Frosted Pumpkin Cookies

The past three days have proven to be the coldest and rainiest days we have seen in our area in months.  As I look out my kitchen window all is gray and wet. The beautiful leaves have fallen and are filling our driveway. The hens are tucked away in their cozy coop, although I sense they are not completely pleased with the rain or being kept in. They have all grown to love roaming around the yard! Inside our home all is warm and cheering. A cozy fire blazes in the stove; Adam and Jemimah have enjoyed listing to records on Adam's old phonograph while I bake cookies.

This particular cookie recipe has been a family favorite for many years now. The soft cookie and cinnamon frosting are a terrific combination. The spicy fragrance of cinnamon filling the air makes the dark day cozy. And what could be better than the excitement of my little Jemimah as she saw the cookies baking in the oven? She danced about the kitchen yelling "cookies!" and then enjoyed eating a cookie straight from the oven without frosting.

Frosted Pumpkin Cookies-

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening (I used coconut oil)
1 cup canned pumpkin ( I used fresh pumpkin puree)
1 egg
2 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions: In a large bowl, cream butter, shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in pumpkin and egg. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; gradually add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until firm. Allow to completely cool before frosting.

Cinnamon Frosting-
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 butter softened
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3-4 Tbsp. milk (or enough to achieve desired consistency)

Combine all four ingredients and mix until smooth. Frost cooled cookies.

 And just for fun I am adding a picture I took of our hens earlier this week. While we finished stacking our fire wood for the season, they enjoyed taking dirt baths in my flower bed. Oh well, at least it is the end of the flower season!

I hope you are enjoying a pleasant weekend! Are you baking anything special to keep your home cozy and autumnal?

"This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

Goldilocks Inspired Dress

Over the years my mom has sewn many beautiful dresses inspired by European folk wear. We both have worked to create and alter designs for our website and Etsy page. Recently we received a request to alter one of our designs to resemble an illustration from Jan Brett's "Goldilocks and the Three Bears".

Usually my mom sews all of our European dresses, however she was completely booked for the month and I had a little extra time, so I was given this project. : )

My mom has a beautiful collection of floral ribbons. We thought this ribbon looked quite similar to the illustration. The customer had mentioned that she liked the hand embroidery shown on our original dress, so I decided to try and incorporate both. It was fun to match the embroidery floss to the colors in the ribbon.

I added little cap sleeves to the dirndl. The sleeve pattern I used was called an "angel" sleeve. It was a little larger and fuller than I liked, so I cut it down to the size that I thought was "just right".

And to finish the ensemble I sewed a long sleeve peasant blouse from white batiste. It is always fun to see what ideas and inspiration customers send our way.