Happy Halloween!

The evolution of our pumpkin (with help from our friend Jeff):

Go Gators!

October Snow

What's all this blue stuff on our weather radar?

Yep, you got it... SNOW... on Oct. 29.  What were we thinking when we moved to the weather twilight zone also known as DC?  After four months we've had an earthquake, a hurricane, and snow in October.  What's next?

We spent the day with our friends who live near Baltimore.  This video shows what the weather looked like for nearly all of the afternoon.

Luckily, we were celebrating German Fest (a holiday that Colleen and I made up last week to coincide with the Florida/Georgia game) so we had an amazing assortment of hot, delicious dishes to keep us warm.  I challenge you not to drool as you read the menu:

- bratwurst

- apple sausage

- warm potato salad

- red and white cabbage

- spaetzle with mushroom gravy

- apple strudel

Guten Appetit!

Cooking Resources

I've recently found a couple of exciting cooking resources on the web.  The first is Foodbuzz.

The Foodbuzz main page highlights the most popular posts by food bloggers.  Top picks are based on how many people have decided to "buzz" it.  I especially like the Top 9 dishes which are updated daily.

If you're looking for a specific type of food blog, you can check out the 2011 Foodbuzz Blog Awards Nominees.  Topics include healthy living, baking and pastry, general cooking, and more.  I have especially enjoyed looking at the Best Photography nominees... who doesn't love awesome photos of beautiful home-cooking?!

The second resource I've found was posted by one of the Foodbuzz bloggers, Brown Eyed Baker.  She compiled a list of her 150 favorite fall recipes, which is broken down into categories.  When I think of fall food, I usually think of baked goods that use pumpkin.  And although some of these are on the list, there are also a lot of main dishes, side dishes, and appetizers.

I don't know about you, but the Italian Sausage, Red Pepper, and Mushroom Risotto looks to me like a big bowl of warmth on a chilly fall day.

www.browneyedbaker.com photo

Happy cooking!

YouTube

I feel like I should be in a commercial for YouTube.  By watching videos posted to YouTube, I learned how to knit a scarf!

I had a round loom that had been sitting in the closet for a while. 

I had previously used to it make winter hats.  Mine didn't have beards attached, but what a brilliant idea!

When I started doing research about things I could make on the loom other than hats, I came across a video showing how to knit a scarf.  So I tried it.  And I made a one-strand periwinkle scarf.

Then after reading responses to the video, I saw someone mention using two strands to make a thicker scarf. So I tried it, too.  And I made a thicker blue and grey scarf.

I'm pretty excited about this new use for the loom.  Not only is it MUCH less time consuming than making hats, I feel like it's something more useful.

Autumn Wreath

Using supplies from the craft store, I made an autumn wreath for our front door.

Here's what I bought:

- Grape vine wreath ($3.74 - includes 25% off promo)

- Sunflower garland ($1.79 - includes fall flowers sale + 25% off promo)

- Wrapped floral wire ($1.49 - includes 25% off promo)

I attached some wire to the top of the wreath (using the metal loop that the price tag was attached to) to hang it from the door.  Starting at the top, I secured one end of the garland using floral wire and then started wrapping it around the wreath.  After making sure the wraps were even, I secured the other end of the garland using floral wire.

After hanging the wreath on the door, I pulled off any of the sunflowers that ended up on the back side of the wreath (and prevented it from hanging flat against the door).  And there you have it... a five minute project that can easily be redecorated by simply changing the garland.

Total cost of project = $7.02.

Halloween Costume Planning

We've decided to wear the same costumes this year as we did when these photos were taken...

Super J!

A says, "I'm a mouse, duh!"

No, not really.

Taste the Rainbow

Enough said.

Fall is in the Air...

... and leaves are on the ground.

1980s throwback!  Toddler J (right) and his brother D (left).

This has become very apparent due to the number of leaves we've been tracking inside lately.

A rainbow of leaves in our neighborhood.

I think it's worth it.

Pumpkin Palooza

Thanks to an awesome Joy of Baking recipe, I made some DELICIOUS pumpkin cupcakes yesterday.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup (75 grams) solid packed, canned pumpkin puree 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Place rack in the middle of the oven. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or spray each cup with a non stick vegetable spray.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, ground spices, and salt. 

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and pumpkin puree, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.  

Fill the muffin cups evenly with the batter using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Place in the oven and bake for about 18 - 20 minutes, or until firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Instead of making icing, I used store-bought whipped cream cheese icing and added toasted walnuts.  I love the simple yet elegant look of the white icing and nuts.

Since I was using a huge can of pumpkin, I made pumpkin bread with the rest.  It passed J's taste test.

The pumpkin bread joined the pumpkin cupcakes, cayenne and cheddar potato chips, tortilla chips and salsa, and chili dogs (not pictured) as our indoor tailgating spread for yesterday's sad, sad Gator football game.

But regardless of the game outcome...

In all kinds of weather, we'll all stick together... for F-L-O-R-I-D-A!

UF vs. Arkansas game on 10/17/09

More Fall Foliage

I couldn't resist taking a few more photos of Fall leaves around our neighborhood.

Spooky?

We apparently missed the neighborhood memo regarding over-the-top Halloween decorations.

Our neighbors have gone all out.

I guess this means we'll buy some candy this year - something we never needed to do while living in our college apartment complex.

Our Poor Tire

"Halp!"

What Became of Our Veggies

We thoroughly enjoyed the veggie delivery Groupon we recently redeemed.

What did we do with all the veggies, you ask?

Here it is... a veggie montage:

Green beans (with bacon!)

Sweet potato fries

Spaghetti squash with roasted tomatoes and mushrooms

Eggplant parmesan (mentioned in a previous post)

We also had some delicious grapes, bananas, and oranges.  I think our favorite part was the roasted crimini mushrooms with olive oil and sage - they had a great flavor and texture!

Cousins Reunited

After growing up on opposite sides of the country, I've recently been reunited with my cousin Lauren who also lives in the DC area.

Our first photo together since...

... this photo in 1992.  Lauren is in the green shirt
and I'm in the orange shirt.
Tom Selleck (aka my Uncle Greg) is in the red shirt.

We met up with Lauren and her family to tour Mount Vernon today.  It was a beautiful day and the girls were so much fun to play with.

J + A with Lauren's girls.

"Cousin J" with Zoe in the distillery.

"Cousin J" showing Claire the gristmill.

The girls outside the distillery - they're so cute!

This was my third visit to Mount Vernon (J's second visit), and we continue to learn new things each time.  It's such a beautiful place with so much history and so many neat things to see.  We might go back later in the fall once more trees start changing color, and a Christmas visit is also on the horizon.