A pumpkin a day makes for a very happy Fall.

I am obsessed with Fall baking especially when it comes to pumpkins. If there is a Pumpkin's Anonymous I should probably join. Ever since the air got slightly brisk, I have been a maniac in the kitchen. Last year we had the luxury of having a very good pumpkin and squash crop. We kept saying to ourselves, "What in the world are we going to do with all this pumpkin.?" Well I'll tell you what you do, you freeze it because the next year you might not have any. And that's exactly what happened. We didn't have any pumpkins or squash out of our garden this year due to a bad growing season and some very pesky bugs. Luckily we still have some frozen and I have been warned by the Househusband to use it sparingly. I mean it isn't even October yet and we are going to need some for squash pie at Thanksgiving!

One pumpkin recipe that I absolutely love is for pumpkin pancakes. We use our frozen pumpkin but you can use canned as well. The recipe makes a ton and for Paul and I, I usually cut the recipe in half and we still have some leftover.

Pumpkin Waffles
1 1/2 cups pumpkin
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs separated
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 cup whole milk
4 tablespoons melted butter

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice in a bowl. Whisk the sugar and egg yolks in a separate bowl, then whisk in pumpkin, yogurt, and milk. Whisk in the melted butter. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until combined. Beat the egg whites with a mixer until stiff, then gently fold into the batter. Cook the pancakes!
The second thing I have made this year is pumpkin ice cream sandwiches. I have been told this is some of my best work and I can't argue  :) I got the idea from Food Network's October issue. They have  a calender at the beginning of the magazine that suggests a different pumpkin recipe for each day of the month. The sandwiches are made up of Ben & Jerry's recipe for pumpkin ice cream and ginger cookies. The ginger cookies are the perfect compliment to the pumpkin. Below are the recipes for both!

Ginger Cookies
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/moms-ginger-snaps/detail.aspx

Pumpkin Ice Cream
For this recipe, use canned pumpkin.
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer to combine the milk and granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream. Pour 1 cup of the base into another bowl, add the pumpkin, nutmeg, and cinnamon, and stir until blended. Return the pumpkin mixture to the remaining cream base and blend. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer's instructions.

Blog to you soon!
Lucy

A Country Wedding

Picture this. An outdoor rehearsal dinner under a newly built pavilion complete with twinkle lights. For the meal a whole hog roast with smore's roasting over the fire pit. Unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans and decided to rain after weeks of drought. Luckily backup plans were put in place and it was a perfect weekend.

My little brother Andrew and Katie were married last weekend in Clarksville, MO. Friday night my parent's put on the rehearsal dinner with a whole hog roast. I will spare you the pics of the hog (complete with an apple in the mouth). For the rest of the meal they served baked beans, salad, potatoes, and rolls with homemade strawberry preserves and honey butter. Smore's aren't exactly an inside activity so our dessert table consisted of smore's type desserts. On the table we had smore's cupcakes, rocky road brownies, and Oreo truffles. The recipe for the smore's cupcakes can be found at http://homeiswheretheholmansare.blogspot.com/2010/03/smores-cupcakes.html My only suggestion for these is to add more graham cracker crust to each cupcake.

My mom's friend Julie who is a party girl herself, did the decorations for the tables. She used real barbwire in the centerpieces and raffia for accents. She is also responsible for the 3 tier stand on the dessert table. We have been eyeballing one at Pottery Barn for quite some time but couldn't bring ourselves to spend $75 on it. She made this using old tins and galvanized spray paint.

I have many wonderful pictures from the wedding day I will follow up with in another blog!

Blog to you soon!

Lucy

A Foodie's Kind of Labor Day

I find myself tonight at the end of the long weekend full of great memories. I would like whine about having to get back to the real world tomorrow but instead I will put my big girl pants on and blog about the great weekend we had! We spent the majority of the weekend eating some very yummy food. Friday night started with dinner with friends who made us fish tacos and a delicious ice cream dessert with Joe Joe's. Side note: If you have not heard of Joe Joe's, do yourself a favor and get to Trader Joe's and pick up a box. Your life will never be the same.

