I was so excited to bust out my Christmas decorations yesterday.  I have spent way too much time lately wandering around Target, drooling over the trees and the glass balls and the wreaths and the general sparkle and gleam.  In my head, my little apartment was going to look very similar.  This is what I found:

• a crappy 6 foot tree, that is only 6 foot because the tallest spindle sticks up a good 9 or 10 inches with no shoots coming off
• the ugliest doily ornament I have ever seen.  Someone must have used varnish or something to harden it into a cowboy-hat shape.  A sprig of fake holly and an interwoven red ribbon make all of my Western Christmas dreams come true.
• approximately 5,000 candy canes.  Apparently in the past I’ve thought to myself, we need to spruce up the apartment! and went to the store to buy decorations only to realize that all I could afford was a box of candy canes.

And that’s about it. I guess I will have to bake my way into Christmas cheer.  I can always afford flour and sugar.  Bring on the Christmas cookies.

This recipe is so good and sooo easy.  It probably took me less than 10 minutes to put it together.  The meat was so tender I couldn’t help myself from sneaking little bits of it before and after dinner.  I should probably apologize to my brother and Eric’s sister, who were over when we had this, for making them uncomfortable by complimenting my own food way more than they were.

Mediterranean Pork with Couscous
Source: Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

2 to 2 1/2 pounds boneless pork loin, trimmed of fat (or the equivalent of boneless pork chops)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 tablespoons paprika
1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram (I didn’t have any so I sprinkled on a little Italian Seasoning)
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
2 cups couscous, prepared according to package directions

In a liquid measuring cup combine the oil, broth and spices. Cut small slits with a paring knife into the pork roast (or pork chops). Place the pork in a 4-quart slow cooker and pour the broth/spice mixture over the top of the pork. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 7-8 hours until the pork is tender.

Remove the pork from the slow cooker and shred into pieces. If you have a stand mixer, throw the pork in it and mix it with the paddle.  I found this idea on Pinterest and it has changed my life, because I hate shredding meat.

Return the shredded pork to the slow cooker and toss with the juices/liquid. Serve the meat/juices over couscous.  3 cheers for couscous, by the way, my new favorite grain.

Do you see this meal?  It was meant for 14 people.

In case you are not understanding what is ridiculous yet, let me explain that this picture was taken after 14 people had had seconds and thirds. Do you see how each dish has maybe a quarter of it gone? Do you see the second huge red bowl of mashed potatoes at the top?  Do you see the platter of Puerto Rican pork roast that we made in addition to the 20 pound turkey?  Are we insane?  I think I will still be eating this stuff in February.

Such a fun weekend.  Eric and Charlotte and I drove out to California to see my parents and my oldest brother and his family.

Here’s Eric and Char on the salt flats.  Can you believe he drove the whole way, there and back?  He is a saint. (He also gets sick reading in the car).

I think the best part of the trip was watching my 14 month old nephew play the drums on Charlotte’s head.  She honestly didn’t mind.  This weekend was probably more fun for her than the rest of her life combined.  How can you compete with cousins, who are like giant moving toys that chatter and whistle and squeal and give you constant attention?

Or maybe the best part was the newts that my 7 year old nephew brought home from his backpacking trip with his parents.  (That’s right.  A 7 year old on a 17 mile backpacking trip.  Hardcore.)

So tiny! They named her Sally.

He also brought 6 fuzzy caterpillars.  If I ever have a boy, I hope I am as cool as my brother and his wife, who bend over backwards to make sure their boys get to do awesome boy stuff like collect bugs and amphibians.  It is kind of like watching Calvin and Hobbes’ adventures come to life.

I was not excited to make these cookies.  I’m not the hugest pumpkin-chocolate fan.  It’s okay, just not my favorite.  Eric however, loves it. I thought I had taken care of his pumpkin-chocolate needs earlier in the season when I made these guys, which I liked way more than I thought I would.  I guess that should have been an indication that I actually do like pumpkin and chocolate together.  These cookies taste like an extremely rich and dense maple doughnut, sans the maple flavor.  I ate way more than Eric did.

This is the last pumpkin recipe of the season, I promise.  Believe me when I say I restrained myself from posting several other recipes that were awesome, but I figured I would start getting boycotted for lack of variety.  Either that or everyone would start assuming I was pregnant and having cravings.  Instead let’s just accept my love affair with the pumpkin and move on.

To bigger and better things. To Christmas! Yeah!  Bring it on!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies with Brown Sugar Icing
Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

Cream together:
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened

Then add:
1 cup pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg

Sift together dry ingredients then add to above wet mixture.
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Add 1 cup milk chocolate chips. (I used semi sweet.  I think it would be over the top with milk chocolate.)

The dough will be very wet still. Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes depending how large your cookies are. (Warning: make these cookies very small.  They explode and die if they are too big.  We’re talking like a little more than a teaspoon or two of dough here.)  Allow to cool then frost.

Icing:
3 T butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. milk
2 c. powdered sugar

In saucepan, heat butter and brown sugar over medium to med-high heat until bubbling and thick. Cool 10 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup milk. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Sometimes after I exercise I get all excited about being healthy and end up making rash choices, like deciding to do a sugar fast.  Lest you think I don’t know myself at all, let me confirm that we are not talking about an extended period of time.  I overheard a couple friends of mine talking once about the sugar fast they were doing–for a month.  A month.  I think I would shrivel up and die. Or maybe just lose 10 pounds.

I am not insane, or even slightly noble, so I decided that my sugar fast would be one day (baby steps, people).  Not 24 hours, because then I could eat ice cream at 5pm one day, and then have ice cream the very next night, because technically it had been 24 hours.  I usually get my sugar fix in the evening, so my fast was going to be from the minute I woke up to the minute I went to sleep.

Things were going good for the first part of the day.  Breakfast, easy.  I bypassed the chocolate kisses passed around in Relief Society (I chose a Sunday, a real doozie since that is a traditional baking day).  We got home from church and I successfully distracted myself, probably with Jane Austen.  I needed comfort. (“I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow”).* 

But I was weakening.  I could hear the kitchen calling to me.  I didn’t even want to make dinner because I knew that would get me closer to the chocolate chips in the freezer.

But it was Eric who broke me.  Even though he knew I was on a sugar fast he decided to shoulder the baking duty that I had neglected. He flipped through the cookbook, found these, and had them made in no time.  I decided to have just one bite.

By the end of the night I had eaten 6 of them.

Sour Cream Chocolate Drops
Source: Better Homes and Gardens

1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1 cup sour cream (I used light)
2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350.  In a mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer (or stand mixer) until fluffy.  Add brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.  Beat until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla.  Add melted chocolate. (There will probably be flecks of hardened chocolate which makes it look strange but once you bake it you can’t tell) Beat in sour cream. Beat in flour.

Drop by slightly rounded teaspoons (or use a cookie scoop) 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are firm.  Let cool on pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.  When they are cool (yeah right!) you are ready to put on the frosting:

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

1/4 cup butter
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat butter until fluffy.  Add 1 cup powdered sugar and cocoa and beat.  Add milk and vanilla, then beat some more.  Add in the remaining 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and beat beat beat.  Add more milk if it is too thick to spread. Yum!

*Name that book!  Come on, this is child’s play.