Pumpkin Cookies and Pumpkin Bread Recipes - THE BEST

I love that everywhere I drive this time of year I see scenes like this on the roadside. I am blessed in that I can drive back country roads to alot of places I go and so that helps add to the Fall feeling in the air......

Every year I HAVE to make these pumpkin cookies. My daughters insist on them, maybe because I have been making them since they were little. You could say that they are vintage! Actually it is a Libby's canned pumpkin recipe I found in a Woman's Day magazine in October 1983. So it IS a vintage recipe! They are fabulous, vintage or not, and now when I make them every year my granddaughter Cassidy helps me decorate them........they are especially good with peanut butter as frosting....YUM!



Pumpkin Cookies

4 cups unsifted flour

2 cups oats

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 ½ cups butter or margarine, softened

2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

16 oz. can pumpkin

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Combine flour, oats, soda, cinnamon and salt; set aside. Cream butter; gradually add sugars, beating until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Alternate additions of dry ingredients and pumpkin, mixing well after each addition. Stir in chocolate chips. Form round shapes on greased cookie pan and add more dough for stem. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Frost with icing or peanut  butter. Decorate with chocolate chips, candy corn, raisins or nuts.

Makes alot!

Another fabulous recipe that I have been making since my girls were little, is this pumpkin bread. It is THE best pumpkin bread I've had.......it is the only recipe I've used for almost 30 years and usually anyone who tastes it, agrees and wants the recipe. My daughter Jena makes it every year to take to her grandmothers house on Thanksgiving (even though my mother-in-law has the recipe too!). It is always a treat because we only make it once a year.

Mom’s Fabulous Pumpkin Bread

3 cups sifted flour

2 cups sugar

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

¾ cup vegetable or canola oil

2 cups canned pumpkin

1 cup chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl mix together dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake at 350 for 1 hour in a bundt pan or 55 minutes in 2 loaf pans.

Enjoy these recipes. Can you leave me a comment to let me know how you like them, pretty please?

Goodbye October

I wanted to share some pictures of my most favorite month of the year.....October.

This is not my usual one day at a time post, just random pictures of this and that.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen some of these pictures.

If you don't follow me yet, click on the sidebar camera icon and join in the fun!

My month started out by moving into my new booth space

at the Geneva Antique Co-Op on Seneca Lake

in the Finger Lakes of Upstate New York. I can't believe 

I have been there a month already!

~~~~~

We have had some wild and crazy weather this month....very warm and misty

and a microburst storm just as we got into a restaurant!

The warm weather has helped to keep my

Sweet Potato vines thriving on 

the front porch....

but delayed the burning bush from burning!

~~~~~

My favorite barn sale of the year is in October and 

this year I found what I have been

looking for for a long time!

A vintage bicycle for my garden.....in AQUA!

Can't wait to style it in the Spring.

~~~~~

I am always happy when Panera brings back their

Pumpkin Pie bagel for October. 

Soooo good!

~~~~~

One of my most favorite things about October is the way

the light is different throughout the day 

and especially late afternoon. I captured

the Autumn light coming into

two rooms of my house.

The dining room

and the parlor

~~~~~

I made a new wreath for my front door out of Rye Wheat....

and pumpkin cookies for my grandchildren to decorate.

my 3 year old grandson decorated these

~~~~~

We took grandchildren Chloe and JC to our church event, Trunk or Treat.

They got to dress up early for Halloween and get buckets of candy, 

go in a bounce house, drink cider and eat donuts and popcorn.

We had pizza and pumpkin cookies for

dinner and then off to home.

Isn't that what grandparents are supposed to do? ;-)

a buff policeman and a hippie

~~~~~~

My sweet "sisters" and I drove to the beautiful town of Skaneateles

on Lake Skaneateles, also one of the Finger Lakes,

to celebrate Colleen's birthday. We had lunch 

at her favorite restaurant and this was my choice....

The Lobster Napoleon

Layers of English cucumber, mango salsa, fresh avocado, and micro greens topped with Maine lobster and drizzled with Thai chili mayonnaise, Balsamic syrup and toasted sesame seeds.....

oh my oh my

But it wasn't all about what I ate! It was about being in a gorgeous

place to celebrate a beautiful woman whose favorite

line is "is my lipstick still on?"

Throughout the day we saw so many cute things in the

gift shops having to do with lipstick.

This was one of her gifts.

~~~~~~

I am excited to meet some goals I set for myself for the end of October

600 items listed in my Etsy shop

and

1700 sales!

I actually accomplished these goals early on the 28th :-)

I have been adding vintage Christmas items as well

as other items in all sections of my Etsy shop. Just click to see.

Come by for a visit!

