Finally.....Autumn

Not that I don't love summer....I do.....it's just that the desert summers can seem sooooo  long! So today, at least on the calendar, it's official. Fall is here. The weather is even cooperating a little, providing us with some deliciously cooler mornings!  So let's get this party started with a video of one of my favorite singers, Diana Krall and some gorgeous autumn foilage.  Enjoy!

Dynamite Autumn Combo Cookie..Peanut Butter and M & M's !n

Since I've had quite a few requests for the big cookies recipe I mentioned here in my Autumn Meal post I thought I'd share them finally.  On a recent Facebook post  I said I was "Autumnizing" my house....making it look and smell like Autumn on the INSIDE even though the temps were still over 100 on the OUTSIDE! It does take some creativity and quite a bit of imagination but it is worth it. This time of year goes by so fast, and as one of my friends pointed out, it will be Christmas (and 2012) before we know it! It's amazing how quickly  time seems to pass....especially once we get into this last part of the year. 

So I took the time late this afternoon to make these cookies just because I felt like it....and nothing can make a home smell better than the smell of cookies in the oven.   Like most good cookie recipes these take very little time....don't you love that about cookies? This is a conglomeration of recipes I've seen over the years that I've tweaked to just the way I like it.....but it's very forgiving and can be played with even more. Gotta warn you though, this version is pretty darn good! Make a batch or two and see if you don't get some instant love going on at your house.

Monster M&M Peanut Butter Cookies

 

Ingredients:

 

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

 1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1 cup peanut butter (crunchy preferred but smooth is fine)

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 eggs (beaten)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups M&M's (divided)

Step #1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the baking soda, baking powder, and salt with the flour.......sifting it all together is a great way to do this......in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Combine the next ingredients in the mixing bowl of your stand mixer, or in the bowl you use for mixing with your hand-held mixer.



Step #2: Using your electric mixer (or it can be done by hand) beat the butter, shortening, and the peanut butter until nice and smooth. Add white sugar and brown sugar and beat until well blended.



Step #3: Add the eggs one at a time....mix a little between each addition....then mix in vanilla.


Step #4: Add the flour 1/2 cup at a time mixing each time until well blended.


Step #5: Fold 3/4 cup of the M&M's into the batter, distributing it as evenly as possible.


Step #6: For really big cookies, scoop out dough using a heaping Tablespoon measure and drop balls onto a cookie sheet. Or actually use a bigger measure to make gigantic ones if you like. Be aware that if you use the Tablespoon measure you should only bake 6 or 8 cookies at a time so they will not run into each other.....even fewer if making the super large ones. If you use a teaspoon measure you can bake a dozen at a time as in most recipes. With a fork dipped in granulated sugar,  flatten each ball slightly making a criss-cross pattern on each.



Step #7: Top each batch of unbaked cookies with remaining M&Ms. Bake in the oven about 9-10 minutes for chewy cookies or 11-12 minutes for crispy. After letting them sit for a minute or two remove the cookies from the baking pan with a spatula. Let cool on rack.



HINT: As with all cookies take them out of the oven right before they look done to you. They will continue to bake for a short time after they are removed! Experiment with each cookie recipe you bake to get them just the way you and your family likes them!
 
 


 



 
 

Today I'm linking to these fabulous sites:

Foodie Friday @ Designs by Gollum
It's a Keeper Thursday 

Fall Festival

Stalk Hop Friday
What's on the Menu Monday @ Stonegable
Mouthwater Monday @ A Southern Daydreamer
Weeklong Blog Hop @ Homemaker by Choice
Domestically Divine Tuesday @ Far Above Rubies

   
  

Jack is Back!

This was my very first post, all about Jack the Scarecrow.....today I'm linking with

Sunday Favorites where we post past favorites thanks to Cheri at Happy to Design .

Jack is still special around our house......hope you enjoy reading about him.

It's always kind of sad, but after sitting on our porch swing from October 1st until Thanksgiving, our family scarecrow Jack has to return to the attic for another 9 months of relaxation. Actually we aren't always sure what he does up there all year when we're not watching. The two youngest ones in our family, the two 5 year olds, are pretty sure he can talk......and they're convinced they've seen him move.

I made him when my youngest son Christopher was in Kindergarten ( and he's 19 now!) So Jack has been in the family for awhile now.

