- Pumpkin Cookies

Dear Fans of Hounds Who Cook,

It's a real halloweeny day with winds and leaves flying and a kind of irrevocable chill where it's not too cold yet, but you know there's  no more Reprieve coming. Such as an Indian Summer day where a dog could lie in the sun in the grass and wonder about rabbits. No more of those days.

Our girl was carving pumpkins for the trick or treaters who will come tonight. She saved the seeds for us - froze them raw and will dole them out in our food (ground up) as the months go by. They are full of nutrients. So we came to have a source of Pumpkin. Some of the jack-o-lanterns had light colored and somewhat lightweight insides. Others, though, had a dense, dark orange meat with more sliminess to it and we knew that was the good cookin kind.

We have had in mind The Pumpkin Cookie for some days, so now we find ourselves with pumpkin to make them and all that we need. Here's the recipe we found which we have altered to our hound tastes. The original is at recipezaar.com.

Eli's Pumpkin Cookies for Reformation Day (also Halloween)
1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup fresh pumpkin puree, drained (or use canned)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or use white)
1 teaspoon  baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon mace
 
Penuche Glaze
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2-2 cups powdered sugar

Cream butter and the sugars together until light and fluffy. Blend in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract.
In separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Mix flour mixture into butter-sugar mixture.

Drop tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until golden around the edges. Transfer cookies to racks. Let cool completely for a least one half hour, then drizzle with glaze.

For Glaze: In a medium saucepan, heat butter and brown sugar over medium heat until bubbly. Cook, stirring constantly, for one minute or until slightly thickened. Beat in the milk. Blend in confectioner's sugar until the glaze is smooth and spreadable. Drizzle over cookies. Glaze will harden quickly - keep the saucepan warm to prevent it from hardening.

Notes from Elias: This is really my recipe as I am the dog who eats the most pumpkin. Pumpkin is good for dogs. We baked up our pumpkin (instead of boiling, which just adds more moisture, we presume), took off the peel (which we dogs ate right up), and ran it through a food mill to puree it. Then we let it sit in a sieve to drain extra juice (which we dogs also ate right up). Canned pumpkin might make a denser cookie, but not, we believe, a better cookie. 

- Apple Stuffing for Pork Roast

Dear Fans of Hounds Who Cook,

It's a crisp Saturday morning and the local neighborhood canvasser just came by to talk to our girl Me out at the garden. He has an idea of who she should vote for for president so they are engaged in pleasant and animated discussion as the Gute (goot) looks on from the living room window. At the least sign of malice, the Gute will bark his most fearsome bark and send said canvasser skittling. But so far, Me is holding her sole ear of indian corn and a pail full of tomatoes and small thin eggplants steadily and the local neighborhood canvasser is down-gazing as they speak.

Me returned to the home wishing she had said that it's not about this candidate or that one, it's about people's hearts. It's not all of the circumstances around us, it us, we ourselves, who need to change. "That's why I don't like politics," she told us when she came in. "Because it makes us identify the completely wrong problem."

So, I, Elias, did the most a dog can do. I sat nearby, I nosed her tenderly with my snout, and I planned to make Apple Stuffing for the Pork Roast that tomorrow would hold. Luckily she has a whole loaf of oatmeal bread and so we'll make it from scratch. The Gute sat beside her on a dining room chair, facing toward the table, as she was, as though he were waiting for lunch. It was his way of being near. And also it was the best spot of sun in the house at the moment.

The politics of man and beast aside, I searched the Internet most thoroughly for the best of all possible Apple Stuffing (aka Dressing) recipe. As always, recipes abounded and I turned to our most reliable, faithful, and beloved website of all time (besides our own): epicurious.com. I, Elias, head chef for the day, adapted this from them. I especially love it because we can also use some of the apple jelly we made back in August. I am including a (rare) photo of me showing affection for the cat because it turns out he was my greatest proponent for the Apple Stuffing instead of Tangerine Kiwi Salsa. Cats don't like tangerine.

Eli's Apple Stuffing for Pork Roast and Other Daily Uses
Me's Independent Rating: 2.5/3

6 slices firm bread, cubed
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (or part cooking oil)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped celery including leaves
1-1/2 lb tart apples
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage (=1/4 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme (=1/4 teaspoon dried)
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1-1/2 cups water
1/4 cup apple jelly
1 tablespoon arrowroot or flour
1 tablespoon butter (or pork fat)

(Revised 10/19/08)
Spread out the bread cubes on baking sheets and bake at 350F for 15 minutes to toast them. Saute onion and celery in butter in a 12-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 5 minutes.

Peel and core the apples and cut into 1/4-inch-thick wedges.

Stir apples, sugar, salt, pepper, sage, thyme, nutmeg, and cinnamon in to skillet. Reduce heat to low, then cook, covered, stirring, until apples are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in toast cubes, parsley, and chives.

Oil a casserole pan and toss the stuffing lightly into the pan. Bake covered at 350°F for 45 minutes. Then uncover and bake for about 15 minutes.

(This next step replaces the ridiculous Tangerine Gravy my brother would have you make with your roast.)

Skim the fat off of the drippings in the roasting pan. (We dogs would like this poured over our food at dinner time, but our Me won't do it.) Add 1-1/2 cups water and set the pan over a burner or two on high heat. Scrape all of the good flavorful bits from the bottom of the pan. In the cast iron skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the pork fat (ugh! say the humans - ok, use a tablespoon of butter) and a bit of meat juice. Heat it up and stir in 1 tablespoon flour or arrowroot to brown it. Using a sieve to strain it, pour the meat juice into the pan in a stream and whisk. Discard the solids in the sieve right into your pup's dinner bowl.

Stir in the apple jelly and any juices that have drained off the meat in the meanwhile. Simmer and whisk until jelly melts and the gravy thickens. Serve with Apple Stuffing and your Roast of Pork.

Tips from Elias:
We doubled this recipe and it still only made an average amount of stuffing - a 13x9 pan. So certainly you will want to double it, unless you're just cooking for two Or you are not stuffing hounds like us.

Tips from Guthrie:
I prefer the roast meat to the stuffing. But if you're going to eat stuffing. This is tasty.