It's beginning to finally feel like fall-ish around here in the Phoenix area.

That means that the highs are starting to be in the lower 90s to 80s instead of near the 100s, and our lows in the mornings are in the 60s.

Yep. That's fall here.

So while it's not sweater weather whatsoever, it is a time to start baking the fall goodies. Because if not now, we'd have to wait until about December when it actually feels like FALL here.

These cookies were a cure to feeling SAD about the weather. And I know they'd go perfectly with some apple cider, coffee, or tea-- or beverage of your choice. They basically taste good with everything.

Everything Delicious Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1/2 C butter, softened (one stick)
- 1/2 C sugar
- 1/2 C brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 baking powder
- 1 & 1/3 C flour
- 1/3 C chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)
- 1/3 C baking Reese's Pieces
- 1/3 C caramel bits

Note: If your dough feels a bit dry, add a splash of oil: canola, olive, coconut (melted) all work! This will help the cookies not be too cake!

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 350 and prep a baking sheet with parchment paper or cooking spray. If you have two baking sheets, prep them both. This makes between 18-24 cookies.
- Blend together your butter and sugars. Add your vanilla and egg to the mix.
- Work in your dry ingredients (not the sweets just yet) until everything is well combined and there are no flour streaks or anything like that!
- Fold in your goodies: chocolate chips, reese's pieces, and caramel bits.

Note: You can just do chocolate chips to make the perfect chocolate chip cookies, or basically add anything that you would like! This is a good base cookie recipe, so I've tested & learned.

- Use a medium cookie scoop (about 2 TBSP of dough per cookie). Bake for 9-12 minutes, depending on your oven. Let cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes until the cookies have caved in. Then remove to cooling rack.


Ready? OK. Now devour them.

'Tis the season for pumpkin.

Soooooo much pumpkin.

My husband likes to remind me every fall that he's not on the "pumpkin spice fan train," but I always respond with:

What is wrong with you?

If you're like him, and you're not a HUGE fan of pumpkin but you like curry so you thought you'd check this out-- you've mad a wise decision.

Every year I stick this on our little food planner on the refrigerator at some point, every year my husband groans, and then when he comes home for dinner, he's awe-stricken.

This soup is amazing whether you're a pumpkin fan or not.

Pumpkin Curry Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:

- 1-2 T Olive Oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped (I usually use white)
- 3 C Vegetable or chicken stock
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1-2 cans of black beans, drained
- 15 oz can pumpkin puree
- 1 C heavy cream (I have used anything from coconut milk to half & half to the actual cream and all taste good to me!)
- 1 Tbsp curry
- 1.5 tsp cumin (I usually reduce this to 1 tsp of the kiddos are partaking!)
- 1/2 tsp cayenne (I usually only add this if I know the kiddos won't be eating it, but 9/10 they do.)
salt to taste
chives for garnish, if desired


Directions:

- Using a large pot, sauté the onions in the olive oil until nearly clear and oil is not visible.
- Add your broth/stock, tomatoes, black beans, and pumpkin. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and add your cream/milk and spices.
- Bring to a slow boil again before reducing heat to low. Option to serve immediately or sit, with random stirrings, as long as needed.
- Garnish with green onions (so yummy, just not pictured) and enjoy!

Let me start this by saying I am not a fan of molasses by itself.

But I am a fan of these cookies.

This being said, you don't have to be a lover of molasses to want to bake/eat/finish off these beauties. They are filled with the taste of fall, if you take my meaning, and they should be made as much as possible in the next few months. They are delicious, easy, and did I mention delicious?

Yes? OK. Good. Here you are:

Chewy Molasses Cookies

Please note that the dough needs to be refrigerated for at least 30 minutes before baking.

Ingredients:

- 3/4 C butter (12 TBSP), softened
- 1 C sugar
- 1/4 C molasses
- 1 L egg
- 2 C all-purpose, unbleached flour (I actually used King Arthur White Wheat Flour when I made these)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp (ground) cloves
- 1/2 tsp (ground) ginger
- 1/2 tsp salt (I used sea salt)

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 375 and prep your baking sheet with nonstick spray or parchment paper.
- Mix together your butter and sugar until well whipped. Add in your egg and molasses until well combined.
- Stir in your flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and salt. Make sure you clear the sides of the bowl so you get all your ingredients nicely mixed!
- Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes, until it's cold and easier to handle.
- Roll the dough into small balls (I used a small-medium cookie scooper). Fill a small bowl with sugar and roll each ball until it is completely coated! Place the cookie on the sheet and give them a little room to spread out.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until they begin to slightly crack on top.
- Cook for two minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wired rack to cool.


