Foodie Friday: Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Cookies

Happy Friday, dear reader. Continuing with September's pumpkin-themed recipes, I would like to share my recipe for Pumpkin Cookies. I love a good spiced cookie. Two of my favorite cookies are pumpkin cookies with raisins and applesauce cookies with raisins. Don't be judgy; I know many have harsh opinions of raisins. The poor little wrinkled wonders of sweetness get a bad rap. However, this recipe is adaptable. One can add raisins, chocolate chips, nuts or leave them plain. Personally, I like them with raisins or chocolate chips. If left plain, they can be topped with cream cheese icing. However, I never ice mine or leave them plain, for that matter.

Pumpkin cookies were always on my family's holiday cookie trays. Both of my grandmothers, my mom, and my aunts always made pumpkin cookies for the holidays. I was one of the few who liked them with raisins. Some years, if time and thought were given, two batches of pumpkin cookies were made. One with chocolate chips and one with raisins. When this happened, inevitably, a raisin hater would mistakenly pick up a pumpkin cookie, thinking it was made with chocolate chips. Once discovered it was raisins, much gagging, and drama ensued.

My dad's side of the family always made pumpkin cookies with either chocolate chips or raisins. Nuts and icing were never included in their cookies. I preferred this approach to pumpkin cookies. My Grandma Tillie and my Aunt Linda always made a batch with raisins, so even if my mom didn't have time to make both, I got to enjoy them on Christmas day. My dad had six brothers and one sister. We always went to my Grandma Tillie's house on Christmas Day for dinner. It was quite a house full with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins. That was when Grandma Tillie was the happiest. When we arrived, my grandma always laughed and said, "The party can start! Ron is here." Those were good days.

My mom's side of the family always seemed to prefer iced pumpkin cookies; at least, that's how I remember it. I seem to remember icing and nuts in the pumpkin cookies at my aunt's house. I am not a fan of nuts, so I considered this an insult to pumpkin cookies everywhere. However, an excellent nutless spiced cookie with cream cheese frosting is a delicious treat and an acceptable variation. My mom's oldest sister always hosted the family gatherings. These were not quite as enjoyable for me. My aunt, from the time I was a small child, did not try to hide her absolute disdain for me. For reasons I don't understand to this day, my very existence seemed to irritate her. I felt like I needed to make myself small and disappear because invariably, I would do something that invoked an unkind comment at best or an angry outburst at worst. Ah, good times. Regardless, a variation of pumpkin cookies was always part of the holiday gatherings.

These days, there are no large family gatherings during the holidays. Once the grandmothers passed away, those went by the wayside. I'm lucky if I see my cousins once or twice a year—some cousins I haven't seen in years, perhaps even a decade. Family members have passed away, scattered across the country, or relationships have dissolved. It makes me sad that The Bean will never experience holidays with a large family. She doesn't even have any cousins her age. Our family gatherings now include us and The GB (GramBarb, all one word said fast). We have a good thing going with GramBarb. She comes over for Thanksgiving or hosts us. She spends the night with us on Christmas Eve and hangs out with us all day on Christmas Day. It's small, but it's fun. We enjoy our time with her, and I think she enjoys her time with us. She definitely enjoys her time with Jordan. There is always a cookie tray and a card game. On that cookie tray is always pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips. We don't make them with raisins because I am the only one who eats them, which is no longer part of my diet. Sigh.

Without further ado, my family's versatile pumpkin cookie recipe.

Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:

1 Cup Crisco

1 Cup Canned Pumpkin

1 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

2 Cups Flour

1 Cup Raisins, Chocolate Chips, or Nuts (Optional)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350°F

Line baking sheets with parchment paper or grease and flour baking sheets

In a large bowl, beat Crisco and sugar together until they are well combined, and the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Beat in canned pumpkin, egg, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla until mixed together.

Sift together baking soda, baking powder, and flour in a separate bowl.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture, stirring until the dough comes together and is well combined.

If adding raisins, chocolate chips, or nuts, add now.

Use a small cookie scoop or spoon to drop dough balls onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes or until they are golden and set.

Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

On this gorgeous, sunny day, stay safe, be smart, enjoy delicious, simple food, and keep washing your hands.

Welcome Fall

We welcome the autumnal season at 2:50 on Saturday morning. Fall is my absolute favorite season. I love everything about fall unless I feel pessimistic and remember that winter will come after fall. However, I rarely feel pessimistic and try to focus on the beautiful fall colors, seasonal fall produce, and my favorite holidays. I look forward to wearing sweaters, sweatshirts, fall boots, and shoes and carrying fall purses. I much prefer fall makeup to summer colors, and I love our fall scents for soap and moisturizer. I welcome fall with open arms, a big smile, and a tight squeeze.

