Pumpkin Spice Rolled Sugar Cookies

I love Pumpkin spice anything – coffee, cereal, bread and now cookies.  I saw this recipe in Watt Highlight last month and decided to make it this year. The recipe was posted by Nicole Ault.  I followed the recipe to the letter  but had a few problems that were easy to fix. First the recipe says to add 3 cups of flour but I had to add a bit more to make it workable. The second problem was the amount of chill time. I waited the two hours but the dough was still too warm to work and it wanted to stick to the floured pastry board. I stick the bowl into the freezer for ten minutes and it worked up beautifully. They tasted wonderfully.

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon pumpkin spice

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cup all – purpose flour

Beat the softened butter and the sugar until it is light and fluffy with a mixer.  Beat in the eggs until the dough is smooth. Mix in the pumpkin puree and the vanilla extract. Add the pumpkin spice, salt, and baking powder to the mixture. Stir in the flour until moistened. Refrigerate the dough for at least two hours. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle flour on the work surface and use a rolling pin to roll the dough about 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutter to cut the shapes. Transfer to cookie parchment paper lined baking sheets. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let them rest for 1 to 2  minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Note The recipe did not call for any icing or other decorations but I had a little icing left from the Santa faces so I used it up on a few of the cookies. Everything is better with icing!

Santa’s in the House

The new phones were due to arrive on Tuesday so I made plans to finish the “main” Christmas cookies.  I had just gotten Shoes fed and outside when the UPS guy came.  I have to admit I was very glad that he got here so early  since I could bake without  wondering if I would miss his knock

We plugged in the phones so they could charge up and left them for the day. Bill had to go to town so I had the whole day to bake. I wanted to bake the Mother’s fat sugar cookies and the Santa cookies.

The sugar cookies are easy to make and I made close to six dozen while waiting for the Santa dough to chill. The Santa cookies take a very long time to make. The dough has to chill for at least an hour. then you have to roll them out, cut them, decorate them, bake them and then finish decoration them. I t takes me almost three hours (including chill time) to make one batch of Santa faces.  That’s 3 hours for 22 to 24 cookies.

We never did get around to turning on the new phones  The fact is I have to turn off “old faithful” before I turn on the new phone. I have been carrying this phone for over 15 years and it is like an old friend.  The phone works perfectly and still shines like new since it has always been in its protective case which I had especially made for it. I would not replace it if Verizon had not forced me too. Verizon is making some changes that will make many of the older phones stop working and our phones were on the list. Originally most older phones were scheduled to stop working on January 1 but that has been pushed back a little. However, they are still planning on switching the system before next summer. Updating the phones has been an experience that I do not wish to go though again. The store in Seymour had some computer problems so we went to the Columbus store. I really begin to feel sorry for the salesman after the first  two hours of straightening out my account.  My account would not let me access it completely  online and the pin number I assigned did not work  and my original plan ( from 1994) was so old that he had to have tech support walk him though the upgrades.  After three hours I think the poor guy was happy that he managed to help us and also  to see us walk out the door.

He told me how to finish straightening out my account now that I had online access but after trying for four days we called tech  support Tuesday night.  We were lucky and got a wonderful knowledgeable lady that made the changes and answered all of our questions. It was late when we got back home from a quick trip to town so decided to wait until tomorrow to activate the new phone. Okay I admit is it almost like euthanizing  something and so hard to push that “shut off” button.

 

Baking Marathon

Monday was a rainy day which was perfect for baking Christmas cookies.  In this family, it is not Christmas without homemade cookies in the freezer.  With only two weeks left before Christmas I was beginning to wonder when I would have time to bake cookies.

I had planned on baking most of them  last week but only  had time to bake the Snicker doodle bars.  It was a very busy week. I took down and pack up  all the Thanksgiving decorations and put out the Christmas things,  got my hair highlighted and trimmed. wrote and print out the Christmas letter, and send out the Christmas cards.  We spend two days shopping for new cell phones since I just found out our old phones will soon stop working due to Verizon new technical requirements. It took another day to change everything over to the new wifi connection so we could get back online.  Plus actual Christmas shopping  and grocery shopping for cookie ingredients.

