Yumm-o Pumpkin cookies!

I just finished baking the yummiest cakiest deliciousiest (yeah, yeah... so it's not a real word) pumpkin cookies.  I found a recipe and tweaked it... here is the revised recipe the way I made it.

Start the frosting first because it needs a long time to cool (learned the hard way, lol):
Melt 6 Tbsp of butter
8 Tbsp of milk
1 cup of packed brown sugar
until the mixture is fully dissolved then completely cool it.

For Cookies...
Cream together:
2 cups of butter (recipe called for shortening and I don't use shortening EVER)
2 cups white sugar
1 can of pumpkin or equiv. of 2 cups

Add 2 eggs and beat until fully mixed... a minute or two

Add mixture of:
4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (or use all spice or pumpkin pie spice)
1 tsp salt

Mix for 2 minutes

Drop spoonfuls onto parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes each.  Until the tops are 'dry' looking but not turning brown.

While cookies are baking and once the brown sugar mixture is cooled....
Add 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups confectioners sugar

Spread frosting on cookies and enjoy! 

They have a wonderfully moist cake texture not to mention BUTTER!  ;)  I love butter. 

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok is a wonderfully written, inspiring story about a girl and her mother who immigrate to the United States from Hong Kong with nothing to their names and knowing very little English.  Kimberly Chang is a 10 yr old girl who has lived through a lot in her short life.  Her father has died and her mother has just gotten over having Tuberculosis.  Her aunt and uncle in America have paid their way for them to legally move to the U.S. and attempt to start a new life.  Upon arriving in the new country they find that things aren't as wonderful as they thought.  They are in a shabby apartment with no heat, which is a terrible thing in a New York City winter.  Kim must go to a regular American public school knowing hardly any English and manages to not only pass but to thrive and gain acknowledgement. 

Kim was a top scholar in her school in Hong Kong and now spends all of her free time either working in the sweat shop with her mother to make a few pennies per item while finishing clothing to be shipped out for sale, or working hard on her homework, even reading the dictionary, to learn the language that is going to their ticket out of the slum they live in.  At a young age Kim is torn between the culture her mother knew and is trying to raise her in in Chinatown and the American culture where people say what they think show their true colors without fear. 

Girl in Translation follows Kim and her mother, as well as a few other key characters, through a span of 20 years and kept me captivated from beginning to end.  Kwok writes such a realistic portrayal that even I, as an average white american housewife, can identify and feel a connection with poor Ah-Kim as she goes through her life remaining respectful of her mother's wishes and still attempting to become a part of American teenage life. 

I completely enjoyed reading this story and found it to be a simple, easy read that allowed me to relax and completely immerse myself into the world of these immigrants as they worked to become naturalized citizens and strive for the dream of all Americans... Freedom.  Freedom from fear, Freedom from the grips of poverty, Freedom from the weight of expectations.