Pumpkin-palooza!!!!

In honor of the temperatures hitting the high 50's this morning (it's practically about to snow!), I wanted to share a few pumpkin recipes I've made the past couple of weeks!  The first two are real-life breakfast recipes....Pumpkin Pie Smoothies and Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal.  The third, Biscoff Cookie Pumpkin Bread, I like to pretend it's a breakfast food.  Yes, it's basically a loaf-shaped cake with cookies on top.  But it's called "bread," and bread is totally acceptable for breakfast.  
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Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

Holy cow, this is so yummy.  It definitely tastes like a pumpkin milkshake, but it's actually really healthy and filling.  I've seen a lot of different recipes for this floating around Pinterest, so I sort of combined elements of those with what I like in my usual smoothies, and threw together my own recipe.  This would be really good with butterscotch or vanilla pudding mix, too.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

makes 1 large smoothie

Ingredients:

1/4 cup canned pumpkin

a hand full of ice cubes 

1/4 cup dry oats

1 scoop vanilla protein powder (optional- makes it more filling)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 packet Jello Sugar Free White Chocolate Pudding mix

1/4-1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk (to consistency)

Throw all ingredients in blender and blend until it's the consistency you like.  Top with a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice.  

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Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal:

This is another recipe I sort of just threw together this morning.  It was so lovely outside, so I decided to grab my (pumpkin spice) coffee and a bowl of pumpkin pie oatmeal and dig through some cookbooks for some nice, warm, comfort foods to cook this week.  (BTW- does anyone else find that they have a TON of cookbooks, but get their recipes mostly from Pinterest?  I had forgotten how much I love just sitting and reading cookbooks!)  This is another really filling breakfast, and perfect for chilly mornings!  I think I'm going to make a big batch to take to work for breakfasts throughout the week.  

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

makes 1 serving

Ingredients:

1/2 cup instant dry oats

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp brown sugar

splash of almond milk

1.  Stir together oats and water in a microwaveable bowl.  Microwave for 2 minutes.

2.  Spoon pumpkin and brown sugar on top of oats and cook another 30-45 seconds, until brown sugar starts to melt.

3.  Stir in pumpkin, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and almond milk.  Enjoy!

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Biscoff Cookie Pumpkin Bread

*I totally forgot to take a picture of this.  I found the recipe on another blog, but with copyrights and stuff, I'm not sure if I can use their pictures...not sure how that works.  I don't want to be a copyright infringer, so look here for the original recipe and pictures!  Hers are probably better than mine, anyway!*

We have the sweetest neighbors ever.  You see, Garrett adopted my crazy pup when I moved in.  Rocky is a sweet, adorable, loving dog, but has a bit of separation anxiety, which worsened when we moved here.  Let's just say a couple of windows, a bathroom door, and some fishing poles have been harmed while Garrett and I were out running errands (on more than one occasion).  After a lot of brainstorming (and trial and error), we ended up building Rocky a pretty sweet shaded pen in the backyard (and when I say "pen," I mean bigger than some bedrooms I've had).  Our neighbors moved in shortly after I did, and just happen to LOVE dogs.  They lost 3 doggies in one year to old age, and couldn't bring themselves to go through that pain again so they never got a new dog.  One day, our neighbors talked to Garrett and ASKED if they could watch Rocky sometime.  They watched him for a couple of weekends when we went out of town, and then ASKED if they could come over and get him during the day when we're at work!  Lonely pup in need of ear scratches and belly rubs + super-sweet doggy-loving neighbors who love giving pup attention all day = win-win situation.  Our neighbors always tell us how much they love Rocky, but we are SO grateful to have such loving sweet people to watch him for us when we're gone!  I think it's just as good for Rocky as it is for them!  

Last week I wanted to take them a small thank-you gift.  I decided to bake them something special and had been wanting to try this recipe for awhile (how can you go wrong with Biscoff cookies and pumpkin?!?!).  I doubled the recipe and took a loaf next door, and kept a loaf for us (and by us, I mean me, since I think I ate the whole loaf, minus the one bite I made Garrett try).  If you make any pumpkin bread this fall, make this one.  Holy cow.  So delicious.  

