Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies -- Happy Halloween!

First things first: I guess that October decided to dress up as December for Halloween this year, huh?

For serious. Not cool. I'm still having nightmares about commuting in last year's epic snowstorms and I'm completely not ready to start dealing with all that mess again. Fall, come back for awhile, k?

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies: Who Have You Hugged Today?

Most of you probably know that October is breast cancer awareness month. Now, I know it's not October yet, but it's pretty darn close, and I think this post is deservedly a bit early.

Pecan Cinnamandies

My boyfriend's going to Africa. Did I mention that? Oh yeah. For like five weeks. And sure, I mean, it's with his grad school program not like an Iron Man-style walkabout (oh wait; that's Australia...whoops), but c'mon...Africa's kinda far away.

So clearly, the thing to do when one's significant other is departing for a foreign country is to make them cookies.

Snickerdoodles: Sugar-Coated Nostalgia

This past weekend, I hopped a train and chugged down the Northeast Corridor to the City of Brotherly Love--Philadelphia, home of such illustrious denizens as the Liberty Bell and the cheesesteak. I was invited to a party given by a friend of mine who'd just graduated from college the week before, and as I welcome any excuse to return to Philly, I was more than happy to attend.

Cookies for a Cause! -- Share Our Strength Bake Sale

This weekend, I had the privilege of helping out at the Great American Bake Sale's New York City location. The event was organized by the nonprofit group Share Our Strength, which works to educate people about childhood hunger and, by increasing awareness, take steps to supply children with healthy, affordable food. I found out about the bake sale as I was perusing one of the other baking blogs I frequent, and I thought it sounded like a fantastic opportunity to give back (after volunteering became second nature to me during my undergrad years, it seems odd to me that it's so hard to get involved now).

If you give a Tara a cookie...

Well, clearly she'll want some milk to go with it, but the cookie is the only real non-negotiable part. On this, a gorgeous Mother's Day weekend, Middle Chip and a took a mid-morning jaunt to a lovely little mecca called Milk & Cookies. We oohed. We aahed. We got there 20 minutes after opening.

Cookie porn after the jump.

Saturday Night Baking Fever

I ask you this question: What does one do on a weekend evening with no plans and nothing on TV?

Obviously, one bakes three batches of cookies. And, since one is bored and lonely, one convinces Baby Chip to help by giving her the job of Baking Photographer. Thus, all photo credits for this post go to my aspiring photographer sister.