Here is a sample of some vintage Christmas goodies....

oops, dust is a sign of a productive woman....just not in housework!

One last picture for the last day of the month....my

two daughters and their daughters....

a ladybug, a cave woman, a dinosaur and a hippe.

I am a proud Mom and NaNa!

I am sorry to see October go. But with it goes the overeating

of candy corn, glazed donuts and pumpkin cookies.

Time to get back to eating right and geared up for

the sweet potatoes, candied carrots and

pumpkin pie with whipped cream!

Happy November!

AnnMarie xoxo

I am linking up with these fun blog parties:

Share Your Cup
Tuesdays with a Twist
Anything Goes Pink Saturday
Home Sweet Home

Autumn Traditions

I am always sad when October comes to an end....it is by far my favorite month of the year.

The weather changes to colder, gardens fade and are put to bed, porch furniture is put away, the trees are ugly and bare.

There are things I feel I must do every October to take full advantage of all it's glory.

I must go to as many farm markets as possible to get fresh apples, butternut squash and gourds. This year my husband and I went on a tour of many different farm markets along the lakeshore, tasting apples and taking in the scenery. We even visited Chimney Bluffs on Lake Ontario.

I must get my pumpkin for a dollar on the flatbed truck a few miles away.

 

I must bake Pumpkin Cookies. My granddaughter Cassidy comes over and decorates them every year.....

 

 



 

And my son Michael eats them!

 

 

 

I must make homemade pumpkin bread, apple crisp and applesauce.

 

I must go to  Schutt's Apple Mill and farm market in Webster for the best cider and donuts around.

 

This year I added some new must's that I wanted to make sure I accomplished.

 

For the past 16 years I have wanted a row of different colored mums in my garden to remind me of my old farmhouse.

 

I did it this year!

 

 

 

I have always wanted to make a pumpkin pie out of a fresh pumpkin. I did it and you can see the tutorial for it here.

 

 





And finally, I have always wanted a scarecrow in my garden. Not those kitschy ones from the craft shows or the dollar store....a real respectable, looks like a homemade, scarecrow. I found one at a garage sale. Can't believe this woman was selling him but she was moving and couldn't take him along. He has a wool shirt, a silk tie, real jeans and a real straw hat. Just what I was looking for....now if I could only find the faux crow I had to put on his shoulder!

 

 

I haven't carved a pumpkin in years but my daughter and granddaughter have and they carved the ones at the beginning of this post. Can you tell what they are?

 

The first one is an owl and the second one is a hamster. My daughter is into owls right now and my granddaugter has a real hamster at home. Cute!

 

AnnMarie :)

 

 

 





 

An Ode to Fall

My Favorite Memories of Fall

When I lived in Williamson, New York, I lived in a 1900's farmhouse literally in an apple orchard. The house was formerly a migrant house for when they came and still come every year from the south to pick the apples. There was a row of  apple trees on  my property line, so when we bought the house we made a deal with the apple farmer instead of cutting them down. He would take care of them and take the apples and we would be able to go into any part of his orchards and pick whatever apples we wanted. What a deal that was!  I even had an orchard lane on one side of my house flanked with poplar trees that led back to acres and acres of apple trees. I used to look so forward to Fall when the leaves from those trees turned the most gorgeous color of yellow. I also went crazy making any apple recipe I could find. I loved to go pick the 20 oz. apples for pies. The farm market was across the street from me so I got my fill of vegetables and apples three seasons of  the year.

One year before I had children my husband and I went up to the Berkshires where my college roommate owned an inn. We decided to try horseback riding one day. Three hours later and a runaway horse (mine!) we came back exhausted but exhiliarated. The thing I remember most is that in those Bershire hills the leaves were pink and purple. Really! I had a pink and purple earring on which got brushed off as I passed by a tree limb. I got off my horse to try and find it but it was lost forever, blending in all those gorgeous leaves!

One of my favorite traditions to do in the Fall is to gather the most perfect yellow and red and orange leaves and iron them between waxed paper. Then I would scatter them on my dining room table for decoration. So pretty! I even made a wreath out of them one time. Another tradition is to make my pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies and apple crisp (the recipes are in an earlier post!).  I usually decorate the main floor of the house for Fall too. It is my most favorite season in Upstate New York. The colors and smells, the leaves and the acorns, the pumpkins and gourds are just good for the soul and remind me how creative and good our Lord is!

When my kids were little I did all the typical things for them and with them in the fall, even making the mistake one time of taking them to a haunted hayride! I made all their costumes, we carved pumpkins and we jumped in the leaves. We would go to the local farm market Fall events and have caramel apples. I am looking forward to when I can do all that again with my grandchildren.

