Welcome To Pilgrims and Pioneers!

After many years of researching my family geneaology I have been lucky enough to discover actual information about my relatives that lived in the Pilgrim Era and the Pioneer Era- while many people also have realtives from those eras- many do not know their names or where they lived- actually seeing the proof in print makes you much more aware of who they really were.
After discovering these relatives it of course made me curious to learn more about the eras that they lived in and what their lives were like as, the history I learned in grade school had long since been forgotten.
I decided to start this blog for others who are also interested in these eras.
Some of the information here will be actual facts about my realtives and some will be information about the eras in general that I have found on the web.
I hope you will enjoy traveling back in time with me!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Cinnamon Dough Recipe for Ornies

I know that many of you may have made this recipe many times- but for those of you haven't here is an easy recipe. I have not made them in years but plan on trying to find some pumpkin shaped candy molds to make little cinnamon pumpkins to add to my hips & sticks, and you can too!
3/4 cup of thick applesauce, 1 cup of cinnamon, extra cinnamon to prevent sticking, 2 tablespoons of nontoxic white craft glue, 1 tablespoon of ground cloves, and 1 tablespoon of ground nutmeg. This is more fragrant than regular cinnamon dough with the extra spices in it.
Mix the ingredients together thoroughly until they form a ball. The dough must be refrigerated for at least a half hour before handling. You can leave the dough in the refrigerator overnight if you wish.

When the dough is thoroughly chilled, roll it out on a large sheet of waxed paper. You can either lay the waxed paper on a counter top, or if you’re limited on counter space, you can cover a large cutting board with waxed paper and work at a table. Dust your rolling pin with a layer of cinnamon, and roll the dough out to an approximate thickness of 1/4 of an inch. Sprinkle additional cinnamon on the dough if it’s too sticky.
Now it’s time to begin cutting out the ornaments. Dip a heart-shaped cookie cutter in cinnamon to prevent it from sticking to the dough, and cut out the shapes. Use a drinking straw to make a hole in the top of each cinnamon dough valentine. Carefully transfer the cutouts to a wire rack using a thin metal spatula. You can either let them dry on the rack for a couple of days, or you can bake them in a 250 degree oven until they become dry. The drier they are, the darker they will become. Carefully flip the cinnamon hearts during the drying process to prevent the edges from curling.
Please Note** If you are going to try putting these in a candy mold like I am DO NOT PUT THE PLASTIC CADY MOLD IN THE OVEN!
These ornies will have to air dry and may take several days to air dry due to their thickness.
I think it will work best to dust your hands with cinnamon and then roll the dough into small ball shapes before pressing them into the molds. I don't think the dough will stick in the mold but be prepared as it might!

2 comments:

~SkullBlossom~ said...

I am enchanted with the idea you have for making the little pumpkin cinnamon "candies" to add to your potpourri. That is so super unique! I've got to buy some of your fabulous fall scents -- just waiting for that first paycheck of the schoolyear!!!

Debra said...

Thanks Skullblossom! I do hope they turn out well!
I can sympathize with waiting for that first paycheck! Been there, done that!

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