Remembering

A little pumpkin fun in memory of a wonderful man who passed away a few weeks ago. 

Oh Beautiful Vermont

Although it was raining most of the time that we were in Vermont, when the sun came out, it was gorgeous! Sunlight is one thing I take for granted in DC because it is almost always sunny. In Vermont, that is a different story. Sunlight always makes me happy in that state.

The fall colors are another thing I appreciate in Vermont, and they were pretty spectacular this past weekend. I managed to snap a few shots during our mini-trip and can't help but keep peeking at them every now and then, wishing I was back up there seeing them in person. 

Oh. And balloons! There were even hot-air balloons floating by!

Vermont Tourist

Two weekends ago we had a great friend visit us from DC. It was a weekend full of food, mucho site seeing, and great memories. Vermont was a little late with the colors this fall, but when they came they were beautiful. Unfortunately, she only got to catch only a little bit of their magnificence at the end of her trip.

Day one consisted of a ride through the mountains as we made our way toward Bristol. We had a delicious meal at a Taste of India in Middlebury before heading home for the night. 

Day two consisted of a visit to the new my little cupcake bakery in Burlington, some time on the waterfront, and then a trip to the Hackett's Apple Orchard in South Hero.

It is impossible to leave an orchard without trying an apple on the spot!

It's also impossible to leave without a fresh cider donut. Yet another reason why it's great to come to Vermont in the fall.

On Sunday we took an afternoon ride up to Stowe to see the beautiful foliage. The trees were finally starting to wake up! (well.... I suppose they're actually going into hibernation mode). 

We hit up the Cabot cheese shop and the Lake Champlain shop for free samples on the way up, and then stopped at Ben & Jerry's on the way down for a pre-dinner dessert. I must admit that I was a little bummed to see that Schweddy Balls was not on their menu. How can the most popular Ben & Jerry's scoop shop not carry this flavor? Especially when their website directs us to scoop shops to enjoy it. Has anyone else gotten their hands on a pint? You'd be my best friend if you could deliver one to me ;)

Laser Tag, Great People, and Cake

I'm not 30, but my friend is. A few weekends ago we celebrated his birthday in great fashion: an afternoon at Pizza Putt.

I practically grew up at Pizza Putt. We'd go there on Saturdays, had birthday parties there, and heck, I even got kicked out during my senior year (don't ask)! Back then there was was an 18-hole mini putting course, a batting cage, and a tiny arcade. Boy, has it changed!

Although all of us were between 24 and 30 years old, that didn't keep us away from all of the arcade games (and the prizes that came along with them), laser tag, and the bumper cars. 

We celebrated as teenagers at Pizza Putt, and went back to Matt's house to enjoy a pot-luck dinner and to  celebrate in a more "adult" fashion. Of course, no birthday party would be complete without a cake. 

This cake captures Matt in many ways: the guns, the Boston cap for the Red Sox, his awesome beard, and an NYC shirt in celebration of the NYC marathon he's running in November. The cake was a carrot cake with a cream cheese frosting. 

It was a great night, with great people, great food, and a lot of fun!

A Taste of Fall: Pumpkin Spiced Cookies

Why do I love fall? To start, I love the trail running. Nothing better than the smell of running through a forest, flying down a hill, and hearing the crinkle of leaves underneath my footsteps.

Oh yes, and leaves. They turn quite beautiful around this time of the year. 

And when all of those leaves are put together, we get this:

Or better yet, this:

After the apple picking and cider donut eating, we get the pumpkins.

And with pumpkins, we get.....

Pumpkin Spiced Cookies

Last year I fell in love with my pumpkin cookies, but I wanted something new this year. Something with chocolate. My search led me to a blog with fantastic looking pumpkin cookies. I warn you, mine didn't come anywhere close to as cute as these.

Cookies
Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon paprika

2 all purpose flour

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. Cream the butter with an electric mixer. Add the sugar and mix until creamy and fluffy, then add the pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, turmeric, and paprika. Mix the ingredients until smooth. Finally, slowly add the cups of flour to the batter until the batter is firm.
3. Flour a smooth working surface, as well as your rolling pin. Roll the dough about 1/4 thick, and then cut with cookie cutters. If you don't have any (like me), the top of a wine glass works excellent!
4. Place onto parchment-covered baking sheet and bake 9-12 minutes. The edges should be lightly brown, but be careful not to burn the cookies. Cool on a wire cooking rack before frosting

Chocolate Filling

1 cup Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips

4 tablespoons milk

1. While the cookies are baking, add ingredients to a microwave bowl and cook them in the microwave for one minute on medium power. 
2. Remove the bowl from the microwave, stir, and then place back in the microwave for 30 seconds on medium power. Repeat this process until the mixture is smooth. Be careful not to burn the chocolate.

Frosting the Cookies

1. After the cookies and chocolate filling have cooled completely, place a large amount of filling on one cookie, then cover with a second. 

My recipe made about 20 cookies, but they were small. If you make larger cookies, be sure to bake them for slightly longer. 

Taste bud feedback: I loved them. As with most desserts, they were absolutely amazing fresh out of the oven with melted chocolate and warm cookie. They're definitely a cookie you'll want to heat up in the microwave a few seconds before eating the next day. The chocolate is very noticeable when they're warm, but the next day the spices took over. My co-workers loved them, and so did Tom.