National Cookie Month: Candy Corn Cookies

It's Week 2 of National Cookie Month! When I saw a photo of these cookies on Pinterest- I knew I had to try them. They are so cute- they look just like Candy Corn! I adapted the recipe from the one I found on the Land O Lakes website.

Candy Corn Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
3 T. orange juice
2 tsp. orange zest
1/4 tsp. salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Orange and yellow food colorings (paste or gel)

1/2 cup sugar (for sprinkling on top of cookies)
Parchment paper

Line bottom and sides of a 9x5 inch loaf pan with wax paper or plastic food wrap. Set aside.

Combine butter and 1 cup sugar in large bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add egg, orange juice, orange zest and salt. Continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour and baking soda. Beat until well mixed.

Divide dough into thirds. Press one-third of white dough evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. To one-third of the remaining dough, add small amount of orange food coloring, mix until color is well blended. Press orange dough evenly over white dough in pan.

Add yellow food coloring to remaining dough and press over orange dough in pan.

Cover with plastic food wrap and refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours or overnight.)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Invert loaf pan onto a cutting board to remove dough. Peel off waxed paper. Cut loaf crosswise into 1/4 inch slices using a sharp knife.

Cut each slice into 6-8 wedges.

Place cookies 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle cookies with remaining sugar.
Bake for 7-9 minutes until cookies are set and bottoms are very lightly browned. Cool 1 minute, then remove from baking sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely.

Makes about 15 dozen small and adorable cookies.

Click here for a printable PDF of this recipe.

Autumn Dreams

Guest blogger Samantha is talking about her favorite season, Autumn. Or, as we call it in the U.S., Fall. Does anyone know where that term came from? Whatever you call it... it's wonderful!

Sources: turnips/owl/pears/leaves/fabric

(the links I had for the gourds and the sweater turned out to be bad; does anyone know where they came from?)



I entered a giveaway recently that required me to make a Pinterest board based on some of my favorite things for Autumn.  It's no secret that fall is my favorite season, but I couldn't hold back all my pins; I love so many things about this season.  I love fresh root produce and warm color pallates and leaves covering the ground.  I love baking things and warm sweaters and gourds and pumpkins on every front porch. 

I am really excited for this month coming up, because October is the quintessential fall month, I think.  By November, things are getting a little too cold for my liking and I'm ready to call it Winter.  But October has pumpkins and falling leaves and crackling campfires and weather that is just chilly enough for me to pull on my boots, sweater, and scarf.

Happy Fall!

Samantha





Giveaway! And other fun stuff....

My friend Sandi at A Legacy of Stitches is giving away fabric from my Fruitful Hands collection! I love Sandi because she is so kind and really, really generous with her time and talents. She is always sharing photos of her enviable quilt collection, organizing quilt retreats, and just generally being a really nice person. Take a bow, Sandi!

I want you all to you run (OK, click) right over to her blog and enter her giveaway, Pronto! It ends on Friday.

Go on, enter the giveaway. I'll wait......

OK Welcome back! Does the change of seasons put you in the mood for certain kinds of projects? For me, autumn is the unofficial start of baking season (my own personal equivalent of Football Season...) In addition, it seems as soon as the temperatures drop below 70 degrees, I am ready to dig into my wool pile........

A few days ago, I got a hankerin' for a cozy project, so I pulled out the pile of wool and started on a really simple project. I think I will share the finished project and pattern in my next newsletter. It shouldn't take me long to finish- as I said it is simple as can be, and I have enjoyed working on it while watching TV in the evenings. I am using yummy Valdani thread for my stitching.

And there are those ubiquitous magnifying glasses again. Yes, it seems I need them more and more! Today I was trying to read something, and realized that I really need to start carrying a pair in my purse. But I resist. I am being dragged kicking and screaming into middle age!

Finally, I have a cute story to tell you. Last week I was upstairs cleaning up one of the bedrooms. I heard a thud on the window (as I often do- our birds aren't particularly intelligent it seems- because my windows are dirty and they really should be able to see them!) Usually when I hear a thud, I look out the window and the victim has flown away. But this time, I saw this pretty little yellow bird lying on the porch roof, feet up in the air and twitching. I held my breath and walked away, hoping that he'd hop up and fly away. When I returned to the window a few minutes later, he was still lying on the roof, feet up, but the twitching had stopped- bad sign! I walked away again and continued my work. I checked back on him every few minutes. After about 10 minutes of no movement, I figured I'd be climbing out the window to retrieve the body for proper burial. But then, I found him like this:

Isn't he cute? The yellow finch happens to be our State Bird. He remained like this for another 10 minutes- I was even able to open the window, and hang halfway out to take his photo. The fact that I got so close to him proves how stunned he was! I'm sure he had a terrible headache! I continued my cleaning, checking on him from time to time. Finally, I approached the window and he was gone. Poor little dear! I guess he flew away to find some Excedrin....

