Cookies & pie for fall

I made these Fall-ish cookies a few weeks ago to help me get in the 'spirit'. First up was Pumpkin Gingersnaps from Two Peas and Their Pod. Doug loves gingersnaps and I love pumpkin so I hoped we'd both like these. I made them mainly for Doug's game night on Thursday but kept some for us too. They seemed to be a success, I liked how cakey they were but I might have kicked up the spice a tiny bit.

Second, was Iced Oatmeal-Applesauce cookies, which I do not have a picture of. Sorrys! This recipe was from the Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: the New Classics but I found it online here. As silly as this sounds, I don't pick up this cookbook too often because there are almost no pictures. I know, I'm ridiculous. Anyway, I felt like it was rather neglected so I scanned through the pages, found the recipe and found that I had all the ingredients for them. I did make mine bigger than the recipe called for but I really love the flavor of these.

Now the pie is a magnificent creation, found at Ezra Pound Cake. I made it for Sunday night dinner dessert and it was a little involved, but completely and utterly worth the effort. Graham cracker crust with a layer of caramel and pecans, a layer apple slices cooked with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, cream cheese layer and topped with homemade whipped cream and more caramel and pecans. It was too dark to take a photo that night so these are from the next day so it's a little less impressive but it still tasted very, very good, even the next day.

It's fall y'all

I spent a great weekend with friends and that sweet man I'm married to. The weather was cool and crisp, even downright cold at night, which gave me the opportunity to dig out all of my hand-knitted hats, scarves and cowls!

Friday night we picked up sandwiches from Soul Fish and headed down to the Levitt Shell to meet up with our friends and watch the Elvis '68 Special and The Big Lebowski, which was part of the Indie Memphis film fest this year. It was so much fun and I loved being out in the cold weather (even though I couldn't feel my toes by the end of the night).

Saturday we had breakfast at Republic Coffee (stuffed french toast is heaven), did some thrifting at the Junior League Repeat Boutique (I found a copy of Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa at Home for cheap, cheap!), got coffee at Otherlands in Cooper-Young, drove downtown to see the Elizabeth Brim exhibit at the Metal Museum, drove back to Cooper-Young to have lunch at Central BBQ, and ended the night at our friend's 10th annual pumpkin carving party.

The Metal Museum is a small but nice little place to visit if you're ever in the city. The current exhibit features a metal-smith who makes ruffles and bows and pillows out of metal, amazing work, her pieces look like fabric. I had to resist the urge to reach out and touch it. Plus the gates of the museum have different mini-metal pieces all over it. The tea cup is one of my favorites. There are also some nice views of the Mississippi River but they were setting up for a wedding and we didn't want to get in the way so no pictures of that.

The pumpkin carving party is something we've been going to since we started dating. We've never missed a party since we started dating 8 years ago and it's where I met my sweet friend Stacey. We never win the carving contest but it's still fun. This year I came up with the idea Saturday afternoon before we left and Doug replicated it. He did let me scoop out the pumpkin guts though. (notice two hand knit items at once and they don't match)Here's our non-winning pumpkin and then all the other pumpkins lined up at the end of the night. Stacey and her husband won first place, because their pumpkin was fantastic, as always.

Sunday I had pumpkin on the brain and after making this week's TWD selection, I made the Sour Cream-Pumpkin Pie in Dorie's book that no one has chosen yet. It was good, but I didn't make my own crust I used a refrigerated one. I think it would have been better if I hadn't have run out of ginger. But I'll make it again for sure.Have a great Monday!