Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had some left over pumpkin puree from my pumpkin pie I made for Thanksgiving, so I decided to make one of my all-time favorite cookies- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip.

I've come across quite a few recipes that were a bit complicated and required so many ingredients. This recipe is simple and delicious- and it's my favorite.

Two More Puppies

These two male puppies have been coming around for about 2 weeks now. Their mom comes & goes. We've been feeding them, but they're both really scared & run away at any little sound. A few days ago, we were able to catch them & put flea&tick powder on their fur (they didn't like that one bit, but it's for their own good). We are going to try and pet them and play with them at least once a day so they get used to us-- but sometimes they're so hard to catch because they're so quick!

Thanksgiving

Last year, J & I were in Ecuador for Thanksgiving. We went to this "gringo" bar and ate some amazing burgers and fries. And this year, we're in the Philippines. It makes me wonder- where will we be next year? =)

We celebrated Thanksgiving with a little dinner that I cooked {and J helped too}. Luckily it was just us two and I didn't have to cook a lot of food, so I wasn't slaving over the stove for too long. I also made my very first pie from scratch. It was pumpkin pie, of course. Everything tasted amazing.

Backyard update #3

Jason's written another post on his permaculture project. Our backyard is making some progress!


Check the post out here: http://mestizomagic.blogspot.com/2012/11/tropical-permaculture-in-philippines.html

Introducing... Lala!

There's quite a few stray dogs that hang around the house and backyard. I don't mind, I like dogs and they keep creatures like snakes away (or so I like to tell myself). When we first moved here, there was one dog with two puppies. And the moment I saw them, I just had to have one. So a few weeks ago, I started to try and feed one of the puppies. She was braver of the two and wasn't afraid to come close to me to get some food.

Now, she stays and sleeps on our porch and she isn't scared of me, though she's still apprehensive when I try and get too close to her to pet her (I've only successfully petted her once- so we're working on that). She has some rough spots, especially on her neck where she has obviously been attacked by another dog. But, it makes her tough. She's our gangster jungle puppy!

I really want to pet her and train her, but I'm going to have to be patient-- she IS a wild animal.

She has a sweet little face and I love her big floppy ears.

Now we're trying to get her baby brother to not be so scared of us. He's doing better and comes around, but he's still not as brave as Lala.

The Hungry Backpacker episode 3: Legazpi City, Philippines

Before we left Legazpi, we of course had to shoot a Hungry Backpacker episode since Bicol is known for its incredible food. Here's the third episode. To watch the first two episodes, click here.

DIY: Self-Watering Seed Starter Pots

Jason has been planting a lot of crops lately and he has a lot of seedlings. We also have quite a few plastic bottles. They don't have the easiest or most convenient waste management system in this town, so we try to not make a lot of waste. When I came across these self-watering seed starters that use plastic soda bottles, I thought it was a perfect idea- we'd be helping the garden AND reusing materials that would otherwise just be thrown away.

And so far- they really work!