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

Quiltfest 2011

I must really like you people because I am about to give you insight into the dorkiest thing I do all year. Attend Quiltfest in Tennessee. I know. In Jonesborough, Tennessee where my Aunt lives, the local quilt store holds Quiltfest everyyear. I come from a family of wonderfully talented women who have been attending for years. While there are classes offered, most of our family spends time working on projects at my Aunt's home. Four years ago they convinced me to come. I came thinking I would spend my time scrapbooking but once I saw everyone in action and stepped foot into the most beautiful fabric store I have ever seen, I was hooked. Since then I have made a quilt for a double bed, a Hungry Caterpillar play quilt, and a lap sized quilt. Since I am an amateur in the area, this is the only time of year I quilt and I am a bit of a mad woman while there about getting projects done. This year not so much. I blame it on the pregnancy but it took me until the last day to find my motivation. I did however manage to read "The Help" which is a great read!

The girls at QF were sweet enough to throw me a Pea in the Pod shower. It included mocktini's and some wonderful gifts including a massage I have already used.

The best part of Quiltfest is spending the week with the awesome ladies of my family and making great memories!

Blog to you soon!
Lucy

Canning and Putting Up Party

This blog was suppose to begin with a picture of a garden fresh blt, but I had already eaten it before I realized a picture had not been taken. The first sign of red tomatoes on the vine had me craving it and I had no self control when the delicious red tomato and bacon were sitting on my plate between two pieces of homemade bread. With all of the work that we have put into our garden this year, I wanted to take a day we could enjoy the fruits of our labor and can some of our bounty to enjoy this winter.

This garden has definitely been a family affair. My dad and husband have put in countless hours in the garden combating bugs, weeds, and other creatures. My mom has been ready to put up or serve whatever we harvest and we even have my grandparents who are in their 80's making pickles and putting up onions. This Saturday we all came together to work on the harvest and to enjoy some delicious food so fresh the dirt had to be knocked off of it.

We started the day by putting up a bushel of peaches. This brings the total to 1.5 bushels for the year but we love our peaches. We slice them, add a little fruit fresh, and put them in 3 cup bags that we then store in the freezer. With these you can make pies, cobblers, smoothies, enjoy them on yogurt, or use them in bread. And have no fear, before we froze them we enjoyed another round of peach ice cream and peach cobbler.

After the peaches were done we broke for lunch and had the famous blt's (again, sorry no pic). We also had some pickled beans that the Househusband and I had made earlier in the week. They were so easy to make and taste a lot like a pickle. All you do is cut up beans and whatever else you want to throw in. We added some onions and peppers. Then you mix together 5 cups water, 1 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 salt. Pack the jars with the beans, pour in the liquid mixture, put the top on and let it sit in the frig at least 48 hours. Then they are pickled and ready to be enjoyed!

The afternoon was spent making salsa and putting up onions we had grown. Some of the onions were not storing well, so my grandparents chopped them up, caramelized them, and froze them in 1 cup bags. These are going to be awesome in soups or on hamburgers.

Mom and I spent the afternoon making our first batch of salsa. It has a good taste but was decided that we will be adding more tomatoes for the next round.

I have to stop for a moment and brag on my Mom. She is one of the busiest people I know and is preparing for my brother to get married this year and a new grandbaby and she still has managed to put up corn, hashbrowns, jalapeno jelly, sweet jalapenos, coleslaw, green beans, and blackberry jam. The lady wears me out.

While we were plugging away in the kitchen, the Househusband was out gathering more from the garden. We gathered up what he picked and our dinner included fried green beans and okra, zucchini fritters, corn on the cob, grilled squash, and last but not least peach cobbler.

As I was taking this next pic I was trying to ignore the fact that the Househusband was frying in 2 sticks of butter and bacon fat.

Needless to say by the end of the day we were exhausted. But it was great to spend the day together and have the satisfaction of being able to serve something we grew together.

Blog to you soon,
Lucy

Food Truck Night

A heat advisory and 104 degrees on the thermostat did not stop us from enjoying the second Food Truck Night in Tower Grove Park. http://www.saucemagazine.com/blog/?p=11553 Fifteen food trucks from St Louis lined up in Tower Grove opened up their doors and dulled out delicious foods ranging from tacos, pizza, crepes, cupcakes, and hot dogs. I enjoyed a delicious basil watermelon lemonade from Southwest Diner and a BLT crepe from Holy Crepe! I finished the evening with a Chunky Monkey Cupcake from The Sweet Divine.

We layed out a blanket and gathered with friend's for the evening. I wish I would've taken more pics of food and truck pics, but I was in the company of these precious babies which had me distracted. These cute guys, or as I like to refer to them as my daughter's future suitors, are about 8 weeks old and as cuddly as can be.

I am in the middle of canning today with the whole family so I better get back to work! Details and pics to come tomorrow!

Blog to you soon!
Lucy