Apple and Pecans and Pumpkins...Oh My!

Holy cow, what a week...and it's only Wednesday. I have been studying, studying, studying since Friday in preparation for exams this week...well, actually for exams today, because they happened to fall on the same day. My day didn't start out the greatest; I haven't gotten much sleep in the last few days and I dragged my near-comatose butt out of bed to find cat throw up in front of my door. Yummy. I cleaned it up, turned around, and promptly stepped into another pile. Good morning! Ugh. I talked down my up-chuck reflex and headed about my business to get ready for class.

Today's schedule consisted of giving a powerpoint presentation to my classmates about small cell lung cancer, followed by an exam in my Infectious Diseases class, followed by my midterm lab practical for History and Physical Exam. I knocked my presentation out of the park; almost all of my classmates stopped me later and told me how much they liked it and how clear it was. WAHOO! I hate those things...I get soooo nervous. I followed that with a 90% on my first exam and a 100% on my lab practical....I guess all that studying paid off!

I came home, and to celebrate my awesome day, I decided to bake some treats. I stopped by the farm stand I mentioned a few posts ago and bought some more Honeycrisp apples and a baking pumpkin. I've been craving something sweet all day, so here's what I came up with:

Apple-Pecan Pumpkin Cookies
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 cup oats
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup raisins
1 cup pecans, chopped
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 medium apples, cored and chopped into dime-sized pieces

Blend together butter, white sugar and brown sugar. Beat in egg, vanilla and pumpkin.
In a separate bowl, mix together the oats, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, raisins, pecans and flour. Stir into pumpkin mixture. Add the apple pieces and mix well.

Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned.