Yes, my post is later than usual this week, and no, it’s not on purpose. I just forgot what day of the week it was because, as usual, there’s a lot happening at work. I’m usually pretty good with time, so I’ve managed to surprise myself by losing track of it a little.

Or maybe I just wanted to wait longer to bring you this autumnal take on my favorite cookie, the snowball. These pumpkin snowballs are the perfect afternoon snack on a crisp fall day!

When I was a kid, catalogs were a pretty big deal. Before online shopping happened, I would happily spend hours poring over the pages of different catalogs. My favorite by far was the Sears Wish List, which came out in the fall and was full of holiday cheer and tons of toys. I could look at those toys forever, imagining that I owned them all.

A more consistent and less exciting offering was my mother’s L.L. Bean catalog, which I would look through and privately wonder at. My mother always said that their clothes were “classic,” but to me, that just meant dull. I was always much more into sparkly things and spur of the moment trends. And khaki chinos? Shiver. No, thanks.

Now that the holiday season is in the kind of imminent future and the leaves are starting to turn, I’m definitely thinking about those catalogs. Time has a way of slipping by, and I’m not trying to rush things. At the same time, there’s been no opportunity lately to stop and smell the crunchy leaves. Or read a catalog. We’re going to have to work on that.

The best way to get a break in my world is with cookies. Snowballs have always been a huge fave of mine, and adding just a small amount of pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice makes them more than ready for fall.

If you remember the days of leafing through catalogs while lying on your tummy on a carpeted floor, then we’re simpatico. If you think time is going by too fast, join humanity. We’re all there. I hope you get some time to stop and look around. If not, I hope there’s a cookie break in there somewhere!