Book: What if we all had tags like at the greenhouse nurseries? Or what if our actions and deeds had tags as well? How different would life be?
I was walking early in the morning at Home Depot because they had advertised half off roses, trees and bushes. They are pretty good prices overall anyway and half off is quite a deal. Even Lowes had some perennials for $1, but I didn’t have room in my car. So, I head over there early knowing generally what I wanted: some bushes for the full sun part of the house, something for the shady side of the house.
The tags help a lot because I don’t know more than hostas like shade. That’s pretty much it. So, I go look at the pretty crape myrtle trees. Full sun, great. Pretty blooms, awesome. Grows to 15-25 feet tall and spreads to 6-15 feet! Yikes! Not something I want for along side of my house. But, it’s so cute and pretty. It has such nice blooms and pretty colors!
I leave them alone and go find the knock out roses which I know would work in the front landscaping instead.
Without that tag, I never would have known what I was getting myself into. Without that tag, I never would have known that little pretty tree would grow into a great big tree with blooms and probably wonderful planted in another part of the yard.
What if our action of talking to our friend on the phone had a tag? A ten minute phone call had an impact of one week of happiness? Or a meal brought to a friend’s house allowed her to take care of her child better and made a better decision that impacted the rest of their year? Or a friend that flies across the country to stay the week and help her grieving friend who just lost her child? It could impact how she sees the world forever.
Recipe: These bars are a quick and easy version of my favorite Fall/Winter cookie of all time. The Chewy Gingerbread Chocolate Chip Cookie. Yum! It is FULL of flavor with molasses, ginger and chocolate. You wouldn’t think that ginger and chocolate would go together…. but they do. These bars are great because they are fast and easy with some standard winter baking ingredients.
I must warn you they have similar to the cookie in that they taste 20 times better the next day. I am always disappointed and think I did something wrong when I try them. Then, they sit overnight and magic happen and they taste fantastic. So, with a little planning just try to make these at least 1 day ahead of time. Or freeze them for weeks down the road. That works too.
Why I like this recipe:
-Lots of flavor
-one bowl to mix
-not your standard every day bar
-fast cooking time with just throwing all the dough in a pan instead of rotating cookies
- 1 stick (1/2 cup, 4 ounces) butter, melted (or sub ¼ cup Greek yogurt and ¼ cup butter)
- 1 egg
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup molasses (not black strap. Grandma's or Briar is fine)
- 1 Tb. vanilla
- 3 tsp. ground ginger
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ground cloves
- 1 tsp. nutmeg
- pinch salt
- 1 and ¼ cup flour
- 1 and ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray a 8x8 or 9x9 pan with cooking spray or baking spray. For easy removal, line the pan with parchment or non-stick foil. That way you can lift the whole thing out of the pan after cooling.
- In a great big microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. If substituting half Greek yogurt and half butter, still just melt the butter only.
- Let that cool for just a few minutes so it isn't too hot and won't scramble the egg.
- Add the egg and Greek yogurt if using. Stir well.
- Add the brown sugar, molasses, vanilla, and spices. Stir well.
- Now, fold in the flour until the batter just comes together. Leaving a few streaks of flour is fine.
- Fold in 1 and ¼ cup of the chocolate chips. Leave a handful (1/4 cup) off to the side.
- Pour the batter into the pan. Sprinkle the rest of the chips on top.
- Bake 32-34 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting. I advise eating them the next day for more flavor.
