Falling In Love

John Travolta and Olivia Newton John can keep summer lovin'. For me, it's all about Fall. Although I have grown more fond of the dog days since I became a gardener, I remain an Autumn girl at heart. It is fairly easy to appreciate Fall when you are from New England. It is a season that touches all of your senses. A description of fall reads like some wine label; full-bodied, a wonderful aroma. It has notes of the upcoming Holidays with just a hint of the waning days of August. It also gets better with age. Now that I am an adult, and even more so a mother, I have a new appreciation for "back to school". Fall has the promise of quiet moments and routines and strict bedtimes. Fall is a mothers best friend.
More than anything, I love Fall food. You can fire up the oven without thinking about the sweat pooling in your bra. You can make heavy, comforting meals that are simple and satisfying. Things are still coming in from the garden, but you don't have the hassle of rapid weed growth and insect control and scorching sun. The onset of Autumn always motivates me in the kitchen and I bust out some of my best recipes. I have four words for you. Pumpkin. Chocolate. Chip. Cookies. Wipe your drool and get out your mixing bowl. You may have to run to the store for a can of pumpkin, but it will be so worth it.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies*

2 cups sugar                            2 eggs
4 cups flour                             1 can pumpkin (15 oz)
4 tsp baking powder               1 cup veg. oil
2 tsp baking soda                    2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp cinnamon                        2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp salt                                 12 oz chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all the dry ingredients then mix in the wet, adding the chocolate chips last. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto greased cooking sheets a few inches apart. Bake about 10-12 min. They will look a bit soft and undercooked at first. Wait a minute or two then remove them to a cooling rack. These are a very cakey and filling cookie, but they will get gobbled right up.

*This recipe was given to me many years ago by one of the women I can credit with my Domestic Goddess Transformation. Margie "Gorgeous" Brennan is an amazing mother of seven who, among other things, really turned me on to the essential nature of homemaking skills in the quest for a frugal life. Cue "Wind Beneath My Wings".

Canned pumpkin is on my seasonal pantry list, but I always manage to have some leftover from winter. As soon as September hits, the little cans of pumpkin mush start calling to me, "Use me. Love me. EAT ME." This year I only was able to get one smallish pumpkin to grow in my garden and it was not of the edible variety. Next year I will absolutely be pursuing pie pumpkins in the hopes of making  these delightful treats even more satisfying. In  the meantime, I am continuing to expand my pumpkin recipe repertoire and decided to try Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. I mean, who doesn't love whoopie pies. First off all, any excuse to throw the word "whoopie" into polite conversation must be taken advantage of and "pie" is always a good time. So put that together with some pumpkin and you have the potential for a frenzy of Fall fun. I checked out a ton of recipes online and finally decided to try the one posted on Martha Stewarts website. I wanted to do one with a cream cheese based filling rather than the Fluff I typically use. I usually find Martha's recipes overly complicated, but this one was pretty straightforward. I linked it rather than post it because I will need to do a bit more experimentation before I decide if it's the one for me. However, I can report that 5 out of 5 Ecocheapo family members ate more than one tonight and already have dibs on some for tomorrow. I may have just found my new Autumn lovah.