Fall is here.

There's a chill in the air. The trees are just starting to turn - some of the little maple trees are turning bright red already. I think that this weekend we will try to have a fire outside, and make smores. It will be a good way to get rid of some of the wood from the apple tree that we had to cut down. Richard and our neighbors Dan and Jake sure had a good time out back with the chainsaws! Last weekend we went to the zoo, and the apple orchard. The orchard was packed! I managed to get the last bag of my favorite apples, the honeycrisp. We have zoo pictures on our online photo album. www.theharlanfamily.org/photoalbum

I made a big pot of ham and beans for supper last night - they were so good. Mom and Dad, you should have been here for supper! Richard and the girls don't like ham and beans, oh where did I go wrong? I guess I will freeze some and have the rest for lunches this week. Ralphie sure liked the ham bone, though.

Fall always puts me in a baking mood. Yesterday I made pumpkin muffins and zucchini bread. They are both yummy! Today I made zucchini spice cookies, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and gingersnaps. It smells good in here! I am freezing most of each batch of cookies and half of the muffins and bread so we will have treats later on when we want them.

Evie's favorite cookie is the zucchini spice. I'm sure that Richard and Emily will say that's because she doesn't know any better! They both like the chocolate chip peanut butter cookies. My favorite is the gingersnap!

Here's an easy recipe for the chocolate chip peanut butter cookies I made today!

3-ingredient cookies
1 egg
1 cup peanut butter (we like chunky the best)
1 cup sugar (brown or white both work)

Mix together. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet.

easy variation: 4-ingredient cookies. Just add 1 cup chocolate chips!

I often double the recipe - and use the smallest sized jar of peanut butter (18 oz.?) and a whole bag of chocolate chips. They freeze well, if they last that long! You can also roll the dough into balls and freeze on cookie sheets, then bag them after they're frozen. When you want to bake them later, just pop them on a cookie sheet and add a minute to your cooking time.