Ginger Spice*

What is more festive and successful than getting you into the holiday spirit than baking gingerbread men? And I mean really baking, not using a pre-made kit from William Sonoma or the clearance section at Ross. 

 Gather everyone up! A fair amount of ingredients on this one. Oh, I should mention I used this recipe from King Arthur Flour. Notice I have baking soda and baking powder. There is a difference. 

Martha always mentions it, and I always forget. 

On the list, ground cloves. Well, I only had whole ones. What's a girl to do? 

Break out her never-been-used mortar and pestle!

Presto chango!

Molasses! A word about molasses. At the store they had full flavor and mild. I got full flavor. Once I opened the bottle I swore at myself for not getting mild-by how insanely strong it smelt. Well, the flavor was not at all overwhelming once the cookies were done-so I would not recommend mild at all!

Once you have prepared the dough, wrap it up real good and refrigerate it for an hour or more. 

 Meanwhile, feel free to go out shopping and grab a bloody mary with a friend!

Cuteness. Use lots of flour-these guys are sticky. And bake on parchment paper!

And finally, decorate! I had a couple casualties 

(X face and BURN) from rolling out the dough too thin, so be careful. 

You will also see I made a Mr. T (lower right corner).

*P.S. For the record, my favorite Spice Girl was Baby.