Fall is also the time that I start making my Christmas cookies. November 1st I start. I make them and freeze them unfrosted and when the time comes to start giving them away as gifts, which could be early December, I am ready. I just have to defrost them as I need them, frost them, put them in a nice tin and there is the gift.....one of the best gifts of the season I can think of!

If I am ambitious someday maybe I will post some of my most prized Christmas cookie recipes....would anyone be interested in that?
Have a wonderful evening....
AnnMarie

This is an Etsy Blogger team post
To read my fellow EtsyBloggers team posts for this carnival- visit here
http://etsybloggers.blogspot.com/2011/10/etsybloggers-blog-carnival-for-103111.html

October One Day at a Time

I love these day by day posts because finding something to highlight each day helps to make the day more fun somehow.


Since October is my favorite month of the year, I decided to give you a peek at October in my world, one day at a time.


1 - My granddaughter Cassidy plays Fall Ball every year, the only girl on an all boys team. It is a family thing, her Dad coaching and her Mom keeping score. Cassidy is at bat with her neon yellow socks!

2 - My large hardy salmon colored Mum finally bloomed. The rain spread it out but it still looks pretty.

3 - Sadly, last evening we were given the news that our dear friend Fred passed away from a massive stroke. As my daughter put it, "he was one cool old dude". He was a father/grandfather figure for our family. The strangest thing happened on the day he died...October 2nd. Earlier that day my sister texted me to remind me that my natural Father died 49 years ago that day. That evening we heard of Fred's death.

4 - How lazy can a fat cat get? Here is Cyrus, laying down using his paw to pull the dish up to his mouth so he can eat. This cat has personality plus!

5- Wednesday is my day with my grandson JC. He likes to play with all the toys, even the necklaces. Hey, pirates wear them!

6 - Today was Fred's memorial service. It was a celebration of him and the wonderful life he lived till the age of 86. Here are a picture of his sons, Mike and Kevin and my husband Frank. The brothers told my husband that Fred thought of him as a son, which meant the world to Frank.

7 - I found this treasure at the local Habitat for Humanity Restore. It is a mercury glass pumpkin that is pink on the outside. Goes perfect on my parlor mantel and is so pretty lit up at night.

8 - On a weekend away to a Fall festival in Ellicotville, NY, this was a scene we passed by while walking. Kind of Harry Potter-ish.....

 9 - I picked up some leaves while there and brought them home to wax.

10 - My sister Michele was home from Florida for the weekend so we all decided to get together on Columbus Day since the kids were off from school. We went on an apple tasting tour to local farm markets. It was a sunny, crisp and chilly day so we huddled close together to get a selfie while the kids played.

From left to right, my daughter Jena, me, my sister Rosanne,
sister Michele and my daughter Candice

11 - I took a drive to check on my booth today at Ye Olde Schoolhouse Country Store. It was a beautiful sunny, clear day.

 I found a few things were sold and I needed to move some things around. That's always a good thing!

12 - My son does not feed himself lunch so is usually starving by dinner. He wanted something easy to make and mentioned in jest that he should become a real college student by eating Ramen noodles. So, when I was at Aldi's I picked up a pack of them. He loves them and is now an official college student :-) Did you know that the stuff has 900+ mg of salt in it? Bleh.

13 - Every month on the 13th my husband and I celebrate our wedding day with a small gift to each other. His gift, from me, was a homemade apple dumpling with caramel sauce from a local farm market and mine is this t-shirt from the Fringe Fest. Our Community Theatre performed at this anything goes arts festival in downtown Rochester. I have a thing right now for t-shirts (especially gray) with logos on them. This says "The Fringe. Unordinary" with a skyline of Rochester.

14 - Twice a year, Spring and Fall, I look forward to the barn sale on Johnson Rd. in my town. The owners of the antique store on Main St. hold a huge barn sale at their home with extra stuff from their shop. I have gotten some great stuff with really low prices. Today, another gorgeous clear day, was the day for the Fall sale!

15 - My bucket of Bacopa is still blooming, or more like blooming again! The perfect little lavender flowers die off and then appear all at once several times throughout the summer. I was surprised to see them again in mid-October!

16 - It was 75 degrees today so after church we decided to take a ride to Yia Yia's Ice Cream Shoppe for one last Monkey Madness sundae. They close for the season on October 17th. That sundae is so good and so big. It is hot fudge, peanut butter sauce, peanuts, bananas, waffle cone pieces, vanilla ice cream and repeat! Topped off with whipped cream and a cherry. I was so busy digging in that I forgot to take a picture of the sundae!