Saturday morning the Househusband and I started our day of baby registring with breakfast at Rooster. Rooster is a breakfast/brunch restaurant in downtown St Louis that serves local and organic food. Their specialty is an extensive menu of crepes and mimosas. This was our second time there, and I can't wait to go again! I had the German sausage crepe with apples and Vermont cheese. Yummy! Find out more about the restaurant at http://www.roosterstl.com/

Our second food adventure of the weekend was to Winslow's Home on Sunday after church. Paul works on the farm that is owned by Winslow's Home but this was our first time to the restaurant. The restaurant is located on Delmar just down from the Loop. Inside the building is a general store as well as a counter to order food. They have great seating inside and outside of the restuarant. Paul ordered the brisket sandwich which really lived up to all of the hype we had heard about it. I had the peach salad and tomato basil soup which was perfect for the first Fall like day of the year! http://www.winslowshome.com/

The conclusion to our food filled weekend was this morning with a breakfast picnic with friends. The Husbands were getting together to play frisbee golf so the ladies put together a magnificent breakfast in the park. We had muffins, fresh fruit, cinnamon rolls, sausage biscuits, sausage egg casserole, and baked oatmeal. I first had baked oatmeal earlier this summer when my cousin made it. It was a real hit this morning and goes great with milk, maple syrup, and fresh fruit. The recipe can be found at http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-oatmeal-ii/detail.aspx Here are some fun pictures from our morning!

Okay, I really need to stop my whining about going back to work in the morning. It is a 3 day work week for me with Friday off to start the celebration of my baby brother's wedding! I can't wait to share photos next week!
Blog to you soon!
Lucy

Hello Fall!

Hello Fall! Well maybe not quite yet. It is 101 out there today after all. But it is the first day of September and Fall weather is just around the corner! It is my favorite time of year with the soups, caramel apples, pumpkin lattes, sweaters, and boots. The Househusband and I found ourselves incredibly busy this summer and with the gardens and farming winding down we are looking forward to enjoying the Fall.

I have also found myself with very little time to party although my baby brother's wedding is next weekend and there will be lots to post from that :) We did have a shower here at work earlier in August for a girl in my department that is getting married. There were lots of people that helped. For decorations these cute flowers were displayed on the tables that matched the colors of the wedding.

 I was in between trips so had very little time to plan so I went with what I like to call the party basics for the dessert table. The desserts consisted of cupcakes, Texas sheet cake, mini cheesecakes, and brownies. They make for a great display and are oh so delicious! I have listed the recipes below.

Mini Cherry Cheesecakes
2 8oz packages cream cheese
2 Eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 T lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
24 vanilla wafers
1 can cherry pie filling

Beat cream cheese, eggs, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla until creamy
Line muffin tins with cupcake liners
Layer a wafer in the bottom of each
Add cream cheese filling and bake at 350 for 20 minutes
Top with cherries after baking, chill at least 4 hours.
*Note: I made these as mini cupcakes. To do this just crush up the vanilla wafers and add a layer  to the bottom of each liner instead of the whole cookie.

Chocolate Sheet Cake
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 recipe Chocolate Buttermilk Frosting

1. Grease a 15x10x1 inch or 13x9x2 inch baking pan, set aside. In medium bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt: set aside
2. In a medium saucepan combine butter, cocoa powder and 1 cup of water. Bring mixture just to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add the cocoa mixture to the flour mixture and beat with an electric  mixer on medium to high speed until thoroughly combined. Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in a 350 degree oven about 25 minutes for the 15x10x1 inch and 35 minutes for the 13x9x2 inch pan or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.
4. Pour warm Chocolate Buttermilk frosting over the warm cake, spread evenly. Place cake in pan on a wire rack; cool thoroughly.

Chocolate buttermilk frosting
In a medium saucepan combine 1/4 cup butter, 3 T cocoa powder, and 3 T buttermilk. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add 2 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Beat until smooth.
Blog to you soon!
Lucy