For November 20

Maple Walnut Crisps, The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion

Nibby Nut and Raisin Cookies, Alice Medrich, Bittersweet

Continuing two different themes this week.  First, my "yes, it's autumn" theme with maple walnut cookies from a cookbook written in Vermont.  Indeed, these use Vermont Maple Syrup and also Maple Sugar that I ordered from the King Arthur Flour store in Norwich, VT.  Because I don't have any maple extract or maple flavor right now, the  maple flavoring is not as strong as in the biscotti a few weeks ago; indeed, with the toasted walnuts (and there are a lot of them in this recipe), the walnut flavor is quite prominent.  But a nice autumn cookie nonetheless.

Second, I am still working through some of Alice Medrich's cookies that reflect her love affair with cacao nibs.  Cacao nibs are a precursor to chocolate, and have an intense flavor but not the sugar sweetness of chocolate.  These particular cookies have cacao nibs, pecans and raisins in about equal measure.  Probably a little more "grown up" than the first cookies, but also quite nice.

Next week, of course is Thanksgiving.  I will be up in Yosemite, which has become a tradition for us.  A different combination of people this year, so we have yet to figure out the cooking for our Thanksgiving "pot luck" dinner.  I will probably do a pumpkin pie or tart, and who knows what else.  And tradition dictates that I make my usual corn, bean and pumpkin stew, which we eat for the days after Thanksgiving, and is a delicious, flavorful, and very healthy way to compensate for the excess of Thanksgiving while also filling your stomach with good stuff after a day of hiking in the forests of Yosemite.

For November 13

Oy, it's late.

OK, back from China.  They don't have very good cookies in China.  And not nearly enough chocolate.  Here are some cookies and some chocolate.  Can you say autumn???

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies with Brown-Butter Icing, from Martha Stewart's Cookies

Applesauce Spice Bars, from Dorie Greenspan, Baking

In the first recipe, the chocolate chips are my addition - the recipe is for plain pumpkin cookies with icing.  I realized rather late in the day that I didn't have any chocolate in my recipes this week, and decided to add the chocolate chips at the last minute.  Andy does not approve, since he thinks that pumpkin and chocolate are not flavors that go together; however, there are a million recipes that say "au contraire".  As he pointed out, it will not keep him from eating 1 or 2 (dozen).  I made these cookies around 2 years ago, for the tea and cookies before Faith-Mind's shuso hossen ceremony.  I think I made the applesauce bars before also, but I really have no memory of them.  They also have an icing, so this was a complicated cookie week, 2 varieties each with its own icing.

OK, now to bed.

[Belated] For October 23

At 1:40 a.m. on October 23, I left for China with a group from ZCLA.  However, even though I got married the Saturday before and then had to deal with packing, etc., I still managed to bake some cookies for the Thursday night talk and for the China pilgrims.  Here is what I made:

Maple Walnut Biscotti, from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion

Nibby Buckwheat Cookies, from Alice Medrich, Bittersweet.