HeatherKatsoulis.com

We had a great Halloween planned. We started off with Pumpkin pancakes:

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch clove
• 1 cup milk
• 6 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 egg

Directions

1. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, spices and salt in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl whisk together milk, pumpkin, melted butter, and egg.
3. Fold mixture into dry ingredients.
4. Spray or grease a skillet and heat over medium heat: pour in 1/4 cup batter for each pancake.
5. Cook pancakes about 3 minutes per side. Serve with butter and syrup.
6. Makes about six 6-inch pancakes.

[via Recipezaar]

Then we went looking for more pumpkins to carve because this wasn’t enough:

There was a lot of jack o’ lantern carving going on all afternoon. I carved the cat, and Jim carved the rest with Syna assisting. We got our cool patterns from Zombie Pumpkins.

click for larger image

They were quite the hit with the trick or treaters.

Then we made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cakies (cake-like cookies), my all time favorite fall, pumpkin recipe.
This recipe is ever so slightly adapted from marthastewart.com (chips instead of glaze).

We used to buy these from Gap Mountain Bread every fall in Troy (now Keene), NH – I miss NH in the fall.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 can (15 ounces) pure pumpkin puree
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin-pie spice, and salt; set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg; beat until smooth. With mixer on low speed, alternately add flour mixture in two parts and pumpkin puree in one, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined (do not overmix).
3. Drop dough by heaping tablespoons onto two baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until puffed and edges are golden, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating sheets once during baking. Immediately transfer cookies to wire racks, and cool completely.
4. When cookies have cooled, set them (still on rack) over a baking sheet or waxed paper. Place chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water; stir until almost melted. Remove from heat; stir until completely melted. Pour chocolate into a resealable plastic bag. Snip off a corner with scissors or a knife to make an 1/8-inch hole; pipe chocolate over cookies. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm, about 20 minutes.

 

We had a bunch of family over for pizza, and we took Syna out trick or treating around the neighborhood. It was so warm out, and the misty rain was actually refreshing after all of the running around I was doing. Syna got an amazing amount of candy for just 2 streets, maybe 15 houses. We took out about half and let her eat a few pieces. After everyone had left, Syna hung her head low and said she was sad because Halloween was all over. Surprisingly, she slept great.