fall has fell: zucchini cookies

Thanks for the support on my passport bad luck, friends! Turns out I chose a good week to be "stranded" at home. As my friend Tom posted on Facebook today, "fall has fell" in NYC and we're all smiles from our goosebumped skin to our pashminas wrapped tight. I mean right now it's 62 degrees in Central Park!! AND we've got a 10-day forecast without one day over 80 degrees. Can you even?? It feels like we've waited all summer for this sweet kiss of fall... and we're ready for it.

A few things I'm psyched about:

NFL [Steeler] football
apple picking (and apple pies, cobblers, galettes and cakes...)
jeans and equestrian boots
snuggly mornings wrapped in blankets
cold wooden floors
homemade vegetable soups
SCARVES
the smell of leaves falling in the park

cozy sweaters

chilly morning runs
pumpkin ice cream

Sara Bareilles new album "Kaleidoscope Heart"- GET IT
zero humidity

trench coats

Glee, Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice

no more air conditioning

dark nail polish

It's so close I can taste it and it tastes like a cinnamon spice latte from Starbucks. Mmmm....

In the meantime, I got a little zucchini-happy at the market the other day when I bought the zucc's for that DELICIOUS chocolate zucchini bread (I mean, it's out of this world - seriously). So today the squash baking continued in the form of Zucchini Cookies. Who even knew there was a website called food.com? I mean... I didn't. Google lead me there and these cookies are pretty darn good - actually they taste like little chocolate chip banana breads in your mouth. If you needed a visual.

Extra garden zucchini lying around and sick of zucchini bread? Try these and don't be scared of the dough before you mix in the grated squash - it will work, I promise!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies

adapted from Food.com

1 stick butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1 small zucchini, grated

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg, flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt gradually, mix well.

Stir in the grated zucchini, then fold in walnuts and chocolate chips.

Drop by tablespoonfuls with two inches between each cookie onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until golden (do not over-bake). Let stand to cool 2-3 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.