Mouth: Frog and Toad's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

How many of you remember the Frog and Toad books, by Arnold Lobel? They used to be some of my favorites as a child, and to this day I see much of myself in those little amphibians (especially Toad).

There was one story, called "Cookies," where Toad brings over a bunch of cookies for Frog, and they're so good they can't stop eating them. Thus begins the morality tale of willpower vs. gluttony, ending when Frog finally has to give the cookies away to th birds so they'll stop snacking.

That's how I felt about these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies I whipped up Monday afternoon, I couldn't stop popping them into my mouth! Especially all warm, spicy, and gooey from the oven...

...I think I need to find some birds to share these with!

I came across the inspiration for this recipe when I was looking for something to do with the last cup of fresh pumpkin puree I had leftover from my Thanksgiving pie.

Usually, I'm good about sticking to recipes as I find them, but this time I felt a little adventurous. Throwing caution to the wind, I modified here and there, and the end result is simply delicious! I hope you give it a try!

Frog & Toad's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup fresh pumpkin puree*
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream (or milk)
1 Tbsp. Vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine pumpkin puree, sugars, vegetable oil and egg in mixer.
3. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
4. Dissolve the baking soda with the cream or milk, and add to pumpkin mix along with vanilla.
5. Gradually add flour mix to pumpkin mixture. If the dough is too wet (as pumpkin purees vary from pumpkin to pumpkin), add spoonfuls of additional flour until dough is firm and holds together (rather than running like batter).
6. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts with a wooden spoon.
7. Drop dough by spoonful onto lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake at 350 degress for 12-14 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are firm.
8. Pour a glass of milk of your choice, and enjoy them fresh from the oven!

*Note: I'm sure canned pumpkin will work as well, you just may need to reduce the flour to 2 cups.

If you want to make your own fresh pumpkin puree, you can find all sorts of recipes all over the 'net, or you can use the recipe I used from ReadyMade magazine here.

Mouth: Strawberry Empanadas

First off, I want to give a big "thank you!!!" from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has blogged, commented, viewed, or even just smiled at my little Han Solo Cross Stitch this past week. It's been friggin' surreal seeing something *I* made everywhere online...and seeing people enjoying it so much. But it's also made me tremendously happy through a pretty trying week.

The last week before a vacation is always rough, and this last week was no exception. Aside from a lovely, after-work knitting lesson from my brother's girlfriend, I barely had time to craft (or do much else) before the weekend! So, when Saturday finally rolled around in all it's vacation-weekend rosiness, I felt a special breakfast was in order.



Fresh from the oven, these Strawberry Empanadas are soft, sweet little bundles of delight. The flaky crust gives way to a deliciously gooey filling of cream cheese and ripe strawberries, making this a perfect, decadent weekend breakfast.

I'll admit here, I'm totally a frozen pie crust type of girl, so my baking sensitivities weren't rankled by the thought of using store-bought, refrigerated dough. Maybe someday I'll play with my own dough recipe, but for now, "quick and easy" are the words for me on a leisurely Saturday morning.



Strawberry Empanadas
adapted from the InterCourses Cookbook*

1/4 cup reduced fat cream cheese
2 tablespoons brown sugar (I like dark)
2/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh strawberries
1 6-count package refrigerated crescent rolls

Topping (optional)
1 pat of butter
1 tablespoon cinnamon/sugar mix

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Blend the cream cheese and brown sugar in a small bowl. Gently fold in chopped strawberries.
3. Unroll the crescent dough, separating the six triangular pieces. Plop about a tablespoon of the cream cheese filling into the middle of the widest part of the triangle. Fold up the bottom, crimping the side, then wrap the remaining dough around the bundle. Make sure there's no holes where the filling can leak out.
4. Bake for 16-19 minutes, until golden brown and puffy.
5. If you want to use topping, brush the pat of butter gently over the top of oven-warm pastry, then sprinkle with a little of the cinnamon/sugar mix.

Makes 6 Strawberry Empanadas.

*InterCourses is an incredibly sexy cookbook featuring romantic and "aphrodisiac" recipes. It's more PG-13 vein than R or NC-17 rated (*I* think, at least), so its safe on your kitchen cookbook shelf. It's filled with titillating and creative photographs highlighting some really delicious recipes. The Black Russian Cake, which they have listed for free on their web site, is a truly decadent dessert for anyone who loves chocolate, coffee, and Kahlua!