Giving Sandy A Finger, Dipped In Chocolate

NYC has just survived one of the most deadly periods in its history, comparing probably only to 9/11. The devastation and a wide-spread damage that the hurricane Sandy left after its 2-day fury is unfathomable and heartbreaking. My family is one of the lucky ones who didn’t lose anything, besides having no power in some areas, and everybody is alive and well.

As Sandy was having  her way with the city, my parents had to be evacuated from their coastal area home and have been staying with me for a week now. At the height of the storm, I was praying that the power would stay on, and our windows would not get blown off. My prayers were answered, but I guess by a nick of a hair, as many areas around me lost their power, and many houses and cars were damaged by fallen trees.

The city is slowly recovering, some parts will have to be re-built. Everybody is kind of shaken, just like after 9/11, that the world around us is very fragile, and we need to cherish the important things, family, friends, simple joys in life, because the material ones could be gone in a matter of seconds. What you’ll be left standing with are the human connections so the energy and attention should be more on people.

Your family and friends are the ones who count the most anyway!

 

What’s Cooking This Week

What do you crave when you’re under stress? I bet you say some comfort food. Like chocolate, and since it’s Fall, maybe some pumpkin. These are the times when you don’t pay attention to calories and fat content, you just enjoy the sweet indulgence as much as you want. So as Sandy was flying around the city, I was baking cookies.  If she didn’t choke on human spirit and endurance, maybe she’d choke on some chocolate!

Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip Drop Cookies

Makes about 36 cookies:

2 cups of flour (I used gluten free Cup4Cup mix)

3/4 cup of brown sugar

1 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree, unsweetened

1 cup of milk (I used almond milk)

2 eggs

1 cup of chocolate chips

1 tspoon of vanilla

1 tspoon of baking powder

1/2 tspoon of baking soda

1/2 tspoon of salt

1 tspoon of cinnamon

1/8 tspoon of ground cloves

1/2 tspoon of nutmeg

Mix separately all the dry ingredients and all the wet ingredients. Then gradually add the dry ones into the wet mixture.

Then fold in chocolate chips. If the batter is thick, add more milk to the desired consistency. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil the cookie sheets and drop spoonfuls of batter about 1 inch apart. Bake 20-25 minutes, depending on a size.

If sand bags didn’t stop Sandy, we’ll kill her with pumpkins and cookies.

Enjoy!