17 - I finished my Christmas project! I just thought these trees were adorable when I saw a similar project on the internet. I decided to make some of my own to sell in my booth. I had the thread spools, Hymnal book pages and the "snow". I found the cute bottle brush trees on Etsy and the pearl and rhinestone peel and stick embellishments at Michael's. I made 16 in all. They are all just a little different from each other.

 18 - Every year my sweet friend Bonnie and I celebrate our birthdays together.We go out to lunch and then find a new coffee shop to try.  Today was for Bonnie's special day. This year we found the Glen Edith Coffee Roasters, off Park Ave in Rochester, NY. I forgot to take a picture of the two of us but I did take one of the latte's.....yummy Fall flavors called Oktoberfest and Honey Harvest.

19 - We had comfort food for dinner tonight....White Chili. This stuff is so good with chicken, white beans, green chilies, corn, sour cream and cream. It warms the belly. Don't eat too much or it will fatten the belly!

20 - I live one block from the intersection of the "Four Churches of Palmyra",  a signature site in the town, and three of them had rummage sales today! It was pouring down rain but I made it to all three between dropping my son off at school and getting to work at the shop where I have a booth. This is my haul....not as much as usual but still good. Two things are not shown because I already took them to my booth.

a sunhat made out of twigs, a 1950's ceiling light, a fridge
jar, a wooden Santa, a box of vintage pins, two metal Sexton
antique car wall hangings all on top of a snowman flag

21 -  It is a miserable day with cold, damp rain expected all day. I am not going anywhere so I decided to make another 3 Ingredient Pumpkin Cake. My son will eat it for breakfast and then I will serve it later with coffee when a girlfriend comes over. Love this cake!

22 - In the 44 degree, rainy, damp weather I went to a flea market today. Yup, I am one of those diehard thrifters and yes, we have had non-stop rain for three days!! I found some great stuff, the best of which is this upcycled wooden coke crate, made into a tray table. It can be a mini bar, a planter box or, with a piece of glass or wood, a side table. Actually I bought two of them! One for my booth and one for my Etsy shop.

Available

23 - My husband and I took Chloe and JC to pick pumpkins today at a local farm market. It was so busy there, it was crazy trying to pick pumpkins and keep track of two little ones. We survived and here is Nonno leading the way out of the whirlwind!

24 - I went out on a limb today and bought some Pumpkin Spice coffee creamer at Aldi's. I usually don't go for that kind of stuff because it is way too sweet, but I was in the mood for something pumpkin in my coffee. I tried it in my after dinner decaf. I was cautious not to fill the bottom of my cup with it....I just put little bits in with my usual non-flavored creamer and it is pretty good. Just a light taste of pumpkin spice. Hmmm, if you go by the serving size on the bottle of 1 tablespoon it is not too bad!

25 - The Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies are baked and ready for grandkids to decorate tomorrow. I have peanut butter and buttercream for frosting, candy corn, mini chocolate chips, M & M's and sprinkles to decorate with.

26 - Today JC is home sick so it is Chloe and Cassidy decorating cookies. There are no rules and as much as I try to get them to make faces on the pumpkins, this is more fun!

My daughter got in on it too, decorating a few to eat before running off to work.

27 - Woke up to snow this morning...I had to capture it early before it melted....wishful thinking!

28 - We drove the 3 1/2 hours to Toronto, Canada today to see an NBA basketball game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors. We were in the nosebleed section....literally! I felt quite dizzy up there! The Cav's won 94-91.

29 - We had the whole day to spend in Toronto before heading home tomorrow. We went to Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament for a chicken dinner you eat with your hands and a tournament of knights and horses that involved games and jousting. It was a fun, must see event if you are in Toronto.

30 - Today I am the featured guest post for Ms. Toody Goo Shoes Favorite Things feature. I got to pick a few of my favorite things and write about them!

31 - With Halloween comes cute pictures of my grandchildren in their costumes. My daughter Candice (Cassidy's Mom) wore the mouse costume that I made when she was about 2. She is 34! Oh, the memories!

Cassidy - the accident victim

JC & Chloe - cat and mouse

Coming up this Friday, November 4th, my Etsy shop NaNa's Things will be featured on At Home With Jemma. Jemma's Old Fashioned Christmas Shopping feature will highlight a different Etsy shop each Friday. Shopping for Christmas décor and gift items each week will be fun in the comfort of your own home. I will be offering 15% off all items in my shop......there are over 520 great vintage and holiday décor items.  I hope you will stop over and browse my selection of vintage goodies to decorate with or to gift to a vintage lover you know. There's nothing like vintage to warm your home at Christmas!

Hello November!

AnnMarie xoxo

I am sharing with these fun blog parties:

Share Your Cup

Thriving on Thursday

Thoughts of Home

No Rules Weekend Blog Party

Simple & Sweet Fridays

Home Sweet Home