Epic Snow Blizzard '11

Woke up to 3-4 foot snow drifts at 9am today.

Helped Mom & Dad clear snow in front of the house.

...and helped clear our neighbors' driveways.

Before:

After:

Now time for hot chocolate and a hot bath.

Cookies for the Blizzard of 2011

In honor of the thundersnow blizzard of 2011 that we are currently experiencing in Chicago, we have made one of Mia's favorite recipes:

Pumpkin Ginger Pecan Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (or 50% white sugar, 50% dark brown sugar)

1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek-style yogurt

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups sifted cake flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

pecans for topping

Directions:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat it to 350 degrees. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray or line with parchment.

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, sugar, yogurt, oil and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.

In a medium-size bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing until just blended. Top with pecans.

Drop tablespoons of the batter onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake, in 2 batches if necessary, until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

Eat! Yum!

Turtle Maki

Now that I have a proper phone camera, I am back to blogging.

I give you... Turtle Maki. From Dozika restaurant in Evanston.