National Cookie Month! Trailblazer Cookie Recipe

I recently heard that October is National Cookie Month. I did not bother to verify this information. I was afraid that it might not be true, and that would make me sad :(   So I am just going on the assumption that it is indeed National Cookie Month and I fully intend to take advantage of it....

In celebration, there will be plenty of cookie recipes here on my blog this month. I will also be providing an easy to print out PDF for each recipe. First up, Trailblazer Cookies. I found this recipe in my local newspaper a few weeks ago and I wanted to try it because I am convinced that they are healthy, full of dried fruit, nuts, oatmeal, dark chocolate, and whole wheat flour. Of course there is some butter and brown sugar in there to balance out the healthy stuff.

When I go to the store and I'm in a "healthy" mood,  I tend to buy lots of dried fruit from the bulk section (for healthy snacks, yeah, that's the ticket!) but it never seems to get used up before it dries out. This recipe uses 2 whole cups of dried fruit- a good way to use it up and clean out the pantry. And these cookies are really packed with "stuff"- a lot of fruit, nuts and chocolate chips! I love "stuff"- don't you???

I made a few alterations to the original recipe- here is my version.

Trailblazer Cookies
Makes about 5 dozen

1 stick butter, softened
1 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oatmeal (not instant)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon coarse salt
10 oz. package Nestle Dark Chocolate Chips
2 cups mixed chopped dried fruit (I used dried currants, golden raisins, and dates)
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Beat butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Add vanilla.

In separate bowl stir flours, oatmeal, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until well blended. On lowest speed, gradually beat in flour mixture until well blended.

Add chocolate chips, fruit, and nuts and stir until combined.

Drop batter by heaping tablespoons onto pans, placing cookies about 2" apart. Bake until cookies are set and lightly browned, about 13-15 minutes. Cool slightly on pans before removing to wire racks.

CLICK HERE FOR PDF

The Great Cat-sby

Daughter and guest blogger Samantha is introducing her new kitten, aka my Grand-kitten, today! Isn't he sweet? And when you get short on ideas for a blog post, photos of babies, kittens, and puppies always seem to do the trick, somehow....

As you heard last week, we have a new addition to our little family.  Gatsby has been such a sweet boy to us these past few weeks, and I have to admit I love having him around, even if he makes a few messes and unpleasant smells...

I don't really consider myself a cat person (my heart is truly for any kind of puppy), but my husband has had cats since he was a child, and when we were killing time at a pet store he made me take a look at the kittens for adoption.  And once we looked, well, we had to ask to pet one.... and then once we pet one, we had to fill out an adoption application... It's the "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" phenomenon (did you ever read that book? It was one of my very favorites when I was little).

And before we knew it, we were thinking of names, picking out toys and treats and preparing for the trip back to the adoption center to pick up our "son."  I even joked with my friends about having "a baby on the way," which they did not appreciate once they figured out what I was really talking about...



And now Gatsby has been with us for three weeks.  He has had a little bit of a digestive issue, that got so bad at one point, we wondered if we would have to take him back to the shelter, but things seem to be looking up.  He is playful and inquisitive, const]ant[uil1q finding new things to do, as evidenced by that typo, which he "helped" Mommy type.  I miss being away from him while I'm at work, but we make up for it when I get home.

I made these little bowls for him really quickly by drawing with a sharpie onto the bowls, and then baking them at 400 degrees for 40 minutes, letting the bowls heat up and cool down with the oven.  They've survived through 2 hand washings with no sign of wear yet.

What's new in your lives? Pets? Babies? Weddings? Dishes? (I think new dishes are almost as important as new babies. Right?)  Let us know what's making you smile right now...

Happy Weekend!
Samantha

In The Studio Today...

..... I am wearing socks, for the first time in probably almost 5 months. I love the change of seasons.... it's like a fresh start 3 or 4 times a year. Just when I start to get tired of a season and the weather, it changes. There's always something to look forward to.