He loves to travel around town........over the years he's been to parties, hayrides, and presided over Harvest Carnivals. He's had his picture taken with young and old. He's quite a social fellow.....never met anyone he didn't like.....or anyone who didn't like him. If he had a Facebook page he'd be the guy with all the friends!

While there's a video tape floating around somewhere of him dancing with several lovely young ladies here in Phoenix, his favorite date has always been my Mom. Here they are a few years back at a church party. He was her constant companion on a 1998 hayride when she was trying to ignore the unwanted attentions of a much older gentleman who shall remain nameless. He finally got the hint.....Jack had saved the day. He's really quite the ladies man.

But at heart he's a real family guy.......here he is with grandaughters Kylie, Kenedee, and Christian last year.

This year, just like every other year, nobody wants to say goodbye.........a quick kiss from the aforementioned 5 year olds........grandaughters Fiona and Kenedee. Love ya, Jack.

The Perfect Fall Cookie

We recently spent a few days in Camarillo, California celebrating my Mother's birthday. I wanted to share a few photos of my sister Joan's home while it is decorated for Fall. We felt like we were staying at a charming Bed and Breakfast. I also wanted to share her recipe for a delicious cookie she baked for us while we were there.....Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies. This is a little table she has set up in her kitchen......the basket there is holding the leftover biscuits we had that morning for breakfast with our sausage gravy and eggs......see what I mean about that Bed and Breakfast?

Pilgrims on the table...........

Beautiful tabletop vignette in the diningroom...........

Some of you will recognize her Jack Vettriano painting of the dancers on the beach........by the way it rained every day we were there........which was fine with us........very cozy

Here's a little proof that Autumn has indeed arrived........even in Southern California......a few falling leaves

And finally here's the cookie recipe.....there were a few left so she sent them with us when we left town........driving in the rain, cups of hot Starbucks coffee in hand......perfect ending to a great trip!

Joan's Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup of vegetable shortening

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

2 eggs

2 Tbsp milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 cups oatmeal ( not instant)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Blend shortening and sugars together gradually. Add eggs, milk, vanilla, and beat well. Add flour, baking soda, salt and beat well. Stir in oats, chocolate chips, and walnuts.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet placing them about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes depending on your oven and how chewy you want them.

Cool on wire rack or flat surface (they can easily break if not laying flat)

Makes about 42 cookies.

Enjoy!

Phoenix Hailstorm

As promised I'm finally posting pictures of the storm that hit us here in the desert three weeks ago. I thought it particularly appropriate for an "Outdoor Wednesday" post since it hardly ever looks this way here in Phoenix! No, this is not snow, it is hail.

My son Christopher, who is admittedly known to be rather dramatic, immediately rushed outside. Of course he wasn't the only one.....only one of many who reacted this way here in Phoenix......we all act kind of crazy when we get any change in the weather.....clouds, any kind of rain, the rare snowflake, and particularly something like this!

In our part of town, thankfully, it was all fun and no property damage.

Our Golden Retriever Patrick wouldn't dare venture out in it......he just stood at the door and looked out......until he found out it was ICE falling from the sky. Ice just happens to be one of his favorite treats.....really.....better than Milk Bones even! So he did stick his head out the door and eat all the hail that had fallen on the front doormat.

Keep in mind that we were still having three digit temperatures that first week in October!

The temps did drop a full 20 degrees pretty quickly that afternoon, but of course it all melted pretty quickly too......but we had our own white wonderland for a little while. That's exciting stuff around here.

We thought it was an especially enjoyable and cozy way to start off our Fall season.....too bad the firewood had gotten wet or I do believe I would have started up a fire in the fireplace :)

Till Friday when I share my sister Joan's special recipe for "Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies" ,

Enjoying the Season

Don't you think Sunflowers are the epitome of a Fall day.....I do. I've never grown them in my garden though I've always planned to......just like I've always planned to grow pumpkins. Hasn't happened yet (go here for my pumpkin excuse post). Anyway, I enjoy these flowers wherever I find them.

There was an abundance of Sunflowers at the Pumpkin Farm we went to last weekend. Thats where I snapped the shot of the gorgeous flower above. Look closely and you'll see the bumble bee enjoying it too.

