Yummo!

Since this is Rachael Ray's recipe in part, I had to quote her favorite word as my title. I basically took 2 different recipes and combined them into 1 fabulous cookie. I thought the recipe was perfect for the season and easy enough for anyone to try. If you haven't had pumpkin cookies for some reason, well you're crazy, but you should also rush right out and buy the ingredients to make these delightful treats. I've added a few notes to the bottom. Here's a picture of my concoction.


Pumpkin Cookies
1 stick melted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, slightly beaten
1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
1 T. pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 2/3 cup flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour.
3. Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet. Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Pumpkin Icing
1 stick butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 T. canned pure pumpkin puree
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pound (3-4 cups) powdered sugar

Cream butter and syrup with mixer. Add in pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla and mix well. Gradually add in desired amount of powdered sugar.

My notes:
- The cookie recipe makes about 30 cookies if you make each one a tablespoon full.
- Be sure to use the parchment paper. It makes life so much easier!
- I ended up cooking mine for 12 minutes, instead of the 10 that she says.
- For the icing, I only used 2 1/2 to 3 cups of sugar. The original recipe called for 4 cups but I just couldn't see making them that sweet. You will have about 1 cup of icing leftover so you might want to consider halving the recipe.

Things that make me smile!

It seems like everything we read, everything that's on tv, everything we hear is always bad news. I get so tired of hearing all the bad and wonder where the good in this world is. I know it's out there but it doesn't sell. That's really quite unfortunate. Lucky for me, I'm not trying to sell anything or win any votes so I can share all the happy news I want! So without further ado here are my top 10 for today (in no particular order):
1) Hearing Colin squeal to let me know he's awake and getting to see his smiling face when I go to pick him up!
2) The fact that Colin is sleeping through the night. Sleep is so underrated!
3) Having Wes tell me he loves me and to have a good day every day before I leave for work. What a swell guy.
4) Coming home from work and having a meal hot and ready that my mom has prepared. Some might called this spoiled, I call it fortunate!
5) Hearing Colin coo and goo as he tells me about his day. Is there anything more precious than those little noises?!
6) Feeling the crisp sheets as I slither into bed (at 9:00).
7) The smell of Colin after he's just had a bath.
8) Hearing my Granny gush about Colin because I'm so fortunate to still have her around to enjoy him.
9) Wearing new clothes, especially now that I actually get to wear some fall things!
10) Getting emails from friends so that I know what's going on in their lives.

There are many more but those are the things that make me smile right now. What makes you smile?

I'm a big boy now!

Look at me in my big boy Bumbo seat! The first time I sat in it I proceeded to spit up. I liked sitting on the counter watching Mommy cook though. I feel like such a big boy. Here's me in my seat.

Go Cats!!!!

Are you kidding me?! UK just beat the number 1 team in the country and I'm not talking about basketball! Who would have thought our football program would come into this game 5-1 and pull out a victory?! The season is just half over and we're already bowl eligible. Wow! That's all I can say. Big Blue Madness and knocking off the number 1 team in the country all in one weekend? Is the apocalypse coming? What a great weekend to be a KY fan! Colin still proves to be a good luck charm.

This week for dinner...

the menu isn't too exciting. It's a clean out the freezer week because I'm tired of looking at the stuff. I promise next week's menu will be more enticing and original! Without further ado, the menu for the week of October 14-20 is as follows:

Sunday
Egg, sausage (chicken sausage), mushroom, and goat cheese frittata, cheese grits, biscuits, and fresh fruit

Monday
My wonderful mother cooks for us! She watches my son and cooks dinner - I'm so lucky! She'll be making Salmon in puff pastry and I'm not sure what else.

Tuesday
Chicken pasta salad over greens and toasted multi-grain bread

Wednesday
Southwestern Turkey-Cheddar Burgers with Caramelized Onions, mushroom risotto, and oven veggies

Thursday
Clean out the freezer! I'll be having Chicken Enchilada Casserole and Wes will be having left over Chicken Pot Pie

Friday
Sandwich night

Saturday
Because of the football game we'll be on our own.

**Of course there has to be a dessert of the week as well! This week will be Apple Crumble.

I'm such a sucker!

I've officially done it! I've submitted to peer pressure and am starting one of these dreaded blogs. I swore I'd never do it, but here I am. At least it's not a MySpace page, which I have vehemently sworn off. I figure this will be an easy way for me to keep everyone up to date on Colin's newest accomplishments, as well as what's going on with Wes and I.

Colin's latest and greatest is that he has officially become a big boy and is sleeping in his crib! That's right, without the car seat. He had been telling us for a couple of days in his own squirming way that he was ready for more room. It took Wes and I a few days to get it (dumb parents) but we're so glad we did. As Granny says, now he can stretch out and grow. Yes, apparently the car seat prohibited him from growing. Kinda like how Chinese women squeeze their feet in size 5 shoes because they don't want their feet to grow and larger. Perhaps this would have kept him a baby forever! Speaking of which, he is growing too fast. He's already 15 weeks old and where has the time gone? I have scrapbook pages to do, newborn clothes to put away, art projects to do that I haven't even begun! Maybe by the time he's in preschool I will have completed 1 page of his scrapbook. I did write a poem in my head at 2am yesterday morning as I fed him. Wes said I'm crazy but hey, what else are you going to do at 2am?!
(This was Colin's not so subtle attempt to tell us he was ready to stop sleeping in his car seat. I'm not sure you can tell from the picture but his head is resting in the car seat and his body is down in the crib!)

I'm thinking I might also steal another bloggers idea and post my weekly menus - both for your enjoyment and to encourage you to share yours in the comment section. Hopefully I can get ideas from you and vice versus. Wes says that my cooking has become more gourmet since the little guy arrived. I'm thinking that's because all I think about it food! My body has forgotten that I'm no longer pregnant and that I'm not supposed to be eating for 2 anymore. I think I'll post my menus on Friday for the next week. We'll see how it goes and if there is any interest.

Ta ta for now.