fall. in cookie form.

ok, have i talked these cookies up enough?

maybe it's not just the cookies themselves that are so amazing, but the feeling of being in your toasty warm home when it's dark & rainy out & football is on & the house is all lit up with warm lights & you have a batch of these bad boys baking in the oven... it just feels like... FALL.

but also?  it's the cookies.  they're kind of a big deal around here.

•  wet stuff:  1/2 cup butter, 1.5 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla

•  dry stuff:  2.5 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp salt.

•  1 cup pureed pumpkin, 1 cup chocolate chips

*sidenote:  i never said these cookies were a health food.  but if you do feel like cutting out some calories/fat/cholesterol, substitute the 1/2 cup butter for 1/4 cup applesauce + 1/4 cup butter, & sub the egg for 2 egg whites.  you won't really tell a difference... but it is kinda annoying to do the extra steps.  just sayin.

i always use my mixer for these.  i throw the wet stuff in the mixer & mix well, then put all the dry stuff in a bowl & sift well.  easy peasy.  

this is an important step.  you have to add the dry ingredients to your wet ones alternately with your pumpkin.  so add a cup of your dry ingredients, mix, then half a cup of your pumpkin, mix, then repeat with the rest.  it just works better that way.

mix in some chocolate chips & now we're talkin.  {with our mouths full of cookie dough, of course.}

i usually use an ice cream scoop & drop dough balls on the sheet in about 1" chunks.  they look like they're gonna be teeny but they puff up quite a bit.  plus, smaller cookies have less calories so you can eat more.  duh.

throw them in your oven at 350* & bake until the bottoms just start to get golden.  in my oven it never takes a second over 10 minutes, but it runs hot.  so just watch them.  

now, you can go ahead & eat a few fresh from the oven if you want.  but take it from me, these cookies are better the next day.  it's weird but true.  something about the way the chocolate hardens up & the flavors of the cinnamon & nutmeg come out after cooling down.  so save some for the next day if you can!

i promise you won't be disappointed.

votes never disappoint.

there better be pizza in heaven.

because if not?  i might have to reconsider being as good as i've been being.  cause i've been being pretty good.

i could probably eat pizza everyday.  i may have to mix up the varieties, but i could probably eat a pizza in some form on any given day & be a happy camper.  but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that pizza is generally not the calorie-counter-health-nut-wannabe's best friend.  at least, not most pizzas.  but it CAN be.  and it could be.  and in my mind, it is.

we've made personal pizzas many times using pita bread & it's always delicious.  but i needed more.  i needed a real crust & real bread to bite my teeth into & maybe even just the feeling of accomplishment from saying i've made a pizza from scratch.  so i did.

behold, my first homemade pizza.  it started with a blob of dough.

ok, i cheated.  sue me.  i bought pre-made dough from trader joe's for $1.29.  really though?  why would i want to make my own when i can see that their's consists of like three ingredients that i recognize & it is {pretty much} all ready to go straight out of the package?  i'd be wasting everybody's time if i didn't.

now this is where i get mad.  i took all sorts of pizza-making-pictures that were gonna look really cool all side by side.  a picture with each layer of food that i layered.  but somehow, my computer decided to delete them.  we've been having computer issues & i don't wanna talk about it.

but you can probably imagine what happened between these two pictures right?  lots of food layering, some bite sneaking taste testing, & some baking,

this pizza's ingredients:  trader joe's whole wheat pizza dough, trader joe's pizza sauce, mushrooms, sweet italian chicken sausage, greenish/yellowish peppers {i have no idea what that pepper is... sidestory: sam brought home a HUGE box of peppers that a co-worker gave him.  and he got them from some farm stand in yakima.  i know, it's random}, & cheese.  pretty basic.  but i do love me a sausage & mushroom pizza... so, so much.

it was freaking delicious.  and the amount of flour that i got all over myself while rolling out the dough made me feel super domestic & i looked totally legit.  so i will probably never attempt to make my own dough as long as i live.  you had me at $1.29, trader joe's.

so this is now becoming a regular thing.  and i need suggestions for topping combos to keep the fellas on their toes.  i really wanna try a chicken sausage/ricotta cheese pizza.  and i might just lick the ricotta off the top of the pizza... that's allowed when you made it, right?

send me your pizza expertise people!

this pizza was parker approved.  you can tell because if you look really close, you can see the sauce he's saving for later above his lip.  and maybe all over his shirt too.

votes are also parker approved.  always.

cookies, cameras, & steppin' out saturday {on sunday}

it's been a great weekend.  it started off with a bang on friday night with a late night dq blizzard run in our jammies {go crazy!}, followed by a lazy saturday morning, then a two year old's birthday party {happy birthday kaylee!}, and then some good family time the rest of saturday {read: naps, grocery shopping, & dexter marathon}.  good times.

i also made a batch of my favorite this-time-of-year cookie, pumpkin chocolate chip.  seriously theeee best fall-ish treat.  maybe this is the third batch i've made in two weeks.  maybe.

i think everyone should make these cookies, because they are to. die. for.   they're actually yummier the day after you make them, because the chocolate chips get all hard & the cookie is still super soft & moisty.  yum. 

pumpkin chocolate-chip cookies

ingredients:
1/2 cup butter                                 2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cup sugar                               1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg                                               1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp vanilla                                    1 tsp. salt
1 cup pureed pumpkin                    1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup chocolate chips                     1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

directions:
1.  combine butter, sugar, egg, vanilla & mix well {i use a mixer, but i'm sure it could be done by hand}
2.  in a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, & cinnamon.  sift.
3.  add half the dry ingredients to butters & sugar.  mix.  now add half the pumpkin. mix.  repeat with the remainders.
4.  mix in chocolate chips.
5.  eat globs of cookie dough.
6.  drop onto cookie sheets in 1" balls.
7.  bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. {mine never take a second over 10 minutes to bake, but i have a hot oven}

seriously, make these today.  you'll thank me tomorrow {because they're even better on the second day.  it's weird.}

camera update

so i've blogged once or twice {or three hundred times} about how we are saving for a new dslr & how i've been shopping around to see what one to buy.  i thought i had it pinned down to the new nikon d7000 with a kit lens & a 50 mm, but i don't know anymore.  and i'm starting to get overwhelmed by all the options. i think i've changed my mind to a canon, too.  but now i don't know what body/lens combo to go for.

so i need some advice!  what camera do you have?  what lenses do you have/want?  i want a moderate to serious camera with a starting budget of around $1,500.  puh-lease make your recommendations in the comments.  thanks, ya'll.

steppin' out saturday {on sunday}

we didn't do anything this weekend that required dressing up, so this week's steppin' out comes at ya post-church today.  isn't this picture lovely?  parker has taken to shoving my hair in his mouth every chance he gets.  it's gross.

parker

collared button-up shirt - kenneth cole {hand-me down}

navy dress pants - baby gap

shoes - old navy

amy

shirt, tank, skirt, & necklace - american eagle

sweater - target

boots - macy's

to see other what other mamas wore this weekend, hop on over to harper's happenings & check out some other blogs & their hawt mamas.  or better yet, link up your own!  it's fun.  

and with that, it's time for me to go join my little family out in the living room.  we've taken to watching the seasons of arrested development from beginning to end for the ten millionth time.  that show is like, milk-out-your-nose funny every single time.  i never get sick of it & it never fails.  suriously.

your votes never fail to make me happy! just forty more & we're in the top ten. woah.