Gingerbread

*It's my Emma's birthday today!!! Happy 16th to my beautiful daughter.  I love her guts!!  We're having Chocolate Cheesecake tonight for Em's birthday.  You'll see that soon:)

Tis the season!  I it upon us, and I have mixed feelings.  Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday ever.  It has all the festive feel of "The Holidays", but without the pressure of gifts, and such!  I think we should have Thanksgiving and then Thanksgiving again in Dec.  Who's with me on this?  Maybe we should write a letter to the President or the Prophet or something.  I don't need anything or want for anything.  I just want to be grateful for my Savior, and think about his birth and look at twinkly lights.  AND eat Gingerbread!

I love Gingerbread if you haven't noticed.  Gingerbread waffles, Gingersnap Fruit Pizza, Gingersnaps.  I could eat this stuff all the time.  This recipe is adapted from the Gingerbread served at the Lion House in Salt Lake City, but I've changed it a bit, and baked it in a Bundt pan.  I love Bundt cakes!  They're cute, they slice up perfectly, and they feed a crowd.  Notice from the picture above my trusty, scratched Bundt pan.  I stole it from my mom.  I'll bet it was a wedding gift she received 42 years ago.  But it's good!  It's ugly, green, and scratched, and one of my prized kitchen gadgets.  I'd probably grab it right after I grabbed Jane if my house was on fire:)  I've found others of these scratched Bundts for sis-in-laws a few times at the DI.  Love them! (Bundts and sis-inlaws.)

So enjoy a slice of the Holiday Season or Thanksgiving #2.  You're house will smell amazing, and it will put you in the holiday mood.

Lion House Gingerbread

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter

2 eggs-well beaten

1 1/2 cups molasses

3/4 t. salt

3 3/4 cups sifted flour

2 1/4 t. baking soda

1 1/2 t. cinnamon

1 1/2 t. ginger

1 1/2 cups hot water

Cream butter and sugar well, about 3-4 minutes in an electric mixer. Add eggs and molasses. Beat well. Sift dry ingredients together in a separate and add to creamed mixture. Add hot water and beat until smooth. Pour into a greased and floured Bundt pan. Bake 50-65 minutes minutes at 350. You can serve it with fresh whipped cream, sliced bananas, powdered sugar, or just plain.

I like it with whipped cream and Buttermilk Syrup.

Buttermilk Syrup

1 cube butter

1/4 c. corn syrup

1/2 c. buttermilk

1/2 t. baking soda

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 t. vanilla

Place in a big pot. This stuff foams out of control at first. Bring to a boil and then let boil until it turns a nice dark golden brown. About 8-10 mins. I usually 3 times the batch and it will make about a quart. I don't 3x's the butter though. Maybe only 1 1/2 cubes of butter to a 3 batch.