Ginger Snaps

if you look up ginger in the thesaurus you are given the synonym "sparkle". oh sparkle! of-course who wouldn't put the two together?

synesthesia is a condition in humans where our senses are literally crossed. so you can hear colors or smell words. strange yes, but it is believed that when we are born our senses are all crossed. over time we learn to separate and classify our experiences into the 5 basics we learn. psychedelic, yes but that alone proves to me that this crossing is possible in all of us and that we all subconsciously understand this mishmash of senses.

eat a slice of ginger, fresh or crystalized, and tell me what you feel. i bet its sparkly. who doesn't want to be sparkly? i do.

think about fireworks, just about as sparkly as you can get. the burst of twinkly perfectly engineered symmetrical balls of colored flame shoot through the sky. all your attention is focused on what is unfolding before you and you ease into it just in time to see the glittery leftovers fall.

yeah, ginger is sparkly - not sparkle, that's completely different. since i can't leave anything well enough alone, i dipped these guys in a pool of turbinado before putting them in the oven to give it some extra jazz, aka make them sparkly! i like my snaps extra snappy so i cook then a tad long and cut a bit thin.

GINGER SNAPS

2c flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground clove

5.5 oz unsalted butter, soft

2/3c sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4c cain syrup (i only use STEEN'S)

1 egg

* combine all dry ingredient, whisk to make sure evenly mixed

* in separate bowl cream the butter to light and fluffy

* add sugar to the butter, beat until smooth and creamy

* beat in egg, cain syrup and vanilla

* gradually mix in the flour mixture. mix to combine.

*roll into a log and chill for 2 hours.

* preheat oven to 350 F

* cut the chilled, stiff log of dough into 1/8" to 1/4" thick rounds.

* smash one face of the round into a plate filled with turbinado, put cookie sugar side down on a lined baking sheet.

* cook for 10-13 minutes, depending on your required snappyness level.