DOUBLE DOUBLE GINGER CRACKLE COOKIES

Summers at Emma Lake. It was filled with halcyon days of swimming, building rafts and dreaming the hours away. We lived completely off the grid. We chopped wood , pumped water and lit oil lamps to chase away the dark. Meals were cooked on a wood burning stove and the finest cookies in the world were baked in its oven.

I baked in the evening when the oven was the right temperature for cottage cookies. Cottage cookie ingredients do not require refrigeration, and only two mixing bowls, a whisk, and a baking sheet. The cookies are quick to make; whisk oil, sugar, egg and molasses together, stir in the flour mixture, roll the cookie dough in a little sugar and pop in the oven.

The original recipe, found in an old copy of Canadian Living magazine, was called Ginger Crackle cookies. Over time this unprepossessing cookie evolved into an addictive, ginger loaded morsel of perfection. A cookie crisp and crackling on the edges, tender, chewy in the middle. A cookie with a generous amount of ginger, a flattering amount of cinnamon and cloves, a pinch of cayenne pepper and several grinds of black peppercorns. You can never eat just one!

While I baked cookies, Monopoly, Snakes and Ladders and card games were the evenings entertainment. I still have the deck of cards used at the cottage. When I open the box I swear I can smell the aroma of ginger cookies and wood smoke.