(I have wide feet, don't I?!? It looks like someone forced a pair of socks onto a duck. Quack.)

I got a couple of quilts back from my quilter the other day. One went right to a quilt shop for a sample before I had a chance to photo it. But here is a sneak peek of another that I got back:

I love the Honey Bee block, don't you??

If these blocks look familiar, it's probably because I started showing them to you in August 2011- yeah.... it took me that long to get it done and get it to the quilter. Sometimes it is nice to take your time on a project and just let it "evolve". Oftentimes when you are making samples for Quilt Market or for shops, you feel like you are just slapping them together to get them done because you are in such a hurry. This quilt, because I took my time on it, was very enjoyable and relaxing to make. It will probably be featured in an upcoming book. (If you want to jump into the time machine to August 2011, click here and here and here.)

I love how my quilter did this quilt- it's perfect! Take a look at the back:

If you don't know it already- "Quilting Makes The Quilt".... Daniella (aka Danny) did such a wonderful job with this one. Please do not ask me for her contact information- I don't want her to get too busy to keep taking my work (ha ha). A good quilter is worth her weight in gold (or thread..... or chocolate.... whichever happens to be more precious to you...)

I just found out that October is National Cookie Month. I have to admit- I have not been this excited in awhile! Even though there's still a week left in September, I might have to start celebrating a little early. I found a recipe in the local paper that I want to try, and today is a perfect baking day. I'll share the recipe if they turn out well.

The Perfect Pumpkin Bread

Samantha's Friday guest post... fall is in the air....


Fall is here, you guys.  We have had the most beautiful weather the past week... one would almost even call it sweater weather.  My husband and I are crazy about fall.  All summer he has been trying to wear sweaters to work and church, only to remember it was 90 degrees when he left the house!
But now the air conditioner is off, the windows are open, and I am ready to start baking again.  We had a few leaders from church over last night for coffee and I made some no bake cookies, as well as this delicious "hello fall" dessert.  I adapted this recipe from here.

Here's what you'll need:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (half of one stick)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
4 tablespoon vanilla or plain yogurt (sour cream may be substituted)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
15 oz pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 mashed banana
one 3.4-ounce box vanilla instant pudding mix (not Cook ‘n Serve)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Nutmeg (to taste)
Ginger (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 325F, spray a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray; set aside.

2. In a large microwave-safe mixing bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute. To the melted butter, add the sugars, egg, yogurt, vanilla, and stir to combine. Add pumpkin puree, banana, and mix. Add the dry pudding mix, desired spices, salt, cloves and stir. Add the flour, baking soda, and stir until just combined, taking care not to over-mix or bread will be tough.

3. Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until top is golden and set, and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow bread to cool in the loaf pan for at least 30 minutes before removing from the pan and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.

And, if you have a sweet tooth, like me, feel free to drizzle the bread with your favorite type of glaze or icing and enjoy with a big steaming cup of coffee. Sigh.

Last, but not least, I wanted to share these lovely flowers I found at a local produce market for a bargain.  I scattered them around the apartment in small vases to compliment the space and give it some life.  They aren't exactly mums, but I think these flowers say "Fall is here," as well!

Happy Weekend!
Samantha

Oh Happy Day!

We have a big announcement of a personal nature here. As you may know, our oldest daughter Samantha got married in June. No, we are not expecting a grandchild yet, but we do have a new grand-kitten named Gatsby:

Isn't he cute??

Anyway, that's not the big news I wanted to share. Our new son-in-law Jeff has been hired as the new Youth Pastor at our church! We are so happy and proud of Jeff and Sam. Without getting into all of the details, I will tell you that Jeff has been looking for a job for several months, and there were lots of false leads and disappointments. Just when it seemed that nothing was going to materialize, the current Youth Pastor of our church was offered a job that he felt that he had to take. This happened quite out of the blue- on my birthday (what a great birthday gift!) my husband called to tell me that he had just spoken with our Senior Pastor who told him that the Youth Pastor would be leaving very soon and they wanted to offer Jeff the job. There are lots of other details to the story, but suffice it to say that the way everything worked out, we know that God had truly orchestrated this..... We are so grateful that everything worked out, we know that Jeff and Sam are going to be excellent Youth Pastors!

Jeff was introduced to the church at yesterday's service and he gave a wonderful sermon, then we had cake ('cause if there's one thing that church people and quilters have in common- it's that we do food really really well, and with little provocation!!)

Congratulations Jeff and Sam :)