October Break, Dinner and a Movie

Thursday night was movie and dinner night at Grammie and Grandpa's house.

For dinner, I made Loaded Baked Potato Soup (found here), with rolls and veggies on the side.  Even though it is still in the 90's here, it is officially fall, so soup sounded good.  One of these days, it will actually feel like fall outside...

After dinner, we snuggled into the couches for a movie.  The boys needed popcorn, so we popped a bag (even though the rest of us were already full from dinner).  We watched a few episodes of Wallace and Gromit together.  (Gotta love some dry British humor.)  The kids loved them as much as the adults.

The best part of the evening had to be the dessert:  gingersnap pizookies, topped with pumpkin ice cream and drizzled with warm caramel sauce.  (This was a collaborative creation from me and my husband.  He loves pumpkin ice cream.  I love pizookies.  We were musing a while back about making a pizookie with pumpkin ice cream instead of vanilla.  Well, we remembered these fantastic gingersnaps and the caramel sauce, and this is what we came up with.)  Doesn't it just sound heavenly?  Trust me, it was!  They were quickly gobbled up by kiddos and adults alike.  I think this is one of the few desserts that my Handsome Husband may have eaten more of than me.  (I'm the one with the stronger sweet tooth.)  Want to make one?  Here's the recipe:

First, make the cookie dough:

Anneta's Sparkling Gingersnaps (my aunt's recipe)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

cream together:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup shortening
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses

add:
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon allspice

mix in:
4 cups flour

Now, this cookie recipe is delicious all on its own, so you can just bake the cookies up and be happy.

To make cookies:  make balls with dough and roll in sugar.  Place on cookie sheet (leave room for the t spread out) and bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.  Let it on cookie sheet for a few minutes after, then remove and cool on cooling rack.

Happy is good, but want to really wake up your taste buds and try something even better than happy? Keep reading.

To make the pizookie:

Scoop in and press a generous amount of dough into pizookie skillet (or if you don't have one, you can use custard cups or ramekins).  Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes (the edges will be browned, but the center will still be soft).

Remove from oven and top with (while still warm):

a few scoops of pumpkin ice cream
a generous drizzle of caramel sauce (you can use jarred sauce, or try out this recipe which is even better)

Try to be nice and share, but I'm warning you, it will be difficult.  Very. Difficult.  I think this may be one of the best desserts ever.  And it doesn't even involve chocolate.  Now that is saying a lot! 

There you have a perfect fall dinner and a movie.  I think this was the best October Break activity so far.

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