happy weekend

I think I've forgotten how to blog, and I'm ok with that.

We rearranged our family room yesterday. Our tv was broken (thanks to an errant magna tile), so we took it down and moved everything around. Lest you think we are virtuously going without a tv from now on, we picked up a new (bigger) one at Costco last night. Rearranging furniture is near the top of my list of favorite home improvements and I keep walking down to the basement just to see the new set up again.

This morning felt a little bit like Christmas, as our nighttime low finally dipped down to the 70s. Hot afternoons are much more bearable when I can open my windows at night. We are heading in to the best six months in Arizona and I can't wait.

I made these pumpkin muffins to celebrate.

Have a happy weekend!

happy weekend

I think Elliot really thought he could beat Mike at stick pull the other night during Stella's volleyball practice. He certainly gave it everything he had. Look at that face! Mike surprised us and showed up at Stella's practice. We seriously never see him anymore, he is so busy at school. Honestly, I feel like a single mom most of the time. (I have enormous respect for real single moms. You are strong, capable ladies.) It is hard but it will be worth it, I think.

A list of things I have found upon waking in the last three weeks:
a bat flying around my kitchen
a rat hiding under my kitchen table
a rat under our dresser, being chased by our cat*
and the worst one-- a rat trying to escape out my opened but screened bedroom window, inches from my head.*

*occurred in the middle of the night

Our cat is officially (I mean it this time) fired. It used to drive me nuts that she'd bring dead birds and lizards into the house, but I'd take that over the live animals she's been bringing in lately. I can't even. . . I mean, I'm just glad we found and caught these things before Mike left for the day. Otherwise I'd really have to put my brave face on, and I don't think I could do it.

Have your kids picked out their Halloween costumes yet? We are still trying to decide on a few at our house, but time is running out!

Some recipes I tried and at least half of us liked this week: Ree's Quinoa with Buttery Roasted Vegetables (I doubled the vegetables), Ree's Veggie Tortellini Soup (this came together in like 20 minutes), Cha Cha's White Chicken Chili (minus the jalapeno), and Pumpkin Magic Cake (go heavy on the glaze).

I wish I could say it felt like fall here, but we have another week or so of hot (and I mean hot) weather. And then, then, it will be in the 70s! Happy day.

I hope you have a good weekend full of fall things. We have the school carnival, which is always a good time.

the first pumpkin cookies of the season

I know I talk a big talk about not eating added sugar, but last Friday was the first day where the high was only in the 80s. That called for pumpkin cookies! It just did! I couldn't not make cookies for an after school snack. That's all there was to it. Usually I say that if you're going to eat a cookie, eat a real cookie, not a "healthy" cookie, but I think my palate has changed and really sweet regular cookies don't sound that appealing to me anymore. So I made a slightly less-sweetened version, which I thought was a big hit and needed to be shared.

Pumpkin Oat Cookies

Mix:
2 cups quick oats
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt

In another bowl, mix:
4 Tablespoons coconut oil
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup brown sugar

Add the two together, then mix in about 1/3 cup chocolate chips. Scoop onto your baking sheet and using slightly moistened finger tips, flatten the tops a little (they don't spread while baking). Bake in a 325 degree oven for 11 minutes. This recipe should make about 28 cookies.

happy halloween weekend

Because painting my living room wasn't enough this week, I also completely rearranged the boys' room. The new set up is not at all the best use of space, but sometimes you just need a change, you know? It feels like a clean slate with the drawings and posters and stickers that covered the walls taken down and now I can breath when I walk in the room again.

I have some sad news to report. Mike accidentally left his bike at the park the other night and now it is missing. This is the bike that is our second car. He rides it everywhere! I'm not sure what we're going to do without it. We are praying hard that it shows up.

Have you baked pumpkin bread yet this season? Mabel made a batch to share with her friends at school and when she reached for the chocolate chips I practically swatted them out of her hand. It was an important lesson that she needed to learn. You do not defile my pumpkin bread with chocolate chips! Cream cheese frosting, totally. Chocolate chips, no way. Am I right? Or am I right? Right. Right.

