Please...Can You Help Me Out?

I am sharing a recipe with you that I received from a very dear friend. My husband, John, and I met these friends back in 1990 while we were stationed together at Andersen AFB, Guam. It was a 2 year tour. The Island of Guam is small, a place where you can certainly develop "Island Fever". We witnessed the struggle of many couples who found it hard to live in such a remote area. Not remote in the way of "primitive" but remote in location to anything else. You could not jump in a car and drive to "somewhere different". It was a 13 hour flight back to the States, tack more hours on if your family lived on the East Coast. Anyway, friendships were a Godsend; having another couple you could spend time and enjoy similar interests with was a blessing. Our friendship with Ken and Cathy was one of those blessings.

The first year we were on Guam, I held a Christmas cookie exchange for friends. Cathy brought some of Ken's Famous Gingersnaps to exchange. I had never had a homemade soft gingersnap cookie before and let me say, they were the best I have ever had. I asked Ken for the recipe and he promptly told me that he would not share it until they were ready to ship out. He was good on his word, he gave me the recipe right before they left but only under the promise that I would never give out the recipe to anyone else. The promise made, he handed over the recipe. Recently, while Ken and Cathy were visiting, the topic of those cookies came up. I expressed how deeply grieved I was when someone asked for the recipe and I had to turn them down. To my great amazement Ken stated "Awww Willa that was just a joke". With my lower jaw almost to my knees, all I could do was splutter, I was at a total loss of words....seriously! Since there is a "no bars hold" on this any longer, I am sharing the recipe with my blogger friends. I do humbly ask for one request from you, a "can you help me out" request. Would you please email Ken to tell him thank you for the recipe for these wonderful cookies. This is a serious request and a serious email addie, I promise. Send a thank you to kensfamouscookies@yahoo.com. Won't he be surprised, when I give out a recipe, I really give out a recipe. I might also mention that Ken is a Veteran, he spent 30 years in the Air Force serving our great nation and just retired this year. Thanks so much for your help and now, here's the recipe for the gingersnaps. This is a soft cookie that is nice and spicy.



Ken's Famous Gingersnap Cookies:

3/4 cup Crisco Shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups sifted self-rising flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a mixing bowl cream the Crisco, sugar, egg and molasses. Add the dry ingredients and raisins, hand mix until the dough is soft (when dry ingredients and raisins are incorporated). Pour 1/4 cup of sugar into a small bowl. Form dough into balls and push down into the sugar and place on a cookie sheet. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven promptly (baking too long will make cookies hard, they should be soft and chewy)

Whew! This is the first time I have given this recipe out. What a relief! I'll be interested to see how many "thank you's" he receives. I would love to share the plate of these delightful cookies with you all, along with a cup of coffee or tea.

Smile at someone today and see if they smile back.