Gingerbread Houses and Holiday Horse Treats!

Well, Miles is shown here working on his yearly gingerbread house---it was far from done, but wanted to grab some pics while I was thinking about it! He is such a creative guy and loves to cook! Most weekends we are making cookies, breads, or trying out new recipes. He loves figuring out what ingredients he will need and then accompanying me to the store to purchase them! He is going to make someone very happy indeed someday with his cooking abilities! He is still in the learning stages but has come a long way in the year that I have been actively teaching him. He is a vegetarian--totally his choice-- (but eats fish) so we have many veg. and fish recipes that have become quite popular. He is getting at least three cookbooks for Christmas so I am sure we will be quite busy in the New Year working on his culinary prowess!



Below are my HOMEADE HOLIDAY HORSE TREATS! The recipe is from the November 2008 issue of Horse Illustrated but I will include it in case you want to try them! They were REALLY easy! I also included the peppermints after I baked them--just the old fashioned soft sticks which are really easy to break....I made a double batch because I was baking for seven horses--Jackson, Lorri's three and Linda's three. Each batch yielded 15 treats but you could easily make them a bit smaller--mine were a spoonful each--give or take a bit! I used one Granny Smith and one Red Delicous (for sweet and sour taste) and two average size carrots for a double batch...

Carrot/Apple Horse Cookies

1 cup grated carrot

1 cup grated apple

2 TBSP. corn oil

1/4 cup molasses

1 tsp. salt

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup flour

Combine the grated carrot, grated apple, corn oil and molasses in mixing bowl and blend well. Gradually fold in the salt, rolled oats and flour and continue blending. Drop the dough by spoonfuls two inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. ( I found it only took about 12 minutes in my oven so watch carefully!)