Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this recipe at www.kerflop.com  We made them last night and it was very very good!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Pre-Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cream together:
1 C. Shortening
2 Eggs
3 C. Sugar

Add:
2 C. Pumpkin (15 ounce can)
and mix well.

Stir in:
2 t. Baking Soda
2 t. Vanilla
1 t. Salt
2 t. Baking Powder
2 t. Nutmeg
2 t. Cinnamon

Gradually stir in:
5 C. Flour
You may need to add an additional cup of flour or so, dough should be - and I quote, “kind of stiff, not really stiff, but medium stiff. Not so sticky that it won’t push off a spoon onto the cookie sheet without sticking all over your finger”. See why I find baking difficult? This apparently, is not an exact science.

Stir in a bag of:
Chocolate Chips
Best if they are milk chocolate, unless you actually LIKE semi-sweet, which I don’t because they discourage me from eating them by handfuls directly out of the bag.
You may also add nuts or raisins but then the cookies would be gross.

Do not grease cookie sheet, drop a tablespoon or so of dough and drop them about an inch apart, they don’t spread out flat.

Bake at 375 for about 12 to 15 minutes.

They are soft and chewy and to die for! Also, we discovered that you CAN leave out the shortening for um, healthier? cookies. They are kind of spongy that way but are still good and stay soft.

 

One Quilt is Finished!

It's time for A break and a cup of Tea with Scones, lemon curd and cream

My scone recipe came from Emilie Barnes

Basic Scones
2 cups flour (I use whole white wheat flour, fresh ground) You can use the kind you prefer
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp butter
1/2 c. buttermilk, or plain milk
1 lightly beaten egg

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in 6 Tbsp butter until mixture resembles course cornmeal. Make a well in the center and pour in buttermilk. Mix until dough clings together and is a bit sticky. Do NOT overmix. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and shape into a 6 to 8 inch round, about 1 1/2" thick. Quickly cut into pie wedges or use a large roung bisquit cutter to cut circles. The secret to tender scones is a minimum of handling. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, being sure the sides of the scones don't touch each other. Brush with egg. Bake 425 degrees for 10 to 20 minutes or until light brown.

* You can add cut-up apples, currants, ginger, orange, almond flavoring, cinnamon, apricots, fresh blueberries, cherries, cranberries, or even chocolate chips.

Yield: 8 pie shaped scones.


Lemon Curd
3 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 Tbsp. butter, softened

Combine eggs, sugar, lemon juice and butter in NON-aluminium saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbly. If you don't stir constantly the eggs will start to cook. It only takes minutes to thicken. Let cool. Chill thouroughly.
Yield:2 cups

Whipping Cream
You can buy premade whipped topping but we like to make the good old fashioned kind. I personally skim the cream off my milk. I buy raw. But I realize that isn't available to most of you. You can buy whipping cream. A pint is plenty.
Put cream into mixer. (I use kitchen aid) WHip until you get stiff peaks. If you over whip it will start falling and start turning into butter! WHen you have the stiff cream add a cap of vanilla extract and sugar to taste. (I use turbinado but any will work!)

Serve one scone with lemon curd and cream on top! YUMMM!!!

Listen to Your Body

Tip for the Week!

Listen to your body- Your body will signal you with what is wrong and what it needs. Sometimes it will scream at you for help. For example, women report craving certain foods (usually chocolate) about a week before their menstrual cycles. Research indicates that this is due to a deficiency of magnesium. In another fatigue may mean that more protein is needed in their diet. Also craving "Comfort" foods like bread, pasta, or crackers could simply indicate boredom or stress.

Felting Slippers

Jingle bell Slippers

Just found that these are online also! They are from Martha's  new special Craft edition.

Simple Quilts

Well I am off and running on a new project. Although my oldest dd has alot to do with this one. We are making quilts for each child. 1 child's blanket was finished about 1 year ago. Now that dd has cut out 1,300 something blocks later we are laying out the quilts to sew together. They will be knotted together.
This is dd who wanted lots and lots of flowers!

This is ds who designed a chipmunk reading
Curious George tucked in bed!
(I will add eyes while sewing)


We forgot to take pictures of one ds.
 Those will have to wait until it's assembled!