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.