Winterponcho and a recipe

First of all, I owe you something - I promised to tell about the Visuality Center. The problem is that it was a very big disappointment. :( It was big - that's true - with lots of fascinating new technology. The problem, however, was that the exhibition was small and the whole center was centered around the giant dome they showed amazing movies on. But...that's not what we got to watch. *sigh* We got to watch lectures by people we didn't know about things that were only moderately interesting - or would have been with better lecturers. A nervous school kid talking about X-ray, and an American war-crazy guy that talked about unmanned aircraft wasn't really my cup of tea...and the whole dome felt completely wasted on Powerpoints.
No, it was a huge disappointment. :(

That said, let's move onto more exciting subjects. :) I usually flip around on the net for inspiration, and that happened the other day. I was a bit sad because my autumn coat is getting too cold and my winter coats are too warm - leaving me with "normal" jackets... :(
That's when I found a solution! :D I found a cute picture with a girl wearing a long poncho, and this idea sparked:

It works perfect with my autumn coat, and it's warm. <3 So now I can still wear my coat! <3 It was so much fun to make that I decided to sell ponchos like this one on my Etsy. If I got this as a Christmas gift I'd be very happy, so I'm thinking I can't be the only one. ;)

I've half-decided to make a gingerbread dough today... It's November in two days, so it's not really TOO early. I love the scent of gingerbread spices. <3 So I'm sharing my best gingerbread cookie recipe with you.

Gingerbread Cookies
(About 200 cookies)

200 grams butter
2 1/2 deciliter (1 dl = 0,42 cup)
1 deciliter golden sirup
2 teaspoons cinnamon (ground)
1 teaspoon clove (ground)
2 teaspoons ginger (ground)
2 teaspoons food bicarbonate
1/2 deciliter water (to mix the bicarbonate with)
1 egg
8-9 deciliter flour (about 400 grams)

How to

First of all, put everything except flour, egg, water and bicarbonate in a sauce pan and put it to low head. You want all the ingredients to melt together (they smell wonderful <3)
When they have, let it cool slightly and take out a big bowl. Mix the bicarbonate with the water in a cup and then mix in with the spices. Now pour the whole thing over to the bowl, and mix in some flour and the egg (be careful when you mix in the egg - if the warm mixture is too hot it will be boiled). Mix in most of the flour. The dough will be sticky - it's supposed to be that way. :) If it gets dry you've mixed in too much flour.
Sprinkle a bit of flour on top, but a kitchen towel over it and put it in the fridge or a cool place over the night.

Take just a piece of the dough to start with - a handful is probably enough for you to handle at once! The dough can stay in the fridge for a couple of weeks - and even longer if you put it in a plastic bag - so it's not meant to be used all at once.
The dough will be hard and cool when you take it out (use a knife to cut yourself a piece.) If you can't wait for it to heat up (DON'T RUN IT IN THE MICROWAVE!!), you can just start working the dough with your hands until it gets soft. Sprinkle it with a little bit of flour as you work. When the dough is managable and doesn't "crack", roll it with a rolling pin until it's about 1 mm thick. Cut out shapes with a cookie cutter, and put them on a baking plate (remember to put a baking sheet on it). If the baking plate is cold, your cookies will turn out the best. :)
Bake them in the oven at 175 degrees Celsius (347 F) for 6-8 minutes depending on how thick and big they are. :) Keep an eye on them. If they turn too dark you've overdone it. Perfect gingerbread cookies are slightly soft as you take them out, but harden quickly in the air.
You can keep gingerbread cookies for years, but they are usually eaten before that! ;)

If you don't use up all dough and don't want to keep it in your fridge you can freeze it. ^.^ Just remember that you can't heat it the way you'd normally heat things (i.e. microwave).