Fall is also festival season. I feel like The Bibbed Wonder, and I should make more of an effort to participate in fall festivals, but truth be told, once our weekly farmer's market at Ligonier is over, we are spent. I greatly enjoy our little festival here at the farm. It is low-key, filled with all my favorite people, and I enjoy welcoming my soap family to the place I love the most. Spending a few hours in our open field with people who are happy to be here doesn't get much better. We are working on several projects to prepare for our day at the farm and are excited to have everyone come and enjoy themselves.

Looking ahead, I am already prepping for our little community's Halloween hayride and trick-or-treat. Our neighbors plan a fantastic hay ride every year for the kids on our road and surrounding friends and families. My Bean plans to participate for one more year, and then she feels like she has aged out of trick-or-treating. I won't even begin to lament about how sad this makes me. Usually, I give the kids full-size candy bars. However, this year, I am thinking about doing treat bags with various treats. One of my favorite things about living in Brookville, Pennsylvania, was trick-or-treat night. I used to prepare elaborate treat bags and walk my niece and nephew around the town trick or treating, telling passersby to go to 179 Franklin Avenue because they were giving out amazing treats. Those were fun times. Once we got onto the hayride trick-or-treat map, I again enjoyed a crowd of trick-or-treaters.

Along with Halloween and the spooky season come Halloween movie nights. We will, of course, do our annual viewing of my favorite movie, Hocus Pocus. The Bean now likes actual horror films, which I don't care for as much, but we compromise. I remember being fourteen and loving to be scared with my friends—safe scares, not genuine scares. As an adult, I fully understand what it is to be genuinely afraid, which isn't fun. However, I will watch The Birds, Psycho, and The Sixth Sense with my little buddy and give in to the suspension of disbelief for a few hours. Watching The Haunted Mansion, Halloween Town, and The Witches will be more enjoyable for me. Of course, one cannot forget It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown! I don't think I will ever grow up.

Not only is it fall festival season, sweater season, and spooky season, but it is also soup season! I love soup! Although The Bean and The Bibbed Wonder complain if I feed them too much soup, I try to incorporate at least one soup a week. If I get too carried away, I am bombarded with comments like, "Soup is a lumpy drink!" or "I need something hearty, like a burger!" or "Why does Buster get solid food and we have to live on a liquid diet? It's not fair! You love Buster more than us!" "Sigh. Is it any wonder I love my dog as much as I do? Buster never complains; he doesn't poke me in the butt or belly button and yell funny comments at the top of his voice. Unlike teenagers and man-child husbands, he never refuses to cuddle me and is happiest spending time with me. Sigh. I love my dog.

So, dear reader, I welcome fall with open arms and anticipation. I can't wait for our event on October 7th. I am looking forward to all things fall and fun. On this gorgeous late summer day, stay safe, be smart, embrace the end of summer and welcome fall, and, of course, keep washing your hands.

Meet Katie Molinengo

On Saturday, October 7, from 9-1, we are hosting our Fall At The Farm event. This has become an annual event that I look forward to for many reasons. However, I am most excited to welcome one of "my kids," Katie Molinengo, to our event this year. It feels like a lifetime ago, but Katie was one of my students when I taught at Brookville High School. I had the pleasure of having Katie in my English class for multiple years. I watched her grow from an awkward seventh grader; I feel like all seventh graders are awkward, not just Katie, into a lovely, talented young woman.

Katie graduated from Brookville, went on to college to study art, and now works at Oglebay Resort in West Virginia. Katie is a talented painter; check out her forest-inspired artwork on her website: https://www.katiemolinengo.com/. She is also creating the beautiful candles pictured above. Katie's candles are gorgeous works of art. One would not think candles could be a creative medium, but my talented friend has taken candle-making to the next level. I don't think I will be able to burn my candles; yes, I plan to stock up; they are too beautiful. By the way, I hate it when people tell me this about my soap. It's how I pay my bills, please use it! Insert a smile and a wink. I, of course, will use Katie's candles no matter how much it pains me to destroy her work.

I plan to purchase Katie's candles as gifts for friends, family, and special soap family members. I am picturing my Pumpkin Sandalwood soap and moisturizer paired with Katie's candles, caramels from Confections by Christina, a hand-embroidered tea towel, and wildflower honey from Pisarcik's Flower Farm. If my friends have dogs, I will add pumpkin treats from Canine Confections. All are handmade, local, small businesses owned by very talented women. I love to support local, small, and especially woman-owned.

I hope you will come out to support all the fantastic small local businesses joining us here at the farm on Saturday, October 7. You won't be disappointed. My friends are lovely people; I am sure you will be as impressed with them and their talent as I am. I am thrilled to welcome Katie to our farm and introduce her and her beautiful work to all my soap family. On this lovely September day, stay safe, be smart, come out to meet Katie at our event, and keep washing your hands.