Chocolate and other food groups

I'm not sure if these are as popular in the rest of the country, but in Utah, they are a regular fall favorite, as well as one of Sarah's very favorite cookies. They puff up when cooked and are more like a little cake than cookies. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies 1/2 c. butter 1 c. brown sugar 1 egg 1 c. pumpkin 1 tsp. vanilla 2 c. flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. soda 1/2 tsp. nutmeg 1 c. chocolate chips In large mixer bowl, combine butter and brown sugar. Add egg, pumpkin, and vanilla. Beat well. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, soda, and nutmeg. Add dry ingredients slowly and beat well. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheets and bake at 375 for 8 to 10 minutes. Makes about 36-40 cookies.

Sarah's Guitar Cake This year for her birthday, Sarah wanted a yellow cake made from scratch, decorated to look like a guitar. There's the picture above. I just used the recipe from the Better Homes and Garden cookbook and then made buttercream frosting. I kept about 1/4 of the frosting and added 1 oz. melted unsweetened chocolate to the frosting. The cake was baked in a 9 x 13 pan. Then I trimmed off a 4 inch strip for the neck of the guitar and freehanded the body of the guitar. I actually made a pattern out of wax paper, but I had to sort of guess. I think it turned out pretty well! The strings on the guitar are red lace licorice and the rest of the decorations are Starburst candies. I stuck them in the microwave for 10 seconds then shaped them into the way I wanted them. Add 14 candles, and that's all! Happy birthday!

Pizza, along with chocolate, is one of the major food groups at our house. We have pizza at least once a week. Sometimes we do that $5 deal from Little Caesar's, but it's usually homemade. Here are our three favorite recipes. Cindy's Pizza My favorite recipe is from the Make A Mix cookbook. It involves making Hot Roll Mix and then using that plus yeast and some water to make a dough. Then I roll that out and let it set about 10 minutes before topping. Randy's Pizza I'd love to give you his recipe, but I can't, because he makes it up every time. He makes it so often that he can tell from looking at the dough what it needs. He likes to make individual pizza and calzones. Sarah's Pizza Sarah uses the Jiffy Pizza Crust mix. This one is great. It costs about 50 cents and makes one small pizza crust. Toppings We all like cheese and sauce, but the kids only like a little sauce and lots of cheese. I am the other other way round. The kids also like pepperoni. Will li...