Raising the Culture Bar One Cookie at a Time

An acquaintance of mine told me recently - Tom , you are a renaissance man.  She didn’t particularly surprise me with this observation and it isn’t the first time this term has been applied to me.  I suppose it will not likely be the last.  I’ll take it as a compliment and presume that I might not be the philistine rube that I sometimes think I am..   

The interweb suggests that a renaissance man might be described as a person with many talents or areas of knowledge.  Plenty of my pals also meet this this definition so I wouldn’t want any of you readers to think that I have a lock on this observation.  

However I would point out that the Google advances the notion that these are the Six Characteristics of A Renaissance Man:  

• Intelligent. It probably goes without saying, but renaissance men are intelligent...
• Knowledgeable. These people have a lot of knowledge in a wide variety of fields. ...
• Artistic. Renaissance individuals seem to have an artistic bent at some level. ...
• Physical. These people are athletic. ...
• Social. ...
• Cool. ...

Cool.  How awesome is that.  Talk about stroking the ego, eh?  Anyway, since it is neither gardening or hunting season and I’m waiting for the opportunity to install another dozen or so new, home-built nest boxes I decided to take a break from rescuing fair maidens from fire-breathing dragons to whip-up a batch of old-school cookies from back in the day when lumberjacks ruled the great north woods. 

These cookies pack a wallop of flavor in their compact crunchiness – with plenty of blackstrap molasses, ginger and cinnamon coming thru.  I recommend that you enjoy with coffee after cutting, splitting and stacking a couple of cords of wood before breakfast.

Here’s the recipe:

Lumberjack Cookies

INGREDIENTS

    1 - cup sugar

    1 - cup shortening

    1 - cup dark molasses

    2 - eggs

    4 - cups sifted all-purpose flour

    1 - teaspoon baking soda

    1 - teaspoon salt

    2 - teaspoons cinnamon

    1 - teaspoon ginger

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a food processor cream together the sugar and shortening.

Add molasses and eggs.

In a large bowl sift together the dry ingredients and stir-in the contents of the food processor.

Put ½ cup sugar in a small bowl. 

Pinch-off a piece of dough and roll into a 1-1/2-inch ball.  Roll dough ball in sugar until covered.

Place dough balls on parchment paper-covered cookie sheet about 3 inches apart.

    

Bake for 20 minutes – give or take. By the way - the dough will keep for a week or more in the refrigerator.