And of course there were those "specially picked out pumpkins" to take home. Hope you're enjoying this Autumn Season as much as I am. If not, what are you waiting for? It's everywhere you look and it won't be here for long.....be sure to enjoy it while you can.

I'm linking with Today's Flowers.....please drop by their site for more flowers!
And be sure to drop by Mellow Yellow Monday too!

Quick Autumn Breakfast

It's beginning to seem like Fall even here in the desert. Perhaps next Wednesday I'll post some "Outdoor Wednesday" pics of the big hailstorm we had this week.....quite an event for Phoenix. In any case, the quick drop from three-digit temp days to days in the 70's and 80's has made everyone around here positively giddy!

Yesterday we had to leave town yet again on business, but before we did I managed to throw together a quick autumn-type breakfast.....one we don't usually have in the summer.....couldn't get any simpler......oatmeal! The trick this time of year is to set the table for Fall and serve the humble bowls of oatmeal with raisins, brown sugar, and a little Half and Half.

It's hard to find a quicker, cozier, or more delicious little breakfast.

   Used my "apple" napkins that I've had for who knows how many years now.....only use them in Autumn so they've stayed in pretty good shape.....just worn enough to be comfortable.

 


  We usually have orange juice with almost any breakfast so I used some little wildlife themed juice glasses that I don't use very often (can't wash them in the dishwasher so I have to be a little more careful with them)

The key to this breakfast, like I said, is the brown sugar, raisins, and Half and Half. The small milk pitcher I picked up at Crate and Barrel Outlet a few years ago, the amber sugar dish is the perfect color for a fall tablescape, and the the white raisin dish is just one of many little inexpensive white dishes I collect......they work for so many things.

Quick, Easy, Delicious......aren't we glad Autumn is here?

  Today I'm linking to Tablescape Thursday, Foodie Friday,

Just a Little Autumn......For Now

Sure, the calendar says it's Fall......but most of us here in the West are not convinced just yet. With three-digit temperatures still around we're really having to use our imaginations! But it's almost October.....you have to do SOMETHING..... right?......or at least I do. My solution has been to place a very simple arrangement of dried hydrangeas on my dining room table. I used a basket I already had, filled them with the flowers I picked from my father-in-law's yard a few weeks ago and have simply let dry. Now they're just the perfect gorgeous autumn colors.

Here I've used a table runner

Here's the arrangement from a different angle, using no table runner. I tend to like things a little more on the simple side so I'm really liking it on the bare black wood of the table top.

BUT.......

the trouble is I like them both ways. I'll probably go back and forth with it for the rest of the season.......I love to putter around with things in the house. For now I'm loving my little touch of Fall, and since we have to be away on a business trip for the rest of the week, we'll have this to greet us when we get back home on Monday. They'll look as lovely then as they did yesterday when I first placed them there. Even if the weather still isn't cooperating we'll have our own little piece of Autumn when we walk in the door.

Enjoying the little things,

Rice Krispy Turkeys

Don't these turkeys look like so much fun?

I ran across a great website this morning that I thought would be fun to share with everyone. On it there is an unbelievable amount of information for every holiday imaginable. Of course right now they're featuring projects for Autumn and Thanksgiving. By the way, do you realize that three weeks from today and Thanksgiving will be over? Yikes! There's still time to plan, but not much! Be sure to check out this site for some really fun things to do with your children or grandchildren.........and for complete recipe and instructions for the Rice Krispy Turkeys go on over to Alpha Mom.

Have fun!

Today I'm linked with these great sites.....but sure to drop by!

September Walk

.…"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

~John Muir~

There's a lovely walking path directly in front of our home. A walk there anytime of day is beautiful but I particularly love ones taken in the early morning.

Desert Yellow Bells are blooming profusely this time of year........and they seem to thrive in our continuing 100 degree plus heat........

Though the temperatures this weekend continue to soar on the desert floor, we seem to have some beautiful Autumn colors going on here.......there's always something to be grateful for....... :)

This is the stunning Mexican Bird of Paradise......it will bloom like this until our first frosty night........which may or may not come in late December.

Enjoy your week.

And be sure to take that walk......

Today I'm linked with Spiritual Sundays, That's My World Tuesday,

Today's Flowers, Outdoor Wednesday,

and Sunday's in my City. Be sure to check them all out.