Pumpkin and Cookies

When I was about 7 (give or take a year or two), my family carved the first and only pumpkin we would ever carve. I like to think it was because they loved me so much and wanted to give me a proper American Halloween. Though in actuality, it probably had something to do with me begging and begging to have a traditional American Halloween.

So we went out and bought a giant pumpkin and I watched as my dad and my older sister (Thao!), scooped out the pumpkin innards and carved out a traditional looking Jack-O-Lantern. Of course, no one told us the logistics of putting a candle in the pumpkin and lighting it up so we just had a hallowed out pumpkin sitting on the windowsill of the living room. It wasn't quite traditional but it was close enough.

And like any proper Asian family, we kept that pumpkin there for the decoration until sometime around November, when it finally started to rot and my mom insisted we throw the contaminated thing out.

This year, my sister Thao, the one who helped my dad carve our first family pumpkin, decided to host a pumpkin carving party. Imagine my surprise considering we never carved another one in our family. With the help of a very sharp knife and my ability to slice into a hard surface and not hurt myself, I created a pumpkin that embodied both the Eastern and Western part of the my personality.

At least that's the profound answer for that. In actuality, I just wanted to see if I could make a pumpkin look stereotypically Asian. I think I succeeded.

It's now sitting on a New York City stoop, in the company of other, more grisly-looking pumpkins.

And since this is the season where the pumpkin flavor is inescapable and it's my first East Coast Halloween, I made some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Now, I didn't think much of the result at first (since I've always said that I like to make them but I hardly ever like to eat them) but these cookies were described by various people as "orgasmic," "I just want to steal these so no one else can have some," and "OMG...those cookies..."

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
(adapted from AllRecipes.com)

Yield: 2 dozen small cookies, 1 dozen large cookies

Ingredients

* 1.5 cup canned pumpkin
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1 egg
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon milk
* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
* 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla.
2. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt.
4. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
5. Add chocolate chips.
6. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10-12 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

These are supposed to have a cake-like consistency. The pumpkin flavor is not very strong so if you want a stronger flavor, I would suggest adding in more pumpkin puree (to taste) and more cinnamon. But try it out and wow your guests at the next fall season party.

Enjoy and Happy Halloween everyone!