Gingerbread Cookies

1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup margarine, melted
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 cup unsulfured molasses
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon lemon extract
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease cookie sheets.

In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Mix in the melted margarine, evaporated milk, molasses, vanilla, and lemon extracts. Stir in the flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. The dough should be stiff enough to handle without sticking to fingers (but mine wasn't ... so maybe it's the humidity here). I added an extra 3/4 cup of flour, put it all in a Ziploc bag, and stuck it in the fridge for 3 hours before rolling it out.

When the dough is cooled, roll it out to 1/4 inch thick on a floured surface, and cut into cookies. Place cookies on the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks ... or paper towels.

**None of us really care for gingerbread cookies, but we all LOVED these cookies. Even my skeptical dad.Here is my adorable mom in her holiday apron that only a grandma of 7, soon to be 8, could pull off! And those are the gingerbread men just before going into the oven. WE ARE COOL.