Jumbo Jack-o-Lantern Cookies

**Disclaimer** This is not a light recipe...although I did use "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" margarine sticks instead of real butter...and it turned out just fine.

Also - the pictures are taken with my phone, and aren't the best - but I promise I didn't burn the cookies!

At the church I work for there is a children's choir.  Every Tuesday the choir gets together for snack (it's right after school), singing, and games.  This quarter, my own classes have unfortunately fallen on Tuesdays and so I can't be there to practice with them....However, I still take turns providing the snacks, and it's my turn for this week.

So, I made these Jumbo Jack-O-Lantern cookies...it was my first try and I think they turned out very well.  They taste something like a combination of chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin bread - both great  flavors and combine well.

Here's the recipe: This was originally taken (I believe) a couple years ago from a Taste of Home magazine. I have had it in my recipe file but haven't gotten around to trying these until now....

Ingredients:
1 c. butter softened (I used margarine, worked well)
1 c. sugar
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 c. quick-cooking oats (I only had about 3/4 cup, so I added an extra 1/4 cup of flour, and it worked just fine)
1 tsp. B.S. (Baking Soda, I think I'll abbreviate this way from now on)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. canned pumpkin (Now I have extra canned pumpkin, any ideas what I can do with it - besides pie?)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Frosting (I used a basic buttercream for the green and store-bought black (because how do you make black frosting!?), but you can do whatever you want)
-The original recipe used orange frosting, but I found it hard to see on the cookies, and used black for a more traditional jack-o-lantern look.

Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugars.  Add egg and vanilla.
2. Combine flour, oats, B.S., Cinnamon & salt, add to the creamed mixture - alternating with pumpkin.
3. Stir in chocolate chips
4). Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto foil-lined cookie sheets.
-Spread the cookies out into oval (pumpkin) shapes, and add an extra teaspoon of dough at the top for a stem.
5). Bake at 350 for 16-19 minutes.  Let sit until removable and cool on a rack (if you don't have one, paper towels work great - that's what I do)
6). Frost the "stems" with green frosting and create faces with the black!

These are fun and festive cookies - even coming from someone who's not big into Halloween, I bet the kids will love them!

By the way - these cookies are very large!

Light Pasta Carbonara

Well friends, as is typical of me when I'm in the midst of a quarter, I don't have much time to blog...however, in those *rare* moments of procrastination I still visit this site and contemplate whether I have enough news-worthy to share.  I do have a couple belated happenings recently that I should write about, but I'm feeling uninspired.  As I currently struggle with an assignment for my Teaching Science Methods class, I decided to start sharing some of the cooking I've been doing recently....I don't have pictures of these first few, but perhaps I'll start taking them in the future....

As many of you know, in the past couple years I've tried to really tweak (tweek?) my lifestyle to make it more healthy.  A large part of that for me has been changing what I eat...I've discovered a love of cooking and playing with recipes to try and make them "lighter".  However, I also love to bake...my downfall.  These days I mostly bake for different events, or for friends, so as to be a blessing to others - and prevent myself from eating them all!

Most of these recipes will be ones I've taken from magazines and simply changed a bit...I don't expect a movie deal out of it (...Julie/Julia reference, in case you're confused) but there might be some of you out there looking for lighter recipes, and for that reason, I'll share...

The first is Pasta Carbonara - a traditionally highly fattening dish - made of pasta, cheese, bacon/prosciutto, and egg.  Now, I must admit, I've never had the real thing, so my version probably pales in comparison, but for a lightened up version of comfort food pasta, I thought it was pretty good! I got a recipe from a website that I can't seem to find at the moment....and changed it a bit, so here's my version...

Ingredients:
Water (for boiling pasta)
about 4 ounces of whole wheat linguine (or you could use spaghetti I s'pose)
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (The original recipe had 2, but 1 is plenty, even though it doesn't look it initially)
2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
5-6 slices turkey bacon (turkey bacon has 65% less fat than pork bacon, and although traditional pasta carbonara calls for prosciutto, turkey bacon allows for that same salty taste without all the fat)
3/4 c. frozen peas (thawed)
1/4 c. white wine (I used cooking wine, but I'm sure real wine would be better)
2 large eggs
1/4 c. Parmesan Cheese (more if desired)
Black Pepper (to taste)

1). Boil water, add pasta.  Most whole-wheat pastas cook for 6-8 minutes, read the box.
2). Pour EVOO in medium skillet over medium heat.
3). Add bacon and garlic, cook, stirring frequently, until bacon begins to crisp (adjust heat so garlic doesn't get dark, but lightly browns)
4). Add the peas and reduce heat, or remove pan from heat momentarily.
5). In separate large bowl (yes, large, you'll be adding the rest of the ingredients later) whisk the eggs with the parmesan and pepper.
6). Add the white wine to the skillet, and then the pasta (after draining it, obviously). Increase heat to medium-high.
7). After pasta is heated, remove and discard garlic.
8). Add skillet contents to large bowl with egg/parm/pepper mixture.
9). Fold together well to cook the eggs.

