I Once Was a Country Girl!

I had a very humbling moment yesterday. I was preparing to make cookies for an outing in the evening and decided that it was finally time to use the pumpkin I had been given by a friend - a pumpkin for baking. I asked Dave if he would mind cutting it up while I started preparing to make pumpkin cookies with cream cheese icing. I was very excited to make these cookies as I have been looking for a smooth, soft pumpkin cookie recipe that I could eat with cream cheese icing.

I had prepared all I could and turned to Dave who was cutting pumpkin pieces and Alexander who was picking out the seeds. It was at this moment, as I stared at the hard pieces of pumpkin that I asked the fateful question, "now how do they get the pumpkin all mushy?" Now please keep in mind that I was making paper mache in the afternoon in my daughter's class and sniffing and handling glue products for several hours. I am also the lone lover of squash in my household and therefore do not eat it with any frequency. In that moment as we all stared at each other questioning my upbringing I remembered that I had to cook it!

This would not be a proud moment for my Mom or Dad. They raised me much better. My sister however would just laugh and tell me I should write a book about all my funny cooking and sewing stories - although I am a capable seamstress it was many errors that have brought me this far. So in honor of my older sister, I thought I would write this embarrassing moment in the life of a "once" country girl.

So here below is proof that I made it out of my stupor and that I did not put raw pumpkin into the batter!These are the cookies.And this is the reason for making the cookies!
And in case you still have leftover pumpkin here is the recipe.

Pumpkin Cookies

2 sticks softened butter - I used 1 cup margarine
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1 cup pure canned pumpkin - I used fresh COOKED pumpkin
1tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg (I added the next two spices for my own tastes)
1/2 tsp. cloves
2 cups flour (= 1/2c and 2 scoops with the fresh pumpkin. It was still a little moist as I didn't have cheesecloth to strain the fresh pumpkin, see it's all coming back!)

I used my own cream cheese icing recipe.

1 pkg. cream cheese, softened

2 1/2 c. powdered sugar

6 T margarine

2 tsp. vanilla

Beat until smooth.