Teal Pumpkin Project

Have you heard of the Teal Pumpkin Project?  

This Halloween, FARE (Food Allergy Research & Education) encourages you to start a new, inclusive tradition that helps take a little of the SCARY out of Halloween!   This campaign encourages you to raise awareness about food allergies by painting a pumpkin teal and putting it in front of your house along with some non-food goodies.  Teal is the color of food allergy awareness and non-food treats mean that EVERYONE can be included.   Please don't take this to mean that we're trying to rid the world of Halloween candy!  The whole idea is to have an option for kids with food allergies.  Unfortunately, even if you buy candy that's free of wheat, milk, soy, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, shellfish and fish... there are OTHER allergies of which you'd need to be aware. For example, my son is allergic to sesame in addition to peanuts and tree nuts.  Some kids are allergic to artificial food dyes or even things like banana!  You can literally be allergic to ANY food or ingredient so the best way to help is to have non-food items.  Last year just before Halloween, we had to administer and Epi-pen to my son (who ironically was dressed as a doctor), then call 911 and go to the local hospital after he had mistakenly taken a bite of an unsafe candy.  It's something that nobody wants to experience!  Currently, we still go trick-or-treating; however, we bring along a bag of safe candies and just trick-or-treat for the experience. My son doesn't eat ANY candy he brings home (regardless of label).  To add to the fun, we use special Halloween plates, utensils and cups and have some delicious homemade cupcakes too! 



Need some ideas?
-Whistles
-Books
-Pencils
-Flashing rings
-Glow in the dark fangs
-Stickers
-Crayons
-Tattoos
-Crazy straws
-Glow sticks
-Rubber balls
-Bubbles
-Plastic bugs

You can read more about the Teal Pumpkin Project here: Teal Pumpkin Project

Photos are courtesy of an awesome, supportive allergy group on Facebook! 

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Iced Pumpkin Spice Cookies

I can't begin to tell you how many times I've sat down to start writing my first blog post and then just never did. Between 4 kids under 5, a demanding full-time job, cooking, cleaning, dealing with various therapies, nursing, handling my son's life-threatening food allergies... it just seems like there's never time!  I guess today's the day that I finally get this blog started and I'm just busting with excitement.  I'll admit, I'm no professional chef/baker, definitely not a photographer and writing has never been my strong suit; however, what I do have is a love for my family, food and managing to keep it all frugal!

Before my son's allergies to peanut, tree nut and sesame were severe - or rather, before we knew their severity, my oldest son and I would visit the local farmer's market every Thursday after I picked him up from daycare.  As we walked through the market, I'd point out all of the beautiful fruits and veggies and we'd throw some into our bag and continue along.  Being his young 3 year old self at the time, my son would gravitate toward the homemade baked goods.  The man there would always wear a funky beret and he'd snap his serving tongs playfully every time we came by.  Logan would pick out a cookie and I'd always have to get one too.  My favorite were always the soft pumpkin cookies with raisins and a deliciously sweet glaze. Logan usually picked a simple chocolate chip or one filled with sprinkles.  After a few unfortunately incidents where we had to use the Epi-pen, trips to the farmer's market came to a halt; however, I still longed for those pumpkin cookies! I scoured the internet, trying recipe after recipe until I found one that most resembled my beloved farmer's market find.

Iced Pumpkin Spice Cookies
Yield: Approximately 3 dozen

For Cookies:
1 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree (I used Trader Joe's organic canned pumpkin)
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
scant 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup raisins

For Glaze:
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2-3 tablespoons milk
pumpkin spice (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375° and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for approximately 3 minutes.  Add in pumpkin puree (don't be surprised by the look of the mixture at this point!).  In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin spice and salt.  Add mixture to stand mixer and mix well until just incorporated.  Fold in raisins.

Using a small cookie scoop, drop the dough onto your baking sheet.  No need to leave much room in between!  I was able to fit 18 cookies on each sheet.  Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes.  Let cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and let cool completely.

Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for the glaze and stir until smooth. Feel free to add a bit more milk until it reaches your desired consistency.   Dip tops of cookies in glaze and gently swirl cookie so entire top is covered in glaze.  Sprinkle pumpkin spice onto the fresh glaze.  Allow to cool on a wire rack (I like to put a big piece of foil under the rack for easy cleanup!) The glaze will harden a bit and the cookies will be soft and deliciously sweet!

SOURCE:  slightly adapted from Avad Fan. 

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