Soft Gingerbread People

Rural Manitoba homeowner charged with shooting at accused thieves

A homeowner in southern Manitoba has been charged after he fired shots at a group of people accused of stealing from his property, police say.

Officers were sent to the Rural Municipality of Dufferin Saturday after a report of a theft in progress. RCMP said four people went to the property, located about 95 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, and returned later the same day driving two vehicles stolen from Watrous, Sask.

The owner of the property, a 66-year-old man, saw the suspects on a motion-activated camera and saw someone transferring fuel from a portable container into one of the stolen vehicles. The man confronted the group and fired shots towards the vehicles, police said.

Three people stayed at the scene until officers arrived and took them into custody, RCMP said. Various items believed to have been stolen from the property were found in the back of a truck. A fourth suspect fled in the other vehicle.

Close to 5,000 net new health-care workers added since 2023 election, province says

More doctors and nurses are working in Manitoba than ever before but health-care challenges remain, Premier Wab Kinew says.

The province has added 4,725 net new health-care workers to the provincial system since the NDP won the October 2023 election, Kinew told reporters Tuesday.

The government’s total includes 370 doctors, 1,464 nurses, 2,152 health-care aides and 607 allied health professionals, a group that includes physiotherapists, dietitians, paramedics, medical lab technologists and others.

Kinew said more doctors and nurses are working in Manitoba than ever before.

Costco breaks ground on new West St. Paul store

Construction has begun on the American retailer's newest Manitoba location which developers expect will open in August 2027.

Soft Gingerbread People

Areader recently wrote in saying that she finds most recipes for gingerbread men too hard and dry. She was looking for a recipe that made softer, moister cookies, the problem being that those kinds of cookies tend to spread and don't hold shapes well. I did some searching and found a recipe that ingeniously solves that quandary by freezing the shapes before baking.

Soft Gingerbread People750 ml (3 cups) all-purpose flour175 ml (3/4 cup) packed dark brown sugar3 ml (3/4 tsp) baking soda15 ml (1 tbsp) ground cinnamon15 ml (1 tbsp) ground ginger2 ml (1/2 tsp) ground cloves2 ml (1/2 tsp) salt175 ml (12 tbsp or 3/4 cup) butter, softened to room temperature, cut into 2.5 cm (1 in) pieces175 ml (3/4 cup) dark molasses30 ml (2 tbsp) whole milk

With an electric mixer, blend flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt at low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. (Break up any brown sugar lumps.) Add the butter pieces and mix at medium-low speed until the mixture is sandy, 1-2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, add the molasses and milk, and mix until dough is moistened, about 20 seconds. Increase the speed to medium and mix until thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds more.

Scrape the dough onto a work surface and divide in half. Working with one portion at a time, roll out dough between two sheets of parchment paper to about 6 mm (1/4 in) thick. Leaving the dough sandwiched between the paper, stack both portions on a baking sheet and freeze until firm, 15-20 minutes. Preheat oven to 175 C (350 F). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove one dough sheet from freezer, peel off top sheet of parchment paper and cut out dough using 12.5-cm (5-inch) gingerbread people shapes or 7.5-cm (3-inch) shapes. Carefully transfer cookies using a metal spatula to prepared sheets and space about 2 cm (3/4 inch) apart. Repeat with remaining dough. (Because flour is not used for rolling, scraps can be re-rolled and cut for more cookies. Just place in freezer for a few minutes to firm up.) Bake the cookies until set at edges and dough just retains an imprint when touched gently in the centre, 7-9 minutes. Baking time can vary with size. (Do not overbake.) Cool cookies on sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Decorate as desired. Store in an airtight container with wax paper between layers for up to one week. (Adapted from The New Best Recipe)

City crews cleaning up drug paraphernalia, weapons having some impact on inner-city life

A three-person crew, employed by the city as part of its recently expanded proactive cleanup program, allowed the Free Press to follow along last week while they worked to make the Freight House Recreation Centre's property safe to play in.