I am looking forward to the start of my month of thanksgiving on Sunday. This is when I post something that I am thankful for every day for the month of November. It is such a great exercise in gratitude! I hope you'll consider playing along. It always leaves me feeling happier, more content, and more generous, too.

But first we have to survive Halloween. Good luck!

pumpkin crumb cake

I've happily turned the household baking reigns over to Mabel. Last weekend she made a delicious pumpkin crumb cake for Sunday dinner. It was moist and fluffy and sweet and I'm not going to lie, I had the leftovers for breakfast the next morning. It's a good one, if you're looking for a new pumpkin recipe to try.

pumpkin gingerbread waffles

It's the first day of fall! Hooray! It might still be 100 degrees here in the desert, but that doesn't mean we can't eat pumpkin waffles and pretend that we are chilly.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Waffles

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup pumpkin
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 cup melted butter (or coconut oil)
1 egg
3 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl with a whisk. Add the wet ingredients and combine. Cook on a preheated waffle iron until nice and crisp. I put my waffle iron on almost the highest setting. I think pumpkin makes things cook slower, so if you want them crisp, they almost need to be overcooked.

Serve with spiced whipped cream or good old maple syrup (and lots of butter, of course).

This recipe makes 4 or 5 belgian waffles.

knitting revelations

Yesterday was rainy and dark. It was begging for pumpkin bread and a knitting project. So I threw some loaves in the oven and looked through my basket of yarn. I hadn't picked up my knitting needles in years. It was so fun! But here's the best part: as I sat on the couch, knitting away, it was as if my family was compelled to sit with me and talk. One by one, they made their way into the room to tell me about their day. All I had to do was listen. I wasn't focused on a book, or my phone. My hands were busy, but my mind was open, and they must have sensed that difference. It was wonderful. I need to remember this in the future.

Plus, there is just something so satisfying about taking a tangle of yarn and turning it into perfectly ordered rows.

I'm thinking of attempting a sweater next.

Christmas house

We've been scaling things back here at home this year. We are trying hard to have less. (I think I need to write more about this another time.) When I got the Christmas decorations out a couple of weeks ago, I put up our favorites and immediately donated the rest. I'm not sure why I had been hanging onto some of those things, anyway. Getting rid of them felt so good. Keeping just our favorites makes for a simple, cozy Christmas, and that is my favorite kind.

I've been thinking about this virtual world we live in, and all of the blogging and pinning and comparing that comes with it. Here's what I think: No one really cares what you wear, or what you do, or how you decorate your house. So just be yourself. And wear what you like best. And do what feels right for you. And decorate your home so that you want to be there. Post pictures of it all somewhere if you want to. Or not.

Right?

Anyway, here is a cheery wreath, complete with mistletoe and our homey tree full of sentimental ornaments. Plus some presents! The kids have been so good about the presents. They rearrange them every once in a while, but so far no peeking. They are much more mature about it than I ever was at their age.

Some Christmas-related notes: 

Mike still does all of the Christmas shopping around here and it is probably the best gift he could ever give me. He is thoughtful and generous, all while staying within the confines of our budget. I'm not sure how he does it, but I am ever so grateful. I would be a total stress case if I was in charge. 

Every year I let my children pick out a new ornament. We label it with their name and the date, so someday when they leave our home for their own, they will have a box of ornaments to take with them. I always put up the lights and the red and gold strings that I inherited from my grandmother, but I let the kids do the rest. Uneven placement only lends the tree character, I think.

You can see my felt nativity advent there in the stairway. It is still my kids' favorite decoration, and opening each little box and putting up a new piece is the first thing that happens every morning. A nice reader, Jessica, made a template of my nativity a few years ago. You can find it and make your own here. 

