This year in my garden, I've planted a variety of tomatoes.  I have Beef Steak, (good for slicing on sandwiches!), San Marzanos, (really good for sauces and tomato pastes), and Ox Hearts, (heart shaped tomatoes that are good for both of the above!)  I have a couple other varieties that I'm not sure what they are called!  Sometimes they produce very strange shapes of tomatoes!  But they all taste good and when you have tomatoes coming out of your ears, I will use every kind available to make tomato sauces of different varieties.  
      Peeling tomatoes is not what I love to do though, so when someone sent me a clever idea on TikTok that eliminated peeling and hours of simmering over a hot stove, I was ready to give it a try!  

 It's no secret that here at 3 Winks Design, we love pie! If you don't believe me, check out our For the Love of Pie Book. You could also check out all of these pie posts we have done, such as this Strawberry Rhubarb Pie that I made for the Fourth of July a few years ago, or this Blueberry Slab Pie I made for Alicia's son's baptism a few years ago. 

Well, I've decided to bring you a pie recipe that combines a pie for dessert for the fourth of July, and is also a slab pie, which can feed a crowd really well!

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This post was originally posted in 2017. It has been updated with this adorable video of my daughter from when we made some today. These Pumpkin Snickerdoodles and the perfect fall cookie.

     Today, in 2025, this little girl is exactly 7 and 1/2 years old!  Since I'm deciding what to do with all of the pumpkins that I'm growing, I ran across this adorable post and I am wondering how the time has flown!  I'm going to make some of these and remember back to this time in her sweet life.  I have to say that at 71/2, she is just as cute and sweet! 

Do you know what I love about pumpkin? 

Everything. That's what. I know pumpkin spice is all the fall rage these days, and let me tell you something, I will take the blame for it. Way back in 2006 a few friends and I started a tradition of having a pumpkin party. It just so happened to perfectly align with my birthday, and I've had a pumpkin party every year for my birthday ever since.

If you want to know the truth, if it were up to me I'd put pumpkin in my food every day of the year. Since I have a husband who, while he does not object to pumpkin, does not adore pumpkin as I do  I behave myself every year and wait.

​Well guess what! IT IS ALMOST FALL AND I CAN DO WHAT I WANT! PUMPKIN EVERYTHING!

I decided to make you a pumpkin recipe this week and I really got into my head. Should it be sweet or savory? Basic or creative? What else could I do to show you the power of pumpkin? Well, my mom suggested I make my pumpkin snickerdoodles, and since I had volunteered to make cookies for a church function anyway it seemed like a win win.

I'll be honest, I originally found this recipe on Pinterest many years ago (we're talking pre-mission  somewhere around 2012). I can't recall where it originated from, and I am sorry for that, but it is really so delicious. These snickerdoodles are so soft and pumpkin-y and wonderful that if you find who originally created the recipe, tell me. Not only will I give them the credit they deserve here, but I'll find some way to give that person an award.

Fall baking is honestly where I feel in my zone. You see that cinnamon container? We have two of those. I think I have three different bottles of pumpkin spice as well. It might be four. Needless to say, I have a lot of great plans and how-to's for your fall baking, so make sure you come back and see what else I have in store for you. (For example, I realized I never showed you how to cook a pumpkin.) Until next time, enjoy these pumpkin snickerdoodles. If they're not the best snickerdoodle you've ever had, well, honestly I'll think you're confused.

     I love planting marigolds in my garden because they are so great at helping to keep pests away from my tomatoes, peppers and other plants.  Not only that, they attract pollinators like bees!  I'm so happy to report that my garden attracted many bees and ladybugs to it this year!  Marigolds also bloom profusely and add extra beauty to the garden.  Once the blooms begin to dry out on the plant, it is super easy to harvest the seeds and save them for next year!  That is a money saving way to have marigolds every year without having to purchase more seeds, and since the plants you had were healthy and beautiful. the ones that you plant from your own seeds will be just like them the next year!