Gingerbread

Try to envision this short description of my Christmas mornings as a child: Sleepy faced teenagers and ecstatic youngsters wait for the "ok" from parents to enter the living room, usually a little wrestling match ensues as someone makes a false start for the stockings, *cough-adam-ahem*, Mom whips up the gingerbread and leaves it to bake, an hour later after we are up to our ears in wrapping paper we sit down to a breakfast of warm gingerbread with whipped cream...and if we can, try to savor it before the tug to try out our Christmas loot gives way. Sound like fun? Now it's your turn to try.

ingredients

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup hot water

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch square pan.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses.

3. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared pan.

4. Bake approximately 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan before serving.

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