2001 Versus 2011 - Halloween

I love Halloween. Besides my famous soup in a pumpkin, I love all fall dishes and desserts. And I sense from facebook that I share this passion with a lot of my 198 friends.

I finally had that infamous Halloween party I have been wanting to host for the past nine years. While we held one my senior year in college with the football frat, this one differed slightly and here is how:

1) I didn't have to have anyone "work" the door, turning away unwanted party-goers. Although there were two other parties going on on my floor, there were no mystery guests. The only non-invited guest was a miniature pincher dressed as a lobster, but Scout didn't mind [and neither did I].

2) I baked all day long and served homemade cupcakes, cookies, dips, snacks and my famous soup. Meanwhile, back at the Zeta House in 2001, We spent twenty-five minutes hiding all of our food so drunk guests wouldn't eat our groceries.

3) I had a little wine/beer table. Flashback to 2001: We had five kegs of Milwaukee's Best Light - AKA "The Beast".... and the kegs were kicked by 2 AM. Oh - and we had to get up at the crack of dawn [you know - like 10 AM] to drive to Canton, Ohio to get the kegs by closing time at noon.

4) My mini pumpkins/gourd decorations are still in tact today. Back in the Zeta house, the mini pumpkins were dumped in the washing machine, unbeknownst to us and my roommate ended up washing [and drying, mind you!] a mini pumpkin - only discovering it while she was folding all of her laundry. At least we had a laundered pumpkin.

5) There is no evidence of a party in my condo this morning. In the olden days, those new rushes were forced to come to our house before noon with hangovers to scrub our house clean like unpaid maids. Besides a pumpkin gone missing - I think I saw it smashed outside today, my peers are pretty mature - having helped clean up my place before I passed out at 1 AM.......

The Best Cookies I Have Made

So, a few years ago, I was looking for a blueberry crumble bar recipe and I stumbled upon the smitten kitchen blog. This blogger has the best recipes. If you are looking for something wholesame and tasty, she has a great site.

I was looking for a good cookie recipe a few months ago, when I found her most delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. These babies are Divine (with a capital "D").

Here is the recipe:

Makes about 3 dozen cookies (I had to continously bring 6-10 to work on a daily basis, until my co-workers asked if I had poisoned them and was trying to slowly kill them).

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
1 cup quick-cooking oats
2 cups chopped pecans
2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest (I only had a clementine - worked fine)
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

(I added craisins which I highly recommend!)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment or a Silpat (nonstick baking mat). Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla, and beat until well mixed, about three minutes. Stir in eggs, one at a time. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove in a separate bowl. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter with the mixer on low speed. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the second half. Stir in the oats, pecans, orange zest, and chocolate chips. Drop the dough, by the tablespoon, onto the cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on a rack.

These make a ton of cookies. You will not be disappointed. I promise.

And this is one of the reasons I got my brand new mixer for my birthday.