Getting Baked with Jen

Friday nights are fast becoming baking night for my friend Jen and I.  Jen is a fantastic baker with big hopes of opening her own bakery some day.  She's also a good friend of mine from way back in high school.  I suggested we try making Pumpkin Spice Cookies last week.  I had never actually had cookies or any dessert for that matter that contained pumpkin, for some reason I was always leary of it.  I think that has a lot to do with my upbringing...my family never really were the most adventurous connoisseurs, with meat and potatoes being our basic staple.  Thank Gawd my taste buds have become more refined.

So, behold the photos from that night, and our recipe! (I grabbed this from another blog some weeks ago, but the name escapes me...)

PUMPKIN SPICE COOKIES

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground clove

1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Lightly grease cookie sheets.

2. In a bowl, with an electric mixer at medium speed, cream together butter with brown sugar until smooth.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Beat in pumpkin puree.

3. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking sode, salt, nutmeg, ginger, and clove.  Add to butter mixture and beat well to combine.  Add nuts in 2 batches, mixin between additions.

4. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets.  Bake about 18 minutes, until set, not browned.  Transfer to cooling racks.

We had a lot of fun making these cookies.  Check out the photos below to see for yourself! 

 

These cookies came out amazing.  They were so soft, and even a few days after they still retained their softness.  Just look at 'em!

I highly recommend this recipe.

Smooches,

~E

Car vs. Dumpster

I'm a country girl who is, for the most part, use to the various sounds that come with city living...ambulances, cars revving, the familiar echos of a shopping cart passing through the alley...and of course, garbage trucks.  Garbage day usually rears its pretty face between 6 am and 8 am every couple days, and its clunky, scraping metal have become a normal sound in my sleep scape. 

I first woke up at around 7:30 am to the sounds of the garage truck squealing its metal arms, cumbersomely raising and dumping out the waste within.  Nothing unusual, or so I thought.  A strange, crushing thud sound woke me up from my slumbers.  Now, bear in mind that most days I fear for the safety of my car, as I park right beside the dumpster bins.  What if one day they scratch my car? Then what?

Well, that day had come, but not for my car.  My poor neighbor on the other hand had a VERY interesting morning ahead of her.

Behold the awesomeness of City Waste Disposal...

That's right.  The ball, or rather dumpster, really fell on this one.  Thank Gawd it wasn't my car or else I'd be on a murder spree right now (and I'm sure my co-workers would be editing the news story on it.)  The man in the middle photo was sent by the City to inspect what had happened, and I decided it was a good idea to yell at him from my window to see if my car was ok.  Luckily my car was fine...he even had the courtesy to move the dumpster "4 or 5 feet away from my car"...how fucking thoughtful of the gent.

My first reaction was HOLY SHIT.  What if someone was inside?  Or beside it, then what?  And who's going to be covering the costs to fix this mess?  I'm hoping the City owns up to its mistake...and perhaps a couple people will be dealt with harshly.

So, that was my morning.  Good times.

Smooches,

~E

Blog Love

These are the blogs that I adore.  They are written by some of the most awesome people you'll meet in the blogosphere.  

Check 'em out.  DO IT.  You know you want to....