Pumpkin Spice Cookies
Original recipe from Betty Crocker

When I originally did this recipe, I saved it for the fall. Because fall means pumpkin season! In the fall everything that tastes like pumpkin. And I had been. I tried a pumpkin cupcake from CRUMBS, pumpkin frozen yogurt from pinkberry, and of course your normal pumpkin spice creme-based frapp from Starbucks. I guarantee I’ll be making it again this fall.

This was one recipe I was looking forward to trying. I originally found it on someone’s blog, and when I printed it out, it says it’s a Betty Crocker recipe. I followed it fairly well.

Ingredients I Used

+ 1 box moist deluxe yellow cake mix
+ 1 can 100% pure pumpkin
+ pumpkin pie spice, to taste
+ 1/4 cup butter, softened
+ 1 jar creamy vanilla frosting
+ cinnamon, for sprinkling

Preparation & Baking Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 F.

2. Spray cookie sheets lightly with cooking spray. The recipe says to grease the sheet with shortening, but we don’t have any.

3. In large bowl, mix cake mix and pumpkin pie spice. The recipe calls for 2 tsp. of the pumpkin pie spice, but to be honest, I just shook a whole bunch in. I love the spices in pumpkin pie, so that’s why I said, above, “to taste.”

4. Stir and mash in pumpkin and butter until well-blended.

5. Drop dough by generous spoonfuls a decent space apart onto cookie tray(s). The recipe says it’s supposed to make 30 cookies. I got about 20 onto three cookie sheets. Some were quite a bit bigger than others.

6. Bake about 12 minutes, or until set, which to me meant when I poked my finger at the cookie and didn’t sink. The edges and peaks of the cookies should be slightly browned.

7. Let cool. Once cooled completely, spread on frosting and sprinkle with cinnamon.

Prep Time: 10-15 minutes. Cook Time: 12 minutes per cookie sheet.

Thoughts on the Cookies Overall

These were scrumptious! Seriously. And so moist. Even the day after, the cookies were still moist. In all honestly, I probably could have used even more of the pumpkin pie spice, which at least I’ll know better for next time. I would make these again and again. it was simple to do, didn’t require an electric mixer (which I don’t have), and baked quickly. The cookies weren’t at all crumbly, and tasted like autumn. Yum!

Final Notes: Apparently it’s important to be precise when you’re baking. For instance, the recipe called for cake mix with pudding in the mixture. I couldn’t find any for yellow cake mix (found it directly on the box for a chocolate mix) so I settled for something that’s called “extra moist” or “moist deluxe.” Luckily, it turned out fine, but if you’re looking to do this recipe, I recommend finding some with pudding in the mix.

Overall, I rate these cookies an A+!

Again, this recipe was originally posted on my now-closed cooking blog.

Read the post and leave me a comment: recipe: pumpkin spice cookies Thanks for reading my blog writer, reader, dreamer - a blog by Sarah Reck.

This is a variation on a recipe from America’s Test Kitchen, which I have done a half-dozen times before. It’s the perfect comfort food, really.

Ingredients I Used
+ 1/2 a box elbow macaroni
+ 2 thick links spicy italian chicken sausage
+ 1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
+ 1 can dark red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
+ several large cloves fresh garlic
+ 1 cup chicken broth
+ mozzarella cheese
+ salt and pepper

Cooking Directions

1. Mince garlic. Defrost sausage. Remove sausage casing. Chop sausage into 1/2 inch chunks. Drain and rince kidney beans.

2. In a large pot, cook sausage until hot. Add garlic and cook, 30 seconds, until fragrant.

3. Add tomatoes, kidney beans, uncooked macaroni, and chicken broth. Cook until boiling. Simmer, covered, for 8-10 minutes, until macaroni is cooked.

4. Shred a small amount of mozzarella cheese on top. Salt and pepper to taste.

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes. Cook Time: 10 minutes.

Why This Recipe is a Variation

A few reasons, mostly due to the fact that I used what I had in the kitchen already (some of it in preparation of making this recipe) instead of stopping at the market for specific ingredients –

I used the spicy chicken sausage instead of ground meat because I had two links of the Trader Joe’s pre-cooked brand in the freezer. Also, the only ground meat I had was an entire pound, and that’s too much for just me. I didn’t have any fresh veggies around, so I couldn’t include a yellow onion or red bell pepper, both of which I know give the chili mac a great sweet taste. Since I used spicy sausage, I opted to not include the chipotle peppers the recipe calls for. I’m glad too; this variation still gave my mouth some nice heat! Finally, the only complementary cheese in the fridge was M’s mozzarella, so I used that instead of pepper jack.

Thoughts on the Recipe as a Whole

I loved this variation! Of course, it was missing a better helping of veggies than I got from the diced tomatoes, but I’ll forgive it because the chicken sausage had a nice kick and its own herbs and spices in it. The last time I cooked this, for friends in a completely empty kitchen, I was missing a lot of the ingredients and it came out bland and boring. This time, the chili was not only flavorful but also nice and spicy without it being overkill.

