It's Fall! Have A Cookie!

BEETLE BEDROOM RENOVATION UPDATE! So a lot of painting happened yesterday. Essentially, I woke up, went for a run, showered, had coffee, went upstairs, painted, painted, painted, painted, showered, had dinner, and passed out.

• Walls AND ceiling have been given their second and FINAL coat of paint! Woo! 
• Bookcases have been semi-glossed to within an inch of their LIVES and look gorgeous
• We now know that I WILL be obsessive about brush strokes all being in the same direction even if said brush strokes are going to be completely covered by books. Because, as I said yesterday: I will know they're not straight. And it will bother me. 
• Turns out that shrieking obscenities of frustration at TuneIn, and by extension at John Kerry and his endless faffing, is an excellent motivator.
• Wainstcotting has been primed, as has the inside of the closet door. Ready for semi-gloss! 
• Found out that the maps of Tudor England hanging up in there had been cleverly concealing some fairly large patches of peeling paint. Props to my 10 year-old self for realising this was the easiest and most effective method of cover up.  
• Gotta be said: Painting during a thunderstorm = AMAZINGLY FUN. 

The headscarf I opted for yesterday was one of those things you buy and instantly hate (I KNOW you've been there before, dear reader) and so I was delighted to find a use for it that would involve it getting ruined. It's one of those "million use" snood thingys that you can make into a bandanna, a scarf, a body bag, an evening gown, etc. When wrapped around my head which was already wrapped in Swedish milkmaid braids, it has the millionth and ONE use of making me look like a Lancastrian noblewoman from the mid-1400's (see fig. 52, bottom center, below).

Yep. Fig. 52. 

Or, as Mum preferred to make a comparison, like Novice Hame, one of the Sisters of Plenitude cat nuns from Doctor Who. 

I'm actually ok with either one. The Sisters of Plenitude USED to be bad and experiment on humans,
but they've since seen the error of their ways.

HOWEVER.

What's even more exciting than significant painting progress and me looking like a cat nun is the fact that AUTUMNAL BAKING SEASON IS UPON US. [cue Beetle Happy Kitchen Dance] Autumn is without a doubt my favourite kitchen season, and I know many of you will come with me on this. All year long I dream of making things with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves, pumpkin and butternut squash, apples and caramel and maple syrup, and all year long I think as soon as it's September Imma kick this shindig off in style. 

Well guess what, dear reader. IT'S SEPTEMBER. 

The following cookies are always the first of the season. I just don't know of a more succinct way of saying YAY IT'S FALL other than HAVE A WHOLE WHEAT OATMEAL SPICE COOKIE.

I mean, if you can think of a better way, by all means . . . 

WHOLE WHEAT OATMEAL SPICE COOKIES

This is taken from my beloved imagined older bff Irma Rombauer and her Bible-like Joy of Cooking. It's an adaptation of her Oatmeal Raisin cookies, switching out all-purpose flour in favour of whole wheat, taking out the raisins and walnuts, and increasing the spices a little bit. 

Whisk together in a large bowl

• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 heaping tsp cinnamon
• 1 heaping tsp nutmeg

In your mixmaster, beat together until pale and fluffy

• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 tsp vanilla

Add the flour mixture a little bit at a time, beating well after each addition and making sure you scrape down the sides of the bowl and get everything blended.

Off the mixmaster, stir in

• 3 1/2 cups rolled or pinhead oats

3 1/2 cups seems like a lot of oats at the time of mixing, but it does all come together in the end.

I promise.

It really does.

Spoon out the dough in your desired cookie-size spoonfuls and bake at 350 degrees for 12 - 14 minutes until the edges start to brown.

They really don't spread that much (especially using whole wheat flour)
so you can space them pretty close. Closer than I did, at any rate.

Remove on racks to cool completely. If you can make it that long.

Double dog dare you. 

BEETLE NOTES

Substituting whole wheat flour for white doesn't always work with cookies, but in the case of Oatmeal Spice, it does. They're already nutty and dark and mellow, so making them a little heavier and "healthier" tasting is only a small step towards Crunchytown and not really all that drastic and/or detrimental. As a matter of fact, if you're one of those people who LIKES their cookies on the healthy side, then this is a good flour-switching opportunity for you.

As per usual, I increased the spices by 1/2 tsp each. The reasons are threefold:

1. I always do. Other people are wimps. We Yankees like 'em good and strong.
2. Whole wheat flour has a much more significant taste than all-purpose, so you have to increase accordingly or they will get lost, and nobody wants that.
3. See reason 2 for the lack of nuts and raisins. If it's just oatmeal and cinnamon/nutmeg calling the shots, you wanna make sure they call them nice and loud.

LOUD ENOUGH FOR YOU? 

Don't be afraid to use Pinhead Oatmeal. I actually thought I was going to, but it turned out I had EXACTLY 3 1/2 cups of rolled oats [brushes off Beetle shoulders in an intensely self-satisfied manner] and so breaking into the Pinhead wasn't necessary. But I have used it before with really positive results. It won't absorb as much liquid as regular Rolled, and so will make whatever you're baking a bit wetter (aka cookies will spread out more, cakes will take a few more minutes) but it gives a really nice hearty crunch, and there's always this cool moment of this doesn't necessarily look like an oatmeal thing but OH HEY OATMEAL, and that's a kind of moment I think everyone should have at least once in life.

Pinhead  or Steelcut aka "unrolled"
aka "what I sometimes call Mum"

Rolled

As always, the smell of cinnamon and nutmeg baking in a warm kitchen is one of the greatest things ever. It just makes you feel so cosy and happy and safe . . . you know what I mean? Like everything is going to be ok, and there's no badness in the world. It's a lovely feeling, however fleeting it may be.

Granted, at the time it was 85 Fahrenheit and 90% humidity and I was baking in my underwear, but still. I HAD A MOMENT.  AND I TREASURED IT. THANK YOU, COOKIES.

So no, the leaves haven't started turning yet. Yes, I still think it's a bit too early for that let's-keep-them-nameless house on Main Street to have both a pumpkin AND a pumpkin wreath on its front door. And yes, I still slept with my fan on last night, but in all matters technical (and animal and vegetable and mineral, haha, obscure Gilbert & Sullivan reference) IT'S FALL, YOU GUYS. DO A HAPPY FALL DANCE.

If you wanna get REALLY technical, dear reader, put it this way: when I can buy a Martha Stewart Living with a depressingly intricately etched Jackolantern on the cover, IT'S ON.

Consider this my Game Face.