Every year around October (right before Halloween) I keep up a tradition I've had for a while - to make a new pumpkin cookie. It's been a fun journey and a delicious one I might add! I've made soft ones, hard ones, crunchy ones and yucky ones. And this year I made pumpkin cookies that tasted more like a cake (score!!). And the batter???? Oh my goodness the batter.... I could have just eaten it all. 

cookies

2 3/4 c flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp coarse salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/4 tsp ground ginger

3/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2 1/4 c packed light-brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 c canned solid-pack pumpkin (14 ounces)

3/4 c evaporated milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.

Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, and vanilla; mix until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture; mix until combined.

Transfer 1 1/2 cups batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip. Pipe 1 1/2-inch rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until tops spring back, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely.

^ brown butter icing where have you been all my life??? ^

frosting

4 c confectioners' sugar, sifted

10 tbsp (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter

1/4 c plus 1 tbsp evaporated milk

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Put confectioners' sugar in a large bowl; set aside. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling pan occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes (mine took much longer to brown, more like 8 minutes). Immediately add butter to confectioners' sugar, scraping any browned bits from sides and bottom of pan. Add evaporated milk and vanilla; stir until smooth. Spread about 1 teaspoon icing onto each cookie. If icing stiffens, stir in more evaporated milk, a little at a time.

recipe from Martha Stewart

Usually we have some sort of plans for the weekend. We'll dream them up on monday afternoon when we're exhausted and longing for the weekend that we enjoyed a mere day ago. But this weekend we left our plan book blank. I think it was all the running around of the past week and missing just being home. We lounged around in bed saturday morning and eventually dragged ourselves out of the house just in time to pick up some necessities from the farmer's market. We decided to take a walk around town after and were surprised to discover a delicious new Cuban burger joint! It's definitely a keeper and Birdie was a fan of the lettuce and the rice and beans. 

Then on Sunday I woke up and decided that I was done lounging around and was up for something fun. I thought and thought and finally decided that we should head up to Skyline Drive, to catch the foliage and have a little picnic. This wouldn't be first time I've made such proclamations so I've made sure that our picnic basket is always stocked with plates, cups, napkins, silverware and a tablecloth, this way we only need to grab snacks and we're ready to go in a matter of minutes. On the way there I remembered these lovely outdoor fireplaces they had at the park and thought - hot dogs!! So we made a quick stop at the grocery store and continued on our merry way. 

Skyline Drive was absolutely packed! It wasn't surprising since the foliage is at it's peak and it was such a gorgeous day. We picked up some wood at the main picnic area where people were picnicking side by side like sardines - not really my idea of fun. I've never understood that really. What is the point of going to a "national park" looking for nature only to end up in a giant parking lot eating side by side the same way you would at an outdoor bbq restaurant?? So we kept driving. I knew I would find my little "spot" sooner or later. And lo and behold we did! It's such a lucky find really, it's the only spot of it's kind in the entire park. It's this covered patio with four fireplaces flanked by picnic tables. Considering how windy it was it was a much better place to attempt to start a fire. I walked over there with Birdie and the family using one of the other fireplaces immediately invited me to warm up by their fire. They turned out to be the sweetest people ever as when they saw our pathetic attempts at making a fire they brought us a log from their own and helped us scoop up leaves and dry pine needles to create one of the best fires I've ever seen! Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers!

With our fire roaring we wrapped ourselves in blankets and watched our hot dogs roast. It was perfectly cozy and the scent of burning wood enveloped us and the coals were toasting our frigid feet. Birdie gnawed on a hot dog bun happily and papa bear and I just soaked it all in and sunk deeper and deeper into our chairs. 

It started to near sunset and Birdie was fussing so it was finally time to pack up. We had become so relaxed by that point we could barely move and the heat from the fire had left us feeling fuzzy and drowsy. The drive back down was spectacular as the entire forest was lit up in red by the setting sun. We weren't even all the way down before Birdie fell asleep and so the whole drive home papa bear and I just talked and talked and talked. As we drove up our dirt road papa bear turned to me and said "thanks for being spontaneous, I had the best day." 

Here's to having no plans and a ready picnic basket!

^ this is my table, overflowing with autumn goodness ^

Sometimes I physically can't imagine moving away from here. From the valley, from our home. I drove home on tuesday by myself (papa bear stayed behind in DC to teach). I took a back road we recently discovered for half of the drive and it was just what I needed. There's nothing like a long drive with some good music to soothe your tired soul. Birdie was fast asleep in the backseat, my shuffle was picking the most perfect songs like - Sera Cahoone's "Naked" and Rufus Wainwright's "Oh What A World" and the hills and cattle where whirring by my window. It was overcast and the sky was a moody shade of beige. I could feel the cold even in the cozy cocoon of our car and the valley looked strangely verdant for late October. I weaved through the tiny two lane road all the way up to our road, when the pavement gave way to rocks and dirt. 

The sun was starting to set as we pulled into our driveway bathed in leaves. A bittersweet feeling came over me when I saw the fresh layer of leaves on the deck that I had just spent half an hour sweeping mere days ago. But... MORE LEAVES!! I hurried inside with Birdie and plopped her in her crib, hat and coat and all, with some toys while I ran around turning on the floor board heaters to warm our frigid house. Whenever we're gone for over two days, especially in the winter, the cabin acquires a strange scent it's had long before we ever moved in. In a way it's rather moldy and gross but on the other hand it reminds me of moving in and joy of making this home our own. It's a not-so-subtle reminder of all the hard work that went into this place and a reminder to cherish it. 

I then unloaded the car, lit some candles and Birdie's babbling provided some entertainment while I unpacked our groceries and bags. As the floors began to warm and the aroma of pumpkins wafted from the candles I once again felt that easy peaceful feeling I get from being home. 

I'm a strange little person, I crave adventure and change, but in the same breath I'll tell you that I adore routine and calm. I suppose perhaps we all need a healthy mix of both? And after days of "journeying" it's nice to come back down to mother earth and bask in the goodness that is your own bed, a favorite record whirring in the player and a cup of coffee in your mug.