This is a really easy meal to cook, whether you use the America’s Test Kitchen recipe or your own variation. It’s all done in one pot, which makes it simple for those of us who aren’t that good at multi-tasking in the kitchen. I actually got everything prepped before even starting to cook — including opening the cans and cutting the meat and mincing the garlic. Then, all I had to do was dump everything in the pot and wait. All told, it really didn’t take more than 20 minutes, especially because of the pre-cooked sausage, which just needed heated up.

I rate this meal and variation an A+.

Some Final Notes: It’s helpful to have a working can opener. Also, use the largest pot you have. If you have a dutch oven, even better. (I do not, and that left the macaroni somewhat mushy since it didn’t have enough room to expand.)

Originally posted on my now-closed cooking blog. Moving several recipes over here.

Read the post and leave me a comment: recipe: a variation on spicy chili mac Thanks for reading my blog writer, reader, dreamer - a blog by Sarah Reck.

Top Ten Books You’d Like to See Made Into a Movie

1. Secret Society Girl & following series, by Diana Peterfreund.

In all honesty, it would probably make a better TV show. Think ABC Family. I want it now. And cast someone adorable as Poe, please.

2. Save the Date, by Jenny B. Jones.

Really, if you need a story for a great romantic comedy, Hollywood should go with this one. I’d totally cast Tom Welling as Alex Sinclair.

3. Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, by Julia Quinn

I have fantasies of adapting this to a screenplay. Really, it wouldn’t be a straight book adaptation, but it would merge, somehow, the stories in the three previous books (The Duke and I, The Viscount Who Loved Me, and An Offer From a Gentleman) and bring all four together in some brilliant way. I’d call it Lady Whistledown and what a spectacular period film it would be. Honestly. PS. Again, I’d cast Tom Welling as Colin Bridgerton.

4. Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Moon Trilogy, or at least the first two: Life As We Knew It / the dead & the gone

If you’re into natural disaster movies (think The Day After Tomorrow or 2012), this would be a movie you’d like to see. Personally, I think Alex’s story in NYC would be more Hollywood’s speed, but I wouldn’t want to discount Miranda’s.

5. Blackout & All Clear by Connie Willis

This would make a great movie because it’s science-fiction and a period piece all in one. Plus it’s somewhat “Downton Abbey” or Love Actually – esque in the sense that there are so many threads and characters and storylines to follow. Plus the action of the Blitz in London during WWII covers that need in any movie. I’m thinking similar to Pearl Harbor or Atonement, really.

6. The Goddess Test, by Aimée Carter

We’ll blame Harlequin Teen for the wonderful book trailer for the rest of the series and say it whet my appetite in wanting to see it on the big screen. Romance, adventure, intrigue. All the things needed for an exciting movie.

7. The Future of Us, by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

This is another that might make a good TV show or TV movie. But really, I just want to see how cool it would look to have the early 90s and today in one movie somewhat similar to 13 Going on 30 only with more control over outcomes.

It seems as though 7 is all I can come up with this time around considering I kept thinking oh! then realizing that book WAS made into a movie already. Usually they were movies I didn’t like much so that’s why they stuck out. Ah, well. Seven it is.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Read the post and leave me a comment: top ten tuesday: books you’d like to see made Into a movie Thanks for reading my blog writer, reader, dreamer - a blog by Sarah Reck.

I don’t mind, really, as it gives me options (as though my ever-expanding to-be-read bookcase doesn’t give me enough options) as to what order I read the books in, but still. This week, 5 came in all at the same time, and I don’t even know where to begin.

My loot from the library:

The Fine Art of Truth or Dare, Melissa Jensen
Words to Eat By, Ina Lipkowitz
Uncommon Criminals, Ally Carter
The Name of the Star, Maureen Johnson
Keep Sweet, Michele Dominguez Greene

Read the post and leave me a comment: about library books and holds Thanks for reading my blog writer, reader, dreamer - a blog by Sarah Reck.

Word Count: 2,243 words
Chapters: 1, nearly complete
Day Two Goal: 500 words, chapter 1 complete

Favorite line written: Oh, I knew who he was: I was an Aaron Mayze Facebook-stalker. I knew (almost) everything about him, considering I’d been head-over-heels infatuated with him for the better part of two years.

Read the post and leave me a comment: state of my wip: day one Thanks for reading my blog writer, reader, dreamer - a blog by Sarah Reck.

But since it’s an entire day dedicated to reading poetry, I might very well dig out the poetry anthology I used way back in undergrad for my Introduction to Creative Writing class. It has a great collection of poems and poets that cross all the generations and themes and such. I’m bound to find something in it that a) I haven’t read yet and b) I really like.

I do have a favorite poem, of course, and that’s Robert Frost’s “Fire and Ice” which I think is just a beautiful poem in its simplicity and sentiment. (I fashioned the poem into a cool graphic and pinned it.) Another favorite of mine is Gwendolyn Brooks’ “a song in the front yard”. It contains one of my all-time favorite paragraphs/stanzas in contemporary literature:

I’ve stayed in the front yard all my life.
I want a peek at the back
Where it’s rough and untended and hungry weed grows.
A girl gets sick of a rose.

