President Day Cookies

Happy President`s Day

I was very blessed and got four days off for the holiday. To celebrate, Evan and I baked some cookies. We baked gingerbread cookies which were one of President Lincoln`s favorite. He actually told a story about these cookies at one of his senatorial debates. This is how the story went: "When we lived in Indiana, once in a while my mother used to get some sorghum and ginger and make some gingerbread. It wasn`t often and it was our biggest treat. One day I smelled the gingerbread and came into the house to get my share while it was still hot. My mother had baked me three gingerbread men. I took them out under the hickory tree to eat them. There was a family near us poorer than we were and their boy came along as I sat down. 'Abe,' he said, 'gimme a man.' I gave him one. He crammed it into his mouth in two bites and looked at me while I was biting the legs off my first one. 'Abe, gimme that other`n.' I wanted it for myself, but I gave it to him and as it followed the first, I said to him, 'You seem to like gingerbread.' 'Abe,' he said, 'I don`t s`pose anybody on earth likes ginderbread better`n I do and gets less`n I do..." The audience loved his story and it was published in many newspapers. Years later, Lincoln reportedly repeated the story in the White House, mentioning details of his mother`s recipe. Unfortunately her recipe has been lost. Here is the recipe that Evan and I used to bake our cookies:

Gingerbread Cookies
1/2 cup - Butter
1/2 cup - Sugar
1/2 cup - Molasses (we used Maple Syrup)
1 - Egg Yolk
2 cups - Flour
1/2 tsp - Baking Powder
1/2 tsp - Baking Soda
1/2 tsp - Cinnamon
1 tsp - Ginger
1/2 tsp - Nutmeg
1/2 tsp - Allspice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in molasses (maple syrup) and egg yolk. In another bowl, sift together, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. Gradually beat the flour mixture into the butter/egg mixture. Cover and chill dough for at least one hour. On a lightly floured board, roll the dough to a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into gingerbread men or other desired shapes. Place cookies about two inches apart onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until firm. Cool. Makes about three dozen cookies.