Lemon Ginger Scones

I'm shivering at the thought of tonight's low, forecast at 22 degrees.  This time of year I'm drinking two or three cups of tea a day, and it's nice when I have a treat to nibble with it.  These scones are studded with pieces of candied ginger, and drizzled with a lemon glaze.  The scones are soft, and the flavors very bright.  They're also super easy to make -- no food processor or pastry blender required here.  That's because these are cream scones, made with cream instead of butter.  Just stir it all together, forget the rolling pin, and pat it into a round.  The dough is very sticky, so flour your hands a lot.  Cut into wedges, and in 20 minutes they're ready.

So I know what I'll be doing tonight: coming in from the cold, putting on the kettle, and brewing a cup.  Fall into a chair with a scone, a magazine, and maybe a cat.  Stay warm!

Chewy Chocolate Ginger-Molasses Cookies

Add this cookie to your holiday cookie basket or plan it for your cookie swap. These are simple to make, and the sugar coating gives the cookies a festive shimmer. They are chewy bordering on crisp with an occasional chunk of chocolate. Even my chocolate-hater friend Dorothy loved them, especially the ginger -- they have both ground ginger and freshly grated ginger, but the flavor isn't overwhelming in the least.

On the left, 2¼-inch scoop cookies; on the right, "tablespoon" scoop cookies.
The scoops of dough then get rolled in sugar and baked.

Use good chocolate and good cocoa powder. I used Ghirardelli 60% chocolate chips (I didn't bother cutting up any chocolate like the recipe instructs) and Guittard cocoa powder. I actually don't have the size of scoop the recipe calls for, but I discovered that both your "tablespoon" scoop and a 2¼-inch scoop work just as well. The baking times are the same, but the small cookies come out a little crisper and the larger a little chewier. I preferred the chewy, while Joe could barely keep his hands off the crispy until I'd photographed them. Will you go for chewy or crisper?