I Met the Monster

Each year at Christmas I strive to make a goodly number of Christmas cookies. I have a great selection of recipes that meet with approval from all of the family and friends. One of my particular favorites is the Peanut Blossoms. I'm sure all of you have had those at one time or another. The basic cookie is a peanut butter cookie that has a Hershey Kiss pressed into the middle of it. So good! It seems a shame to only make those at Christmas so, a number of years ago, I decided to make it a Holloween cookie also. I buy those Braach Mellocreme Pumpkins, (similar to candy corn) and a few minutes before the cookies are done I press a pumpkin into the middle of the cookie.Voila! Holloween Cookies!

Some years I have a hard time finding the pumpkin candy but this year I lucked out and bought a bag of them. I occasionally have a few of my great-grand goblins drop in to visit, so I made up a batch of cookies yesterday so I would be prepared for visitors, having been involved with the Boy Scouts for so many years, I like to be prepared.

Oh, the aroma of those cookies wafting through the house was delightful! I could hardly wait for the first batch to come out of the oven! I took one sheet out and put the second sheet in before I put the cookies on the rack to cool. I thought I should try one to see that it was up to standard. It was pretty hot, I had to pass it from one hand to the other to help it cool down, and to save my tongue from cookie burn, I finally got it to my mouth! It was as good as I remembered from years past. The pumpkin candy softens just a tad and the taste blends in with the peanutty taste of the cookie. Oh,my! Sheer delight!

By this time it was time to press the pumpkins into the second sheet of cookies and in just two minutes, time to remove them from the oven. In the past I've had one trey of cookies not be quite as good as the first, so I needed to eat a test cookie and compare it with the first one. It did seem to measure up. One of the cookies was slightly smaller than the others so I felt I should eat it to avoid comparison.

My neighbors were in their back yard doing some yard work so I bagged four cookies to take out to them. JoAnne said she was going to eat her two before Jay saw them because otherwise she might only get one! I understand perfectly. I suggested she go ahead and eat three of them.

During dinner I was pleased to know that I had dessert to look forward to. I must admit I got a little carried away. In an effort to make the milk and cookies come out even, I had to eat six cookies! I know you'll understand because you have probably been confronted with that problem also, at sometime in your life.

After eating my totally healthful breakfast of oatmeal and walnuts this morning, I ate two cookies to polish off my meal. Shortly thereafter, I did the math. I started out with 40 cookies, I gave four to the neighbors, ate two test cookies,or was it three? (I had to do that!) six for dessert and two for breakfast, the number of cookies remaining is dwindling!

If the great-grand goblins don't get here in the next day or so I may have to eat the rest of the cookies at one sitting to get rid of them so they won't tempt me anymore!! I've had to do that in the past with boxes of chocolates and ice cream and chocolate pie.. It is a sure way to avoid temptation. I'm hoping for a happy ending. Maybe I'll end up joining Cookies Anonymous!

I have met the Cookie Monster and it is ME! Caio

Do you want the recipe?

Fall

It is such a beautiful day,that I decided I would go outside and cut down some of the wild trees and vines that are growing in my flower garden. Some of the growth is growing taller than I, time to trim. I filled two trash cans with cuttings. I was so exhausted by all of that activity that I decided to quit even though more work needs to be done. Conditions have not been just right for sitting on the deck with my book and a glass of wine lately but today was perfect for that. Not too hot, not windy, not chilly; it was delightful. I have an umbrella/table on the deck that I put my shamrocks, my large ceramic hippo and ceramic cat and other small plants on. Last Mother's Day I went to breakfast at the Bonnycastle Club with Karen and Paul and I received a small chrysanthemum that was a table decoration, I have nurtured it and watered it and even transplanted it to a larger pot. It has florished and is full of buds that I am anxious to see bloom. Well, you guessed it! my arch enemy,the squirrel, attacked it over night. Grrrr! He thinks my table is a snack bar! I have put the severed stems in a glass of water, hoping they will survive but I am still mad at the little beast for killing all my tomatoes and now this! Does he have some sort of vendetta against me?

I calmed down, sat down at the deck table and read my book and drank my wine. 'The leaves of brown came tumbling down' all around me and I was finally at peace! I'll keep a close watch on my crippled mums and hope for the best. The birds were all at my feeders, a bright red Cardinal and many smaller birds. Sitting on the ground near the holly tree was a Robin! I think we are going to have a heavy winter because there are so many acorns around. We'll see. Happy Fall. Ciao