I Heart: food

1.Don't you agree that September is a difficult month to cook. Well, I actually find every month difficult to cook, but when summer has ended, and it is still warm outside I find myself wondering what food season we are in.  I am looking forward to cooler days, pumpkin bars and chili, but it is still 90 degrees here and my summer basil just doesn't sound good.  I headed over to The Pioneer Woman for some inspiration and found some! Her tasty kitchen blog is yummers.  Real food, good food, food fit for a cowboy and that works on this frontier.  The other night I made this. Get on over there for some ideas for dinner.

2.A new obsession of mine is Greek Yogurt.  Yet again, I have Becca to thank for expanding my horizons.  She was munching on it the other day(back in August), then I spotted samples at the fair from the local Iowa dairy, and now I have a full blown addiction.  It's finally yogurt that eats like a meal.  I was never a huge fan before the Greek rage.  It has way more protein and I swear less sugar than the regular, the thickness and flavor just make me feel good.  The boys even heart it too.

{My new favorite breakfast}

3.  In my struggle to find my place in Knoxville, my sister recommended that I start to bake for people. People I don't know.  She said it would be good "energy" to share(myself) with others and I decided to listen to her wise advise.  I love to bake, and she was right when she said food brings people together and will provide an opening to start relationships. 

The dog had been roaming the neighborhood a little and well... scarring a neighbor two doors down who had not met him yet.  She put out an email asking who's it was.  I answered saying it was my precious(by precious I mean preciously annoying), big, black, bouncy dog.  She was very understanding which I appreciated, and this was my chance to  manipulate-I mean-bake for her.  This is one of my favorite cookies, and although it always feels a little Christmas-y, my kids heart these year round.

I call them Molasses Cookies.  The official name is Holiday Gingersnaps:

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp.

1 cup sugar, (plus more for rolling)

1 egg

1/3 cup molasses

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.  Combine flour, spices, salt, soda in a bowl.  In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar and egg at medium speed 2 minutes, until fluffy.  Add molasses, beat 1 minute; slowly add flour mixture; beat to combine

Using a rounded teaspoon for each cookie, roll dough into balls, then roll in sugar and place on cookie sheet.

Bake  8-10 minutes, or until cookies are golden(I prefer these cookies a little under done).  Cool 1 minute, transfer to wire rack.

So I walked two doors down and rang the door bell of my neighbors.  She wasn't home, but I left the cookies on her porch. She called me the next day and we had a really nice conversation and I am looking forward to getting to know her better as it was a surprise to find her young and fun..  I guess I really have my pesky pup to thank, but I think the cookies really helped ;)