Always Learning

Once again, the joke is on me.  After all my being so careful brewing Adagio's Assam Harmony, I find that about a heaping teaspoon for 4 minutes is just dandy, since this is a tea crafted to drink with milk and sugar.  It's lovely, a nice rounded, robust cup with a woodsy, nutty character.  I did try it with a slightly heaped teaspoon and 3.5 minutes.  Nope, so I gulped and pushed it and there it is, perfect.  A great morning or afternoon tea.  It was lovely with my orange molasses cookies.  This is a recipe from WWII when butter, sugar, vanilla and all sorts of other goodies were rationed.  I have a cake from that time, also and it is very good.

In fact, I will give you the cookies recipe right now.  When our kids were 9-10, they could make these with supervision, so they're not hard and you'll have cookies in about 35 minutes.

Ma's Molasses Cookies
325 oven

Grated  peel from 1 orange

Beat after each addition:
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup molasses - I use the darkest
1/2 teas. baking soda
3/4 teas baking powder
3/4 teas. cinnamon
1/2 teas. ginger
1/2 teascloves
3 cups flour
1/2 cup nuts

Turn out on lightly floured board and knead just a bit.
Form into two longish taller than they are wide and put on un greased cookie sheet.
If they seem a bit soft, stick pan and all in the fridge for 10-15 minutes
Bake for about 25 minutes.  They will be a  little bit soft on top but not much.
Let cool on pan for 5 minutes and then put on a rack.  Or eat from the pan.
You can slice these as you need them
You can double or triple the recipe.
If they are getting dry, put a slice of bread in with them, (or if you over-baked them.)