So this is December. Finals have been finalized. Course evaluations have been completed. Frost was on the ground this morning, and I managed through one lonely night without my husband. We’ve found ourselves caught up in a whirlwind of Christmas music rehearsals, frequent excursions to Eugene, mismatched work schedules, LSAT testing, dinners out and dinners in, and often no dinner at all. And everything is perfectly wonderful. So wonderful in fact that I needed to use an adverb to describe the condition of the adjective. Though I’ve regretfully seen very little of my husband the past couple days, I rest in the glorious fact that we land in the same place tonight, will wake up early in the morning together, will carry on with what the day brings and will be ever aware of our rings wrapped about our fingers. This is most comforting.
Back to December. I’ll miss you, fall quarter. I find myself quite anxious for winter term to begin. I am looking forward to a plethora of excellent writing classes, and shall try earnestly not to pollute the poor blog with free writes and scratchy drafts - though I’ve already declared this space something of a venue. I, unlike many of my friends in this season of life, do not have senioritis. What I wouldn’t give to want to be done with school. I otherwise ignore my student loans that are increasing in number and spreading through my school and my presently untouched bank account like a parasite, waiting to rear its ugly head and sicken what I’ve saved. May the Lord deliver me from post-grad syndrome. I do love school, and love the things I’m learning. But as faith without action is dead, so learning without implementation is futile. I am a firm believer in the fact that an education can still be wasted even after it has been achieved. Mark, for example, graduated from the University of Oregon with a bachelor’s in music and jazz studies. He received a fine education, and is a highly accomplished jazz guitarist. He doesn’t necessarily (and thankfully) teach the theory in schools, nor does he tour the world in a bus with a band, or record 15-song albums that gather dust on the shelves at Borders. But he has taken his education and and let it permeate his very realistic, practical life. He teaches guitar lessons on Thursdays, remains faithful to his father’s Christmas program in Eugene, and allows me the sheer delight of listening to him pluck away on strings during quiet evenings at home. If he did nothing more than that, I am certain, it is an education well spent.
Anyway ... December. I was going to try to meal plan for the whole month, but seeing as that I am already a week behind, I really see no point. Mark always says he flies by the seat of his pants, so that is precisely the tact I am going to take with meal planning ;) But while on matters of food (and recalling the original purpose of this post), I was given a most delicious recipe for a chocolate chip pumpkin cookie I implemented today, and must share with you. The recipe follows, but do note: this cookie contains no nutritional value. Do not make yourself feel better by substituting raisins for chocolate chips. Do not try to use whole wheat flour. Do not adulterate the recipe in any way; you will compromise the profoundly delicious nature of the cookie.
P.S. If you need canned pumpkin, don’t go to Fred Meyer’s. They have a sign that reads: “Due to high demand for canned pumpkin, we are currently out of stock. Sorry for the inconvenience.” Yes, Fred Meyer, it was an inconvenience.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (yes, one ENTIRE stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg (eggs come in sizes?)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree (carrots, believe it or not, work just as well)
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (yuck.)
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips, NOT semisweet
Directions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper. If you really wanted to be as good as Martha Stewart, you’d line them with parchment paper.
Using a mixer, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. Test the cookie dough several times to “make sure its not poison.” Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 13-15 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove from oven and let rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula (or your bare hands) and cool them on wire racks. Makes 30 amazing, addictive, crowd-pleasing, gone-the-next-day cookies.
