Holiday Cookies

 Joel saw the above picture and kinda went crazy for a minute. He was like "Ohhh! Those look GOOD! You have to make those!" I'm going to, as soon as I can get my hands on some Oreos. Something else that's really yummy is brownies that have Oreos inside them! You bake them in cupcake tins. Yeah, very un-healthful, but also killer deliciousness! My sister-in-law, Amy, makes them just perfect.

I think these melting snowman cookies look pretty cute (and sweet)! I'm sure they'd be very easy, and you could do a lot of different snow people faces to make your unique.

Pumpkin Pie Recipe

For Thanksgiving this year, I went to Food Network.com to find a really great pumpkin pie recipe. Boy, did I find one! It's by Paula Deen (my sisters will love that, I know), and is as easy as it is delicious. 
Ingredients:

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
• 1 piece pre-made pie dough
• Whipped cream, for topping 
• Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.
For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.
Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream.