Baking Before It's "Back-To-School" Time

Ahh, the weekend - normally I would be incredibly psyched for such an occasion; however, this particular weekend has made me feel a little anxious, nervous, and yet excited as well.

Why, you may be wondering?? Well, this is the weekend before second-semester classes begin - back to the studying, paper-writing, researching... oh, the life of a journalism major, haha ;-)

While I do wish that my winter break (or even just this weekend) was longer, I am looking forward to continuing my education and taking the classes that I chose for this semester. In case you are wondering, I am enrolled in the following classes: Introduction to Communication Research, Argumentation & Debate, Oral Interpretation Literature, and Convergent Broadcast Journalism.

These classes will undoubtedly pose great challenges and involve a massive amount of work, but I am feeling (almost) confident and ready to take on all of the assignments and new learning experiences.

Since I anticipate a lack of proper baking time during the upcoming semester, I took what time I had lately to bake up some goodies. First, we have a sumptuous, "reminiscent-of-autumn" treat:



A batch of Pumpkin-Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies. Since I closely followed the recipe from the Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook (aside from making my "usual substitutions" - gluten-free flour, hempmilk, etcetera), I am afraid that I cannot post the recipe for these cookies - sorry!! But I promise you that VwaV is a worthy cookbook, so why not check it out?? :-)

The "taste-testers" for these cookies were...

...my parents (who thought that the cookies were "a great mix of chewy and slightly-crunchy; and the raisins were nice and sweet"), my grandfather (who loved that the cookies were "thick, tasty, and great with either soymilk, coffee, or tea), and Miss Gliding Calm, who provided the following "official review" of these cookies:


"VeggieGirl's Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies were such an exciting treat to receive in the mail! As I opened her beautifully packaged tin, I found the plump-est, heart-iest cookies. One bite, and I was very pleased.

Normally I'm not a big fan of raisins in my cookies, but these were so moist and PLUMP. The cookies were packed full of oats, and not overpoweringly sweet. They were very filling and DENSE, and tasted most like a breakfast bar or cookie.

Though these were pretty darn fabulous when eaten plain, my favorite way to eat them became toasting them up and topping them with some Smart Balance. This was HEAVEN. Crispy on the outside, ooey gooey soft raisins on the inside, and a warm crumbling texture th at tasted so guilty!

I was so pleased to get the opportunity to taste test for VeggieGirl, and after this (and trying her AMAZING banana bread), I would be happy to lend my services again. (Who wouldn't want to?) *Wink. Wink.* Thanks VeggieGirl for great training fuel for skating!"





I am quite elated that these cookies were so well-received by my "taste-testers"; and I personally was in favor of the sweet, plump raisins and the pronounced pumpkin flavor - divine!! Or should I say, "holy yum!!"



And where is the other treat that I baked up recently, you may be wondering?? Well, I am afraid that you must stay tuned until my next post (which will feature the treat, its recipe, and more reviews), to find out more ;-)





**On another note...

It's Giveaway Time!! And what does that mean?? FREE STUFF!! :-)

This month, ZestyCook has the pleasure of giving away 2 free books. He is giving away a how-to book for today's photographers, Fundamentals of Photography by renowned author, Tom Ang.

Novice or Advanced, Film or Digital, this book is your guide to everything photography related today.

Be sure to head over to ZestyCook's (on this linked post!!) and sign up by leaving a comment. And don't forget to subscribe for an additional entry!!