Gingered Carrot Soup

   
     Pumpkins, carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash- it's hard to even see them without thinking of crisp chilly nights, crunchy leaves, flaming bonfires and steaming apple cider. Orange food just seems right for fall, doesn't it?
     A big bag of carrots in my vegetable bin inspired this colorful bowl of comfort for supper the other night. Carrots, sweet nuggets of goodness packed with beta-carotene and vitamin A, make this soup a fabulous choice for those chilly fall nights. (And it's not so shabby for lunch either!)

Carrot Ginger Soup
Ingredients
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
2 lbs. carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped (the smaller you chop them, the quicker they cook)
1 large sweet onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 teaspoon curry powder
a few sprigs of thyme
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt (or to taste)
2 tablespoons minced or grated ginger (If you freeze your ginger root, then it's really easy to grate with a microplane grater.)
1 quart chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions
Gently saute onion and garlic in the butter and oil. Add carrots, thyme, ginger, curry powder, salt and chicken broth.
Simmer (covered) until carrots are tender. The length of time this takes varies, depending on your carrots and how large your carrot chunks are.
Remove sprigs of thyme and blend with an immersion or regular blender. (My immersion blender leaves the soup with a little more texture, and the regular blender makes it silky smooth. Be very careful with hot soup in a regular blender. Leave the vent lid open!)
Season to taste with freshly ground pepper.

Pumpkin Spice Pudding Cookies with Pecans and Chocolate Chips

     Happy Fall! The days are getting shorter and it's about time I dusted off my computer and got back into the kitchen. It was a lovely summer though, with visits from all of my children (and an especially long one with my grandson.) A lightning strike left me without internet for a month, and after about a week of withdrawal I actually enjoyed being unplugged! School has been taking up most of my time this past month, but we're settling into routines now and I'm feeling a little bit less frazzled at the end of each day. 

     I'm trying to stay away from sweets enjoy sweets in moderation, but when I saw these cookies from Sweet Treats and More, I had to put Jello Pumpkin Spice pudding on my grocery list. It's only available for a short time (I got it at WalMart) and gives these cookies a nice "pumpkiny" flavor without being too overpowering. In addition to the warm and spicy pumpkin flavor it adds, the pudding keeps the cookies soft and chewy- perfect for satisfying those after-school hunger pangs. :)

Pumpkin Spice Pudding Cookies with Pecans and Chocolate Chips
adapted from Sweet Treats and More

Ingredients
1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 small box (3.4 oz) Pumpkin Spice Pudding (Jello)- I found this with the seasonal baking products at WalMart
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F.
In small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. 
In mixer bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light. 
Beat in dry pudding mix. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well.
Gradually incorporate flour into mixture. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips.
Use a large cookie scoop to drop cookie dough onto parchment covered baking sheets. (My large scoop is about 3 Tablespoons.)
Bake 8-10 minutes and cool on cookie sheet until cookies are sturdy enough to remove to a cooling rack. Once cooled, store in an airtight container.
Yield: 2 dozen large cookies. (Using a smaller scoop will yield more, and will probably require a shorter baking time.)