These are my husband's absolute favorite cookies. If you're a fan of molasses (or not), or ginger, or cinnamon, or all that goodness put together-- give them a try! Make sure to share in the comments if you make them!

I hope you all are hung over from a wonderful day of family and turkey, or whatever traditional foods you may eat! We had a rather last-minute, make-shift Thanksgiving, but it was truly wonderful.

I'm so excited for later today. A train in the area does The Polar Express experience and we're taking Michael! It's to kickstart our Christmas season officially with some amazing quality time. Michael is going to L-O-V-E it. He's been all about The Polar Express and trains in general. I can't wait to see his face!


Dear Snow, Thank you, thank you for coming to our little mountain town Wednesday! It was so wonderful to get out in the early morning and play in our PJs. Michael had such a blast, and I didn't mind so much staying out there until I couldn't feel my fingers or nose. He clearly didn't, either.

Dear Thanksgiving, You were wonderful. Sometimes I think the true reason of being thankful gets lost on people in the hustle and bustle of cooking, preparing, and all that jazz. But, I must admit, you really are in my top three favorite holidays. I'm so thankful we were able to make you extra special, regardless of surprises.

Dear December, Please crawl. CRAWL. I do not want you to come speeding up and pass us by before we are ready. Just... take your time. I love this time of year, and I'd love it even more if you took your time so I could soak you in just a little bit more.

Things to look forward to:

Gingerbread Cookies

'Tis the Season #TBT

The idea for this post came from Ashley over at The Sweet Season.

I can't believe this week is over. Seriously. It went by so quickly and without much thought that I have to connect the dots to remember our days. I've been rather tired, and we've really just been taking it easy after some let-downs and stress, so maybe that's why? Can y'all believe next week is Thanksgiving?

Like how I slipped that "y'all" in there?

Forgive the quality. iPhone pic!
Dear Michael, Bless you for being a ray of sunshine this week. Mama was not at her best, and anytime I may have let some emotions flow in the form of tears, you offered support, love, and lots of hugs and kisses. You are the sweetest little boy anyone could hope for, and I'm so thankful I helped bring you into this world.

Dear Weather, You may think it's too early, but I want snow. As much snow as you can give us before Christmas would be greatly appreciated. There is the possibility that I won't be seeing much of it soon, and I want us to get to enjoy it as much as possible.

Dear Scrooges, It is never too early for Christmas. I used to be of the mindset that it all had to wait until after Thanksgiving, but every year I find myself more and more excited for the season, and remind myself that every day is Christmas because I have Christ in my heart. So those of you who don't like the decorations going up and the music already playing, please keep your BAH HUMBUGS to yourself... and remember I still love you, regardless.

P.S. There are things to look forward to this upcoming week, I'm just photo-less at the moment! Except a yummy recipe, a guest post, and a special thankful thursday for Thanksgiving!




Don't you wish we could all be as happy as Michael? He's saying, "I'm singing!"

The idea for this post came from Ashley over at The Sweet Season.

I've had a hard time really putting this post together. Possibly because I am overwhelmed by how blessed I am when it comes to my little family.


My husband, Clark, continues to amaze me as he rises to new challenges. These challenges can be anything from a broken toilet to stress with his job. He always puts Michael and me first, and only stops to think of himself after he knows we are taken care of. It is his most admirable trait. He is our provider and caretaker, and I have no idea what we would do without him. I was blessed to find him at the ripe age of 18 and only continue to love him more each day.


We were blessed with Michael in 2011 and life has not been the same since. I don't know if Clark and I truly knew what the word "family" meant as a unit (when it came to us) until Michael came along. Now we are continually learning to put our little family first, everyone else second. Michael fueled that. He is our biggest joy, even on his "bad days", and I can't imagine where we would be or what we would be doing if we didn't have him.


These two together are my entire world. When Clark is home the smallest things are the most memorable to me, and sometimes I admit I like to sit back in the shadows and watch these two play... but not too long before I join in on the fun (as long as Michael lets me-- sometimes he'll tell me it's "Dada time", which I definitely don't want to intrude on). It doesn't matter if my kitchen is overflowing with dirty dishes or the blinds haven't been dusted. What matters is the quality time and love I get to experience with my boys.

What are you thankful for today?