I am gathering recipes for the treat plates we give to our neighbors, and I think these peppermint chocolate crackles just made the cut. I'm also thinking about including pumpkin bread (because, duh) and caramel layer cocoa squares. (I don't believe I've ever shared this recipe and that needs to be remedied asap.) Maybe gingerbread men, too? Sure!

for a perfect pie crust

Last year I decided that I was going to learn how to make pie from scratch. After several attempts, I realized that making pie crust is not one of my talents. So this Thanksgiving I am back to store-bought pie dough, and I feel really good about it. This pie crust was filled with pumpkin and spices and is currently baking in my oven. I can't wait to have a slice tomorrow afternoon. I have another crust waiting in the fridge for a German Chocolate pie on Friday. Or maybe Coconut Cream. We'll see.

So today I am grateful for my talents, but also for the knowledge that I don't have to be good at everything. And thankfully, store bought crust is there to save the day.

What pies will you be eating tomorrow?

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'll try just about any pumpkin chocolate cookie recipe. I think I've established that fact here on this blog. I saw this one on Hey Natalie Jean, and loved that it called for molasses. I think that's what sets these apart from the rest. The molasses gives them a richer flavor. They only change I made was to switch the oil to butter. They were light and cake-y and I immediately parceled them out to the neighbors (the recipe makes a ton!) so that Elliot and I wouldn't eat them all for lunch.

Have a happy weekend!

Soft Frosted Pumpkin Cookies

While I was visiting with my friend, Marcie, in Nashville, she mentioned some soft pumpkin cookies she had recently made. I guess that stuck with me because I found myself making a batch almost as soon as we were home. These cookies are thick and soft, with a chewy outer layer and a rich, cinnamon cream cheese frosting. I'd make them again in a heartbeat.

a birthday and a cake

Yesterday was my birthday. I almost didn't make myself a cake. I almost let myself be mopey. Sometimes birthdays make me grumpy. Instead, I bought myself some presents and made Mike take me out to lunch. (We had the most delicious tacos here.) While Elliot napped, I baked this cake. And yesterday ended up being pretty fantastic after all. A lot of that had to do with all of the sweet notes that were left on my instagram account. Man alive, thank you, friends! I had a permanent smile on my face all day long.

But yes, the cake. Bake one immediately, please. It is the pumpkin cake of your dreams. (I brought out my latent math skills and only made one squat little layer instead of three. One was just the right amount for our little family of 6. I didn't want to have to face any leftovers this morning, as I surely would have eaten them for breakfast and regretted it immediately.)

dreaming of fall

It never fails. School starts and I get tricked into thinking it's fall. But it's so not fall. It's still blazing hot, and it will be until October. (I just want to wear jeans darn it!) But that didn't stop me and Elliot from blasting Simon & Garfunkel and making pumpkin cookies this morning.

Baby steps til October. . .

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's not too early to be baking pumpkin treats, is it? I didn't think so, either.

Fluffy, cakey, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies will always be one of my favorite things to eat, even when it's technically still summer. I tried this recipe yesterday, and it was just what I was looking for. Soft, and spicy and so good. I could have eaten a dozen.

baking

I don't remember baking much when I was younger, but once I became a mother, it was one of my favorite things to do. There is just something magical about combining all of those different ingredients into something delicious. I don't know why that doesn't translate into cooking dinner, but I am always up for baking something. I am thankful for the creative outlet that baking is for me. Making a delicious treat for my family is one of the ways that I show my love for them, and I am grateful that I get to do it as often as I do.

This time I made Pumpkin Molasses Cookies. I think you know my feelings about pumpkin. These cookies were so good! They were just as yummy as my favorite Molasses Cookies, but pumpkiny and cakey instead of chewy. A new favorite around here, for sure.

A few things I did differently than called for in the recipe: I omitted the black pepper, because I just couldn't bring myself to add it. When mixing everything together, I creamed the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then I added the egg and molasses and mixed well. I added the dry ingredients and the pumpkin alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Then I refrigerated the dough in the mixing bowl until my oven was hot and while each batch was baking. I baked them for 12 minutes. They were crunchy on the outside, light and fluffy on the inside, and a little spicy. Yum!