Langston Hughes and Wallace Stevens are two of my other favorite poets, and I once wrote some poetry inspired by two of my favorites by them. You can read my poems here. That reminds me that Langston Hughes’ “Harlem”, is one of my favorite poems — What happens to a dream deferred?

Because I’m not huge on poetry (I can freely admit that most of the time I don’t really understand it), I didn’t take too many classes during my English literature educational career that focused on it. On exception was a Wordsworth and Coleridge class I took because it happened to be in the Lake District, UK, and what anglophile in her right mind would pass up that opportunity, honestly.

Some poetry collections that I recommend:
+ Different Hours, Stephen Dunn
+ The Poems of Emily Dickinson
+ Shakespeare’s Sonnets

Read the post and leave me a comment: great poetry reading day Thanks for reading my blog writer, reader, dreamer - a blog by Sarah Reck.

What’s your favorite Bible verse?

(I need more quotes to try typography with.)

Read the post and leave me a comment: my favorite Bible verse – in typography Thanks for reading my blog writer, reader, dreamer - a blog by Sarah Reck.

lemon cream pasta with assorted things tossed in.

Lately, I’ve been looking to Pinterest for recipes when I’m in the mood to cook, and I found this great one that led me to the Comfort of Cooking blog’s creamy lemon pasta with spinach and tomatoes.

I’m not going to post the recipe since I didn’t come up with it. But I will say that I made a few changes. For one, I added in some meat of the spicy Italian chicken sausage variety. Basically, since it was pre-cooked, I just heated them up a bit in a small skillet and tossed it when I put in the spinach and tomatoes. Otherwise, I did just about everything the recipe said.

It was a great Friday night in meal, and I even have enough left over for lunch at work which is a major score. Ah, I love good food.

Here are a few more I’ve done:
+ corn polenta with bacon and fontina
+ pumpkin pasta sauce
+ easy tortillini soup

Tell me, have you found and tried any good recipes on Pinterest?

Read the post and leave me a comment: the joy of food & pinterest. Thanks for reading my blog writer, reader, dreamer - a blog by Sarah Reck.

1. Sirius Black — in the Harry Potter series
2. Penelope Featherington — in Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, by Julia Quinn
3. Peeta Mallark — in The Hunger Games series
4. Colin Bridgerton — also in Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, by Julia Quinn
5. Alex Morales — in Susan Beth Pfeffer’s the dead & the gone
6. Polly Churchill — Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis
7. Parker Brown — Nora Roberts’ Happy Ever After
8. Lily Bart — Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth
9. Michael Hosea — in Redeeming Love, by Francine Rivers
10. Alex — in A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess

A few of these made previous appearances on lists such as Top 10 Characters I’d Like to be Best Friends With, and Top 10 Love Stories in Books, which makes sense since they’re all my favorites all across the board.

Who’s on your list?

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Read the post and leave me a comment: top ten tuesday: all-time favorite book characters Thanks for reading my blog writer, reader, dreamer - a blog by Sarah Reck.

What a fun book!

Truly, I tend to steer clear of a lot of the paranormal YA fiction out there not only because there’s so much of it but also because it’s not my sort of thing. I tend to find vampires and zombies and such as too dark or heavy or — well, some other word that better describes why I don’t read them. That word definitely isn’t “fun” or “lighthearted” — both words which easily describe Carrie Harris’s Bad Taste in Boys.

The best thing about the book is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously and it doesn’t try too hard and it doesn’t get lost in world-building or histories or explanations that I can’t or don’t want to believe. Instead, it puts forth a simple theme: what would happen if a virus is unleashed that turns high school football players into flesh-eating zombies? And then runs with it.

Kate Grable is a junior science geek with med school aspirations who works as a trainer slash watergirl for the pitiful excuse for a varsity football team at her high school. A former wallflower not quite yet in with the popular crowd, she’s got a crush on the (not such a star) quarterback and two friends who we meet fleetingly, catching only glimpses into their lives and personality.

That might be my biggest issue with the book, really, that it was much too short and some of the characters (most of them) and a lot of the side plots never really had a chance to develop. It was like we were on a fast-paced thrill ride, zombie hunting right alongside Kate while everything else blurred past us. Several things — Kate’s mother Skyping in from Germany for half a page, her friend Rocky’s military boyfriend being shot in the butt, a freshman linebacker flirting with her — there were lots of little moments that I would have liked to see grow into something more. Alas, I supposed that’s what a book two is for, hmn?

My favorite character was hands-down Kate’s brother Jonah. He was only fifteen in the book, so give him a few years and I could see him being a crush-worthy hero all on his own. Not to mention his friends (so he obviously keeps good company), who upon learning there were zombies loose immediately set about going hunting like they were in their video games. It was Kate who had to remind them that the zombies were their friends and peers and lobbing off their heads meant they could never be cured. Oops.

Let me finish this by applauding the cover. I do so love a good book cover, really. This one has it all — bright colors, an evocative image, and great typography. If I had seen this at the bookstore (in reality I saw it on someone else’s blog so it’s akin to the same thing), I’d have snatched it right up.

Read the post and leave me a comment: book review: bad taste in boys, carrie harris Thanks for reading my blog writer, reader, dreamer - a blog by Sarah Reck.