Enjoy!

P.S. Leftovers are decent, although the consistency is hard to recreate.  They ended up begin rather clumped noodles when reheated.

Roar!

This Sunday, I taught my K-1st grade Sunday school class the story of...Daniel in the Lion's Den. A SS classic, it's true. In an effort to jazz it up a bit, we made Lion Cookies! Although they didn't quite turn out as well (looking as much like lions) as the perfectionist in me wanted, they were still pretty darn cute. I even managed to snag a couple pictures with my phone....

The kids got to frost and decorate the cookies...then they were very torn as to whether or not they should eat them!

Awkward Side Effect to Breast Cancer Awareness Month...

Conversation I had with one of the first grade boys yesterday:

B: "Miss H. what's a breast?"
Me: *stares at this boy for a full minute that felt like forever* "Uhmmmm, where did you hear that buddy?
B: "On the radio they said it was breast wariness month."
Me: "Ohhh....Well.....*long pause, scan brain for politically correct answer* It's a part of the body. You should probably talk to Mommy more about that, ok?"

Fortunately he was satisfied with this answer. That being said, I was not expecting that question and upon further reflection I think I should have gone with a "chicken breast" explanation. However, in the moment, I did my best.

Yikes!

Duh!

Yesterday, TUMC (the church I work for) hosted an all-church picnic. First of all, can I just say that picnics with old people are never a good idea? The potluck food was a disgusting mix of bean concoctions and mayonnaise-based noodle salads...all of which looked quite repulsive. Second of all, I was in charge of the "games". Well, I don't know if you know this - but old people HATE having fun! That is correct. I set up the games and got all ready...and not a single person would even entertain the thought. They preferred to sit, complain about their aches and pain, and glom more mayonnaise onto their waistlines....

Needless to say, I eventually gave up on getting any real games going and just played frisbee with the kids. We also fed some bread to the ducks and of course, played on the swingset and monkey bars.

While feeding the ducks, I asked my friend Jonah, who is 5 years old, why one of the ducks was white, even though the rest were brown? He said, "Because God painted him white, of course!"

Silly me...I should have known!

His sister and I named the duck Rapunzel...Jonah renamed it Bob the Builder....either way, that duck was the most popular and is probably stuffed with enough bread balls to last it a week.

Roots Rock!

Well folks, it's true - I am now 25 years old...a true quarter of a century. How did I celebrate my day of birth you ask? I enjoyed a lovely Thai food dinner and cake with my family on Saturday...and then woke up with the sun early early on Sunday morning to run the Roots Rock half-marathon in Port Gamble, WA. Although I was hesistant going into the half-marathon (it's only my second one ever!), I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was my first ever trail run (instead of pavement) and it was so much fun. I was able to run the entire race (last time my dad and I walked a large portion of it). I even passed quite a few people! All in all, it was an incredible experience - I definitely understand the concept of a "runner's high". I hope to keep up my running practice, although it will be difficult with winter coming and the craziness of classes and work...but I'll do my best!

On another note, I had a list of things that I wanted to accomplish by my 25th birthday. Unfortunately, a lot of them required money or a partner to do them with, and as I am currently money-less and partner-less...they did not get accomplished. So instead, I'm adding them to my list of things to DO in my year as a 25 year old...I plan to continue adding to the list and see what I get done before 26.

The one large thing that was on my list that I did accomplish was paying off all my undergraduate student loans...that was huge, and I'm so glad I did it. (Don't even get my started thinking about grad school loans...).

So far, here's my list for this upcoming year:
Skydiving
Being able to do a real pushup (guy pushup) consistently...I have no arm strength!
Shoot a gun
Get a bike
Finish reading the LOTR books (and eventually watch the movies)
Write my book

*there are more, but I can't remember them now! I'll add to this list as they come to me...*

Bears, oh my!

In keeping with the hiking theme, I have another adventure to share. Last week, my dad and I decided to take on a hike that we had done as a backpacking trip when I was a kid...(I was probably 11 or 12?). We did it a couple summers in a row actually. From what we remembered, it's a gorgeous hike in (all downhill) and a grueling hike out...uphill. However, we decided it was worth a shot.

Starting near the trailhead, there was snow!
Plenty of it. Apparently the snow is a little slow to melt this year...seeing as how it's August and it's still here! We crossed a few slippery snow fields before heading down into the valley - headed to Grand Lake. We were lucky enough to see a grouse, a few marmots, a 4-point buck, and of course plenty of birds and chipmunks.

After lunching at Grand Lake, we decided to trek up a little farther to Moose Lake (only about half a mile beyond Grand Lake). Moose Lake is also beautiful and was so quiet and peaceful. We wandered around the lake for a bit until my dad grabbed my arm and pointed across the lake - a black bear! There she was just hanging out by the water's edge. We stood mesmerized and watched her (I named her Georgina) for a good long while until suddenly, her cub came bounding out of the woods! With that she turned and headed back into the trees. Needless to say, it was an incredible experience...and made the uphill trek out totally worth it!