My mom's gingerbread

Apparently, spending all morning and part of the afternoon eating chocolate cookies and making salt dough Christmas ornaments yesterday was just not enough fun for one day.

So while I spent two hours scrubbing paint, glitter and glue off my $5 plastic Christmas tablecloth (we're in a Recession, people!), my mother decided it was the perfect time to make up some gingerbread dough. Have I mentioned she has a lot more energy these days? Er... nights?

I can't blame her, really. Last year was our first Christmas without my grandmother. The year before that my mom was recovering from a broken ankle and surgery to fix it. And three years ago she was in the hospital just days before Christmas with some unknown, extremely painful gastro-intestinal illness.

This year? She's blogging. (Yes, I know. The potential ramifications are great. These are the sacrifices a devoted daughter makes.) And you know what that means -- no shortage of motivation to crate something fun to blog about!

So, we cleared the dinner dishes, washed the salt dough off the rolling pin, and got to work cutting out gingerbread men and baking them into deliciousness. And, believe me, my mother's gingerbread is the BEST.

Best Ginger Bread Cookies Ever

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 egg (cage free, of course)

4 tsp. grated orange peel

2 tbsp. dark corn syrup

3 cup sifted flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter & sugar, add egg, beat until light & fluffy. Add orange peel & syrup. Stir in dry ingredients. Form into ball, and chill at least one hour. Roll out and shape. Bake for 10 minutes, cool & decorate.