the harvest: pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

As you know, I work in advertising at a magazine. And, more often than not, when asked the common question "What do you do?" my answer elicits ooh's and ahh's in green tones of jealousy. The growing popularity of Mad Men and movies like The Devil Wears Prada have something to do with it but the truth always disappoints. No, I don't work in the "accessories closet" or schedule photo shoots like Whitney and LC on The Hills. And I (sadly) don't have piles of Louboutins at my desk to match every outfit.

I like my job, but my everyday probably mirrors yours - I work in front of a computer from 9-6pm and often nibble a brown-bagged lunch at my desk while perusing my favorite baking blogs and wishing I was eating that instead of the extremely boring morsel I brought to work. And then I do it again the next day.

But, like many of you I have that one co-worker who makes makes me LOL, and takes trips with me to the cafe each morning to get our coffee fix, and persuades me to visit our favorite bartender Gabe now and again for a never-ending glass of wine after a long day.

And she's leaving! She's going here and it's a great opportunity and I'm thrilled for her (yadda yadda, blah blah)... really, I am. I'm just going to miss our daily coffee trips and raucous happy hours - so I'm dedicating this post to Colleen.

One thing that we both love is The Harvest. At this point we're so obsessed with anything harvest/fall/pumpkin/gourd/corn stalk/chilly/leafy/apple-y and caramel that we use the word as descriptor. There are "Harvest weddings" and "Harvest weekends" and then there is "Heaven On Earth," otherwise known as "The Harvest," which describes the time period between late September and early November.

We happen to be knee deep in The Harvest right now (swoon!) and today's recipe truly embodies Harvest-in-your-mouth... and it's a toast to Colleen on her new endeavor as she leaves me get coffee on my own. I wish you all the best. No, Really.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from George Duran via The Food Network

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

2 cups (12-oz bag) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 350 F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line with parchment paper.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter. Stir in the chips.

Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15-17 minutes or until cookies are brown around the edges. Remove cookie sheets from oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and cool completely.

[photos in this post courtesy of bf. not bad, eh?]