which I can imagine would be really good for a real cold/flu) and it fizzes!  And who has ever had a fizzy hot drink before?  So fun and yummy!

This is a picture of Asher eating the lemon wedge from my Hot Ginger Toddy.  Don't worry, it wasn't soaked in Bourbon.  But, look at this kid!  He's all like, "What? Ef my enamel, I eat lemons, mutha f#$*%&^!"  After he sucked on it, he dropped it right back into my drink.  I was seriously bummed for a moment but I decided to drink it anyway; can't let good alcohol go to waste.