Pumpkin Pie

In my family, it's not Thanksgiving unless there are pumpkin pies from Marie Callender's for dessert. Marie Callender's started in my home town, so their pies were always our favorite.

My parents are coming to town next month for Thanksgiving, and my mom and I were lamenting that we would have to do without a Marie Callender's pumpkin pie this year. Sadness.

Or not! I am still on my pie-baking quest, and after a little internet research I found a copy cat Marie Callender's recipe. Hooray!

So on Saturday I gave it a go. I used this crust recipe (with butter) and made a much more respectable mess of my kitchen. (No peeling and slicing of apples required for pumpkin!) Making the crust was so much easier this time. More practice and experience really made a difference.

The consensus: The filling was good! It tasted just how a pumpkin pie should - spicy and rich and creamy. The crust was almost raw on the bottom, though. Next time I think I will blind bake the crust for a few minutes first, or bake the pie on a pizza stone on the lowest rack. I'll let you know if it passes my mom's rigorous taste test next month.

We finished it off for breakfast yesterday morning. Because you know that pumpkin pie tastes best cold from the fridge and first thing in the morning, right?


Pumpkin Pie 
(Like Marie used to make.)

1 9-inch pie crust

3 eggs
1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream

heavy cream + sugar (for whipping)

Prepare the crust and chill it in fridge until it's time to bake. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add the pumpkin and stir to combine. In a medium bowl, whisk sugars, cinnamon, salt, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg together. Stir the spice mixture into the the pumpkin until combined. Stir in the milk and cream until well blended.

Pour into the prepared shell and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for 45-55 more minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool completely, then chill in the fridge until ready to serve. Don't forget to smother it in freshly whipped cream!

Pumpkin Donuts

This morning I thought that making pumpkin donuts would be a good idea. Why? Why do I do this to myself? Having a batch of warm donuts sitting on my counter is not in my best interest. I will never learn.

You can find the recipe here. They were yummy, but I still need to perfect my frying technique. Or not. No, I probably shouldn't.

and so it begins

Every year I think to myself: I'm not going to go crazy with the pumpkin stuff this time. But in the last week I have made pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes and now pumpkin snickerdoodles. And it isn't even Labor Day! I just can't help myself, I guess.

There are quite a few standby recipes that I make over and over and over (find some of them here), but I love to try new recipes, too. Today I made these pumpkin snickerdoodles. I usually don't love snickerdoodles, but I thought I'd give them a try anyway. They were light and fluffy and yummy. If you like plain snickerdoodles, you'd probably love these.

The good news: I am getting much better at not eating the whole batch of whatever it is I'm making. I love to make half-batches, or better yet, give the majority away to the neighbors. Hooray for having a teeny bit of will power! It feels good.

We're sticking around this weekend. Mike has strep throat and I have to teach primary tomorrow. Are you doing anything fun?

today

Because I had a can of this.

Because I am just plain tired of summer.

And even though it's 106 outside. 

I made this.

And I didn't regret it one bit.

Happy almost fall!

p.s. The recipe makes two loaves.

a last hurrah

We had a cold snap today. Instead of our recent 80, the temperatures dipped to the 60s. I took one look at the lonely last can of pumpkin in my pantry and knew this was my last chance to use it before I found myself in the midst of summer. So I made these cookies and they were just right.

Glazed Spice Cake Cookies
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 1/2 cup whole wheat)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, cream pumpkin, brown sugar, and butter until light and fluffy. Add milk and eggs; beat well. Gradually add the flour mixture; stir until combined. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a greased baking sheet (or a Silpat). Bake for 10 minutes or until almost firm. Cool on the pan for a minute, then transfer to a cooling rack until cooled completely.

Glaze (I needed a double batch)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
dash cinnamon

Combine all ingredients and stir well. When the cookies are cool, dip the tops into the glaze, then allow to set, glaze side up.

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light maybe? I'm not sure. It's been in my recipe box for years and years.