We had to skip the gym Friday because Bill had to work at the apartment all day and we skipped Monday because I needed to get the baking done.  And bake I did! I started baking as soon as the animals were fed and never finished until 6:30 that evening.

I baked the Congo bars and the no bake cookies late Sunday evening but I still had a bunch of cookies to make..  Yesterday I baked Saucepan Scotties, Oatmeal Butterscotch, Kiss cookies, Snicker Doodle cookies and butter press cookies. I still have Mother’s Sugar cookies and the Santa cookies to bake but since I have to stay home Tuesday to sign for a package so  I should be able to  finished  all the cookie baking.   If I have time I may even bake some pumpkin spice rolled cookies.

The last batch for the day coming out of the oven. Now time to clean up, feed the animals and relax.

Why I added some weight

Yes, I added weight this year. Okay I will admit I have added some unwanted weight to my body but that is another story. This story is about the weight I added to my bed in the form of a weighted blanket.  A weighted blanket is simply a blanket that weighs between  4 to 30 pounds. They are  filled with discs, poly pellets, glass, or polypropylene plastic beads. The weight of the blanket  mimics a deep pressure stimulation  which uses pressure to relax the nervous system.

The use of a weighted blanket can help to:

1. Reduce Stress
2. Help the Elderly
3. Reduce Anxiety
4. Help Balance Brain Chemistry
5. Help Manage OCD
6. Ease Restless Legs Syndrome
7. Improve Overall Sleep Quality
8. Sharpen Focus for ADHD
9. Help with Symptoms of PTSD
10. Promote Calmness with Autism Spectrum Disorder
11. Decrease Anxiety in Pets
12. May Help Alleviate Pain Associated with Fibromyalgia
13. Ease Symptoms of Depression

Weighted blankets may benefit people with anxiety, insomnia and other sleep disorders, those with osteoarthritis, people with chronic pain, people who suffer from PTSD, ADHD and autism.

Weighted blankets should NOT be used in children under the age of 2,  people with sleep apnea, asthma, or those that are claustrophobic.

Weighted blankets work best if you choose the right weight.  A weighted blanket should be 5 to 10 percent of your body weight. Most adults need a blanket between 12 to 30 pounds.  Use a 3 to 8 pound blanket for a child weighing between 20 to 70 pounds. A 30- to 130-pound child, a medium weighted blanket should weigh from 5 to 15 pounds. Older adults may want to use a lighter blanket of  5 to 8 pounds depending on now healthy they are.

I was having trouble sleeping and usually stayed up until 2 to 3 in the morning or until I felt sleepy enough to fall asleep. I would try going to bed earlier and I would end up staring at the clock until 3 or 4 in the morning. I just could not go to sleep.  The last time I was at the dentist I noticed that the lead “protection”  bib made me feel calmer and actually relaxed. I mentioned that I was thinking about getting a weighted blanket to  Doug.  He got me a 12 pound blanket during the Thanksgiving weekend and it has made a huge difference. I no longer dislike going to bed because I don’t fight sleep. In fact I actually look forward to getting in bed and  pulling that blanket  over me. I immediately  feel calm and no longer toss and turn as the weight of the blanket “holds” me in place. It feels like a huge hug all night long.

Decking the Halls

Thanksgiving is over and everyone has gone back to their homes so now it is time to clean, decorate  and start baking cookies for Christmas.!

I spent all morning on Monday decorating before going to get my hair done and then to the gym. Tuesday I finished packing  all the Thanksgiving decorations away and  decorating inside the house. I even got some of the outside started before going shopping for groceries and  cookie ingredients. I have most of the front decorated but I want to add a light tree in front of the house and I still need to winterize the goldfish pond. I have the outside finished but need to trim the water lily and remove the leaves from the pond and cover it with a netting .

I usually do not decorate the back of the house but this year I have added lights to the chicken park and I really love the effect so if I have time and some warmer weather I may add even more lights to the backyard. I plan on using white lights which I can leave in place year round for extra light during the late summer evenings. I prefer solar ones  for that project so may have to go online to find some –  in the meantime old fashion electric lights will have to do.

The back yard can wait  a bit because I still have Christmas cards to address and cookies to bake.