Making Ginger Snap Cookies with Anna

Going to my grandmother’s house to escape my family was the simplest thing for me. She lived in a quaint apartment in the middle of my house when I was growing up. Literally! My dad had built an apartment for her and my grandfather right in our house. I had access to my grandmother any time I wanted. So naturally, I took advantage of it. I have so many amazing memories of all the precious times I spent with her. But for me, making ginger snap cookies with her had to be my most precious memory of all.

Christmas time was the busiest. So much baking would go on for weeks before the anticipated day. Aromas filled every inch of the house, on our side as much as my grandmother’s. Such a magical time, and of course delicious. I was so young, but my grandmother would recruit me as her apprentice to help with the ginger snap cookies. The small round balls of cookie dough had to be rolled in white sugar and placed on the cookie sheet; the perfect job for little hands like mine. And I loved helping her. My reward was the hot cookie (or two) after a rushed cool down time. Truly heaven on earth.

As I got older, my training extended to mixing the cookie dough the night before. My grandmother, Anna, would take out the big, white metal bowl, and the old wooden spoon. In the bowl, I would add the flour she handed to me in the old metal measuring cup, then the brown sugar, the shortening, and the ever dark molasses. But the true magic was the adding of the spices: cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. How I loved the smell of those spices. To this day, nothing in this world can stop me in my tracks like the aroma of those three spices. Nothing!

It surprised me that when I started laying out the purpose of my blog, and trust me it is not about baking, my thoughts turned to my grandmother, Anna. She has always been the A in my life, and I am honored to preserve her memory and her name within my own. I have proudly carried my middle name as a badge, a reason to pump out my chest and have the courage to say my name out loud, like saying it would make the world around me a better place. So for you, Anna Martin Gervais, I dedicate my blog, A Wellness Mind, in your memory, and those famous ginger snap cookies.

First blog, and my first time on a photo shoot with the talented Brent Gervais This could not have been possible without you.