Pumpkin Chip Cookies

This one was also from last fall :)

I am not usually a fan of pumpkin and chocolate together, but a friend asked if I would make some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  I looked up a few recipes, and, of course, made a few modifications of my own ;)  

They actually turned out quite tasty!  This recipe is a "half" recipe which made 2 1/2 dozen cookies, but if you'd like to use the whole can of pumpkin, go ahead and double everything!  Please also note that I never measure spices (or most other ingredients when I cook) so when I write out a recipe, I am generally approximating. 

Pumpkin Chip Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

½ cup sugar

1 egg

½ 15 oz. can pumpkin

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/8 tsp. mace

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. baking soda

1 1/8 cup flour

1 cup semi-sweet chips

1/2 cup white chips

1/2 cup walnuts

Melt butter and mix in sugar.  Then mix in the egg, pumpkin, and vanilla.  

Add dry ingredients - flour, soda, salt, baking powder, and spices (mixed separately or not, your choice).  Mix in the chips and walnuts.

Drop by teaspoonful on greased cookie sheet.  If using parchment paper (which I recommend), spray it lightly.

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.  Cookies will be firm to the touch, and slightly browning at the edges. 

Baked Ratatouille

Baked Ratatouille - from October of 2011


This is something I've wanted to try for a long time.  And late this summer I had an abundance of veggies so....

It was actually quite simple, especially if you don't mind lots of chopping veggies!

Ratatouille

Large eggplant

Zucchini (thinly sliced)

Yellow squash - sliced

Tomato - sliced

Green pepper – sliced or chopped

Onion – sliced or chopped

Minced garlic

Basil (I used fresh)

Thyme

Parmesan cheese (or Parmesan-Romano blend)

Salt & pepper

Sautee sliced eggplant in olive oil & salt till soft

Place in bottom of 13x9 pan sprayed with olive oil

Sprinkle with parmesan & basil

Layer of zucchini sprinkled with salt, pepper, & parmesan

Layer of yellow squash

More parmesan

Minced garlic, onion, thyme

Green pepper

Tomato

More parmesan, pepper, and basil if desired

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes

Recipes!

I'm adding a new section!  Food!  The first few posts are imports from a food blog I was doing... but I'd rather have it all in one place! :)

Book Review - "Death Comes to Pemberly" by P.D. James

I love Jane Austen, her books are so fantastic.  She was such a student of human nature. I love to read her books, her descriptions of her characters...so many times I find myself thinking "I *know* that guy!"  And I get so attached to the people she portrays.  Of course it doesn't hurt that I've seen the Pride & Prejudice miniseries about a hundred times ;)

Recently I have also enjoyed reading some of the "sequels" to her books that modern authors have written, such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith (a very fun little book)  I also enjoyed Old Friends and New Fancies, where the author tied up all the loose ends characters (the ones left single in Austen's books).

The latest to come along is Death Comes to Pemberly by P.D. James.  I admit I thought it would be more of a murder mystery than it was.  It was actually more of a legal drama, and a good one.  I really enjoyed the walk through the legal process of the time period.  And there was a bit of mystery there, you don't know till the end who actually did the deed and why.  I appreciated that she gave us all the clues though (as opposed to some mystery writers who save many clues until the big reveal).  I also enjoyed that often she used actual quotes from Pride and Prejudice - she did a great job of keeping the character of the characters.  The book had a bit of a slow start, but once the action got going, I couldn't put it down. 

If you're an Austen fan, this one's a must-read!

Thought of the Day

I think I'm going to do more "little" posts.  Thoughts of the day type posts.  Some serious, some maybe not so much.  So here's the first!

Last night I was having trouble getting my laptop to connect to the internet.  Netflix was playing just fine on the TV so I knew it was something with the laptop, not the internet.  I kept trying to fix it, doing this and that, all the while thinking that I could just go spend some time reading my Bible and praying, and then I could check back later.  And all of a sudden it hit me how often I do that with everything.  Any problem I have, I try so hard to fix it instead of spending time in prayer, and turning my issue over to God.  I always want to try this one more thing, and then that one more thing, and maybe if I just try once more... I know I'll get it solved!  I'm not in any way saying we shouldn't try, that we should never do anything, but shouldn't the first response be to pray?  Isn't that the best use of time?  How much time have I wasted by not just giving my problems to the Lord?  I believe I would have much less frustration if I prayed first, then worked!