My son, Ryan, spent 4 months on the west coast. He returned home Oct. 1st and he’s staying with me until he finds a place to relocate. He’s 26 and fun to have around so I’m enjoying it while it lasts. I think about how fun it would be to have my youngest here too, like old times; they grow far too fast!

Last week I found myself sharing my kitchen with him. We had run a few errands together and finished with one last stop at the farm stand in town; I’m so greatful that it’s still open! We picked up lots of fresh, local goodies including a 5 lb. pumpkin that he wanted to carve.

He began cleaning out the pumpkin and carving a lot of the inside flesh out so that the light would shine through the flesh of the engraving he planned on doing.

Being my son, he thought it a waste to throw the good squash away so he baked it in a casserole dish with a hint of salt for about an hour. After it was cooked through he pureed it in the blender until it was smooth, lined a colandar with paper towel, set it over a large measuring cup and added the puree and left it to drain. After about an hour or so he decided to make pumpkin cookies from a recipe he found on the internet.

The cookies were delicious and it was nice to see my kitchen being used by someone other than me.

I thought I’d share them with you, enjoy!

Here’s the link to the recipe Ryan used: http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/32364/old-fashioned-soft-pumpkin-cookies/detail.aspx