Happy Halloween!

As I've blogged before, autum is not my favorite season, but autumn flavors are my favorite. I went to a pumpkin carving party last weekend (see photo for impressive carved pumpkins!), and I intended to make these cookies then, but I ran short on time so it didn't happen. Tomorrow, I'm headed to a Halloween/Birthday party, and it still totally and completely pumpkin and cranberry season, so I gave these cookies a whirl. A friend makes pumpkin cookies by mixing a can of pumpkin w/ spice cake mix, and those cookies are delish and w/ a good amount of spice, but I just so happened to have ALL of these ingredients on hand (including pumpkin!), so I opted for this recipe.

The dough itself is easy enough to mix. There's some leftover pumpkin, but I imagine myself using it in pancake batter (OMG, I can't wait!). It didn't say to let it chill before making the cookies, and maybe it wasn't necessary, but the dough is certainly sticky and a little hard to work with. After making the first batch, I threw it in the fridge to harden it up a bit. My first batch were also quite big... ah well, you live, you learn. The cookies also are more cake like then I expected. But I do love soft cookies, so I'm pretty happy with them.

I'm not a huge frosted cookie fan. I don't think it's needed, and since I LOVE pumpkin, I didn't want to mask any of that deliciousness. BUT, I also love cranberries, so I thought to meself, perhaps I can add a fresh cranberry on top and it'll bake in. I was a bit worried that they may not burst, but they all did. I split the batch half and half, but they're all lovely...

Since today was the last day in the office before Halloween, we all dressed up. We ended up taking a bunch of pictures in the middle of the afternoon, and it was a blast. I didn't have my full costume on, but just a bit of a test run for tomorrow night's retro party! Here's a pic of me and my colleagues Shelby and Delysha...

Family Reunion

Last night about 20 Drahan's convened in northern Maryland for my first ever family reunion. I was a bit nervous to see family members I hadn't seen since I was 12 or 15, but all in all it was a lot of fun. There were some I hadn't met, some I couldn't have picked out of a lineup if you paid me, and others that it was like no time has passed. It was great catching up w/ all.

It had rained for 3 days straight, so it was cold, wet, and rainy, and not quite what we were hoping for, but we all packed ourselves into Charlie's while Uncle Sidney made pizzas. I got my parents up on Skype and everyone was able to say hi to them. I think that was a lot of fun for my parents, to see everyone and feel like they were a part of the reunion. Sid and Penny's food was good, and Penny made a cake from my childhood, so that was yummy.

Eventually the youngest generation (not mine...) went out to the barn to ride some horses bareback. It was fun to watch them, and I was really impressed by how good everyone was.

Here's a pic of me and my cousins Parker and Adam.