I don't think Michael and I made enough pumpkin recipes this fall, do you? More specifically, I definitely don't think we made enough pumpkin recipes.

Yes. I am being sarcastic.

Now whenever we go down the baking aisle at the grocery store Michael insists we get a can of pumpkin. When I ask him why, he always responds, "Because it's yummy!"

Can't argue with that, can I?

This is, thus far, my favorite pumpkin cookie recipe from this fall. It is SO GOOD. I'm allowed to say that, right? The only thing I think I might change to it (and it's suggested in the ingredients) is to use white chocolate chips instead of regular chocolate chips (or as well as). I mean, who can fight with white chocolate and cranberry? Anyone?


Ingredients:

- 2 heaping cups of unbleached, all-purpose flour (I did 1 C white, 1 C whole wheat)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1.5 C oats
- 1 C butter (2 sticks), melted
- 1/4 C molasses
- 1/2 C brown sugar
- 1/2 C sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 3/4 C pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp vanilla

- 1/3 to 1/2 C dried cranberries
- 1/3 to 1/2 C chocolate chips
- 1/3 to 1/2 c white chocolate chips
*Note: You will notice that pictures is only dried cranberries and chocolate chips. Feel free to use a combination of any add-ins, including adding pecans if you like! Just make sure you have between 1 to 1.5 C of the good stuff!*

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 350. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper or coat with cooking spray.
- Melt the butter on the stove or in the microwave. Whisk in the molasses, brown sugar, and sugar.
- Next mix in your egg, pumpkin, and vanilla.
- You can pre-mix your dry ingredients (except the oats/chips/cranberries) before adding them to your current mix. Otherwise, add them gradually and not all at once to well combine them.
- Fold in your oats, and then your additional add-ins.

- Scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheet(s).This makes a few dozen cookies, so either cook multiple sheets at once or be prepared! The dough should keep in the fridge (uncooked) for a day or so after initially mixing it.

- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until lightly browned around the edges. Allow the cookies to cool for AT LEAST five minutes on the baking sheets, but preferably longer, before moving to a cooling rack.


Recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction.

I'm so excited that I've started participating in the Cara Box Exchange that Wifessionals hosts. It truly is a great way to get connected with other ladies in the blogging community. This comes from someone who, admittedly, is really awful at keeping tabs on everyone's blogs. I love a lot of them, and read pretty consistently, but keeping up with commenting or connecting isn't always a strong point of mine. So the Cara Box really pushes me to do that!

This time around it was a two month period or so, which made it a lot easier than rushing together a box in a matter of one month. I got to know two lovely ladies, Erin and Candace.

Erin from Erin's Diary is the one who put together the wonderful package you see above! Included was also some Candy Corn M&Ms, but they're not pictures because my husband got to them before I got to the picture, haha.

Everything in her package was so thoughtful as seasonally wonderful. I've already put my coffee cozy, cookie mix, and Starbucks gift card to good use. She was definitely right about one thing-- I cannot get enough pumpkin!

Plus, her blog is so fun! Go check it out!

Make sure to check out Candace's blog, too, to see what I put together for her!

Yesterday was a busy day. So much so that Michael slept an extra thirty minutes (woooohoooo), making his current wake-up time 5AM. Hey... it's better than four... right?

Annnnnnyway.

Yesterday we got up (early, of course, because of Michael), got ready, and ran late to get to family pictures with one of my dearest friends here. After getting a fabulous dozen of pictures with a grumpy, tearful two-year-old and two tense parents, Clark had to rush to an interview that was about 2.5 hours away. The reason these two just happened to line up is because his interview was switched from Tuesday to Wednesday somewhat last minute.

Because Clark had to rush, we put Michael's carseat in said friend-photographer's car with the plan of having an impromptu playdate (she has a three year old... see this post for pictures of these two wonderful people), and then go home afterwards. Until we discovered (luckily before she started to drive us home), that I had forgotten to get the house key off the key ring.

Oops.

So, we had a whole day with Porter and his mama. The kiddos surprisingly did really well considering everything. What's more, our lovely friends had us over for dinner to complete the day and completely turn it around.






If you're in the Asheville/Fletcher/Brevard area check out DeVane Photography on Facebook. It's definitely worth it, and she's so reasonably priced!

BTW, Michael's cardigan is from The Wishing Elephant and my absolute favorite. Make sure to check out Carolyn's shop! And my boot cuffs? A custom order from Diana Meredith Designs! She does custom orders all the time, so make sure to check her out.

This Thankful Thursday I am thankful for our wonderful friends who kept us all day to make life easier, who suffered through a morning of grumps to get some amazing family pictures for this year, and who have been constant supporters through prayer and encouragement as we faced tough times and upcoming changes.

What are you thankful for today?

Oh, November, how I love you. I think this month is definitely on the same playing field as October in my book. I'm not sure when that happened. November in many of the places we've lived, after all, meant snow. But in our little mountain town where we currently are, that's not necessarily always true. But the day after Thanksgiving... I will be ready for it.

This time change, however.... It used to mean an extra hour of glorious sleep. Now it means that Michael just wakes up an hour earlier. Not. Cool. But we will someday when the sun explodes eventually get back on track, right?

Ok...ok... the cookies!


These are, thus far, Michael's favorite thing to make. It possibly had something to do with sneaking "pieces" out of the dough, or with rolling the dough in the cinnamon-sugar. Not sure which he enjoyed more. Either way, it made baking them that much more enjoyable. Usually he gets about halfway through and then he's done. But he enjoyed making all five (maybe six) dozen of these yummies.

Ingredients:

- 1 C butter, softened
- 1.5 C sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 2.75 C flour
- 2 tsp cream of tarter
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 C to 3/4 C Reese's Pieces

for rolling:
- 1/4 C sugar
- 1 tbsp. cinnamon

Directions:

-Preheat your oven to 400 and prepare your cookie sheet with cooking spray or parchment paper.
- Blend together your butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in your dry ingredients (except the Reese's) until well combined into a dough easy enough to handle.
- Fold in your Reese's Pieces. Start with half a cup, and add more if needed as molding/cooking the cookies.
- Place in fridge for up to an hour, or in the freezer for ten to fifteen minutes.
Note: If cooking all at once, keep the dough in the fridge while some are in the oven to keep it from getting too soft.
- Bake for six to eight minutes. Let cool for at least five minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a cooling rack.

The great thing about this recipe? It's easy to cut it in half! If you're making these just for yourself/family, I definitely suggest doing this since it can make anywhere from five to seven dozen depending on how big you make the cookies. I was happy to give lots of ours away. They are so addicting!

How is it the last week of October already? I'm having a hard time believing it.


Michael and I had a fun time making these cookies and sharing them with two lovely ladies for a dinner get together. They went pretty quickly... as in we all devoured them.

Ingredients:

- 2.5 C all-purpose, unbleached flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 C butter, softened
- 1 C brown sugar
- 1/2 C sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla

Frosting:
- 1/4 C softened butter
- 1/4 C softened cream cheese
- 1 to 1.5 C powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 350 and prepare your cookie sheet (spray or parchment paper).
- Cream together your butter and sugars. Add the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla to the mixture, beat until well combined.

- Mix in your dry ingredients. Drop on the cookie sheet with a cookie scoop or around 1 to 2 tablespoons per cookie. If desired, flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass (slightly wet with water).
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Frosting:

- Cream together the butter and cream cheese.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar (in 1/2 C increments or so) and mix with an electric mixer until thick.
- Add vanilla and cinnamon.
- When cookies are completely cool, spread the frosting on top. Add sprinkles if desired, the definitely make them more seasonally-friendly in my opinion!

These cookies really taste like fall to me.

The past two weeks have been such a blurrrrr! Michael and I haven't been sleeping the best, and it's just made me so scatter brained. We seem to finally be getting back on a regular schedule this week, so fingers crossed that it stays that way! I have so many outstanding recipes to share with you, I'm just bursting to get them in to posts to share.

Dear Michael, You are the sweetest boy I know. You're also the most stubborn... though I can't say much because I'm pretty sure you get it from me. Let's get our sleep back into swing before we "fall back" and have to do this all over again. I love you. Please stop growing.

Dear Weather, I am enjoying you while I can. Please keep cooling off and promise us some snow.

Dear Upcoming Change, BRING IT ON! I may have been a little down about you before, but I definitely think I'm ready. All I have to do is remember to trust God and keep the faith, and all while be as it's supposed to be.

If you didn't, make sure to check out October's Wife of the Month story. It's truly inspirational.

Things to come!

Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

Michael and Me.

And a special SURPRISE Harry Potter Halloween treat!


P.S. Christmas is EXACTLY two months away! Who's excited?!

The idea for this post came from Ashley over at The Sweet Season.