"Newt Shaped Ginger Cookie"

Harry enters Professor McGonagall's office expecting to be scolded and punished after loosing his temper with Professor Umbridge. Instead he is offered a newt shaped ginger cookie.(see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Ch. 12) Bucholz titled this cookie "Chewy Ginger Biscuits" pg. 196. Once again Little Flower helped me make these cookies while her daddy was off getting a massage to help him relax a bit from the past couple months of intense pressure! Little Flower is even wearing one of my aprons, since I don't have any her size. She thought is was a dress and was so excited to put it on! Too Cute!
These cookies were convenient to make since I had all of the ingredients in my cupboard, just waiting to be whipped up into something delicious! I thought these cookies would taste a lot like a ginger snap, but I was wrong. The flavor is not as strong since there is no molasses in this recipe. Also these cookies turned out much softer than a Ginger cookie. My cookie dough was very, very soft so I ended up putting in 1 more cup of flour and also another 1/2 cup of sugar. I probably should have added just a smidgen more of ginger too. Perhaps that is why the ginger flavor isn't very strong. I suggest eating these cookies with a hot cup of cocoa or apple cider as the taste of the cookie is not very strong and reminds me almost of the taste of a shortbread recipe. All things considered I give this recipe a score of 3 1/2. Little Flower enjoyed eating these for breakfast this morning, as she saw the jar before I had a chance to hide it. I also have enjoyed snacking on a few today also.
English History: "The Oxford Companion to Food describes every cookie variety under the entry "cookies." But ginger biscuits are so important, they merit an entry all to themselves-not even chocolate chip cookies are granted that honor...Also called ginger nuts, they are related to gingerbread, which in medieval times was molded into fancy shapes, called "fairings," and sold at fairs." "The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook," Dinah Bucholz, pg.196
Grieving Help: Today a friend of mine came to visit and in our culture most conversations begin with "How are you doing?" Even if you really don't care too much about how the other person is doing it still is used as a conversation starting sentence. (of course Michaun was sincerely asking how I was doing.) She caught herself right after asking me this and reassured me that she knew I probably wasn't as well as I would like to be. I told her I was doing well, and truly feel that way today. Perhaps its been the time I have spent cooking with my daughter this week, or perhaps its the working out I have been doing. Maybe its just because life goes on with or without you emotionally all the way there. I read a quote this week from a book I look at every day to help me through my grieving it says,
"Love the moment, and the energy of that moment will spread beyond all boundaries." -Corita Kent
I think I took that quote to heart and am trying to focus more on the moments I have had with the people I cherish most, and it has made a whole world of difference!