Biscoff Cookie Pumpkin Bread

makes one loaf

recipe courtesy of Will Cook for Smiles

Ingredients:

FOR THE BREAD:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup Biscoff cookie crumbs

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice (I used a heaping tsp pumpkin pie spice instead of the 3 spices)

STREUSEL TOPPING:

1/2 cup Biscoff cookie crumbs

1/2 stick butter, cold

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1.  Preheat oven to 350 and grease a loaf pan.  

2.  For cookie crumbs: pulse half a package of Biscoff cookies in food processor until you get fine crumbs.  (Or do what I did and put them in a Ziplock baggie and pound the heck out of them with the can of pumpkin). 

3..  Whisk wet ingredients and brown sugar together in a bowl until smooth.

4.  Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices into the wet mixture.  Add cookie crumbs and whisk until incorporated. 

5.  Pour batter into pan, spreading evenly.

6.  For the streusel: pulse cold butter, cookie crumbs and cinnamon in a food processor until crumbly.  (Or do what I did and cut the butter into cubes and cut cookie crumbs and cinnamon in with a pastry cutter/fork).  Sprinkle crumbs evenly over the batter.

7.  Bake 55-60 minutes and cool on wire rack (if you can wait that long).  Remove from pan and eat the whole loaf eat a small slice.  :)

I hope you enjoy these pumpkin recipes as much as I do!  This week since it's getting chilly (for Florida) I'm making a couple of different soups and a pasta dish that will be some nice, yummy comfort food.  I'll share those recipes later this week. :)  

My Thanksgiving/Sweet Potato Bonanza...Part 2

Look at this little booger!  He and a bunch of his turkey friends sat on top of my Sweet Potato Pie Cupcakes.  I know it's after Thanksgiving and pretty much too late to make these (unless you are just obsessed with turkeys...in which case, make them- I won't judge), but they are too cute not to share.  They're basically 2 Oreos glued together with icing.  Candy corn for the tail and the little white tip of the candy corn for the beak.  Black sprinkles for the eyes (from my Halloween sprinkle collection).  A heart-shaped sprinkle for the gobble-thingy (from my Valentine's sprinkle collection).  I knew all those holiday sprinkles would come in handy someday.  A Whopper for the head and a Reese's Cup for the body.  How freaking adorable? 

A couple words of caution: I would highly suggest making these when it's NOT 80 degrees and humid as crap outside.  If you happen to live on the freaking Equator in Florida like me, work quickly and throw them in the fridge to set up overnight.  I also suggest that if you're going to put these on top of cupcakes to not put them on the cupcakes I gave you the recipe for.  The marshmallow icing is really...boingy?  It's not soft enough to hold these guys up.  I would use a softer icing- like cream cheese or a butterceam without marshmallow fluff in it.  All the little turkey dudes rose up out of the boingy icing and toppled over.  Anyway- they're really cute little decorations and would be totally fun to make with some kids.  I'm just going to give you the link to Our Best Bites for the instructions.  They explain it a lot better than I would be able to and there are better step-by-step photos. 

Now for part 2 of my ridiculous sweet potato obsession.  First, can I just say that I STILL had some leftover sweet potato casserole (recipe in just a sec) tonight?  I said "ugh, I'm sick of sweet potatoes" and put the rest of it in the pup's bowl to eat.  And then I proceeded to BAKE A SWEET POTATO and eat it for dinner.  There is something wrong with my brain.  

There's a story I've been told a few times by various family members about when I was a baby.  One day, Mom and Dad noticed the bottoms of my feet were orange.  They took me to the doctor and the doctor asked about my diet.  My parents told the doctor that I loved sweet potato baby food and ate a lot of it.  The doctor told them that was the problem.  I ate so many sweet potatoes that I turned ORANGE, people.  I'm afraid that's going to happen again.  Except now maybe it will look like a tan.  Which would be pretty awesome.  (Not sure if that story is true or not. I've been told this story a few times, and I've always believed it.  Now I see how ridiculous it sounds...hmmm.  Whatever.) 

So I was trolling Google Reader for a sweet potato dish before Thanksgiving- and believe me, there was no shortage of recipes for sweet potatoes.  Along with butternut squash, cranberry EVERYTHING (nasty), pumpkin EVERYTHING (yay!) and recipes for about 938039823927387 pies.  In the midst of all of that (and after starring about 938039827386 of those recipes), I found THIS.  I know it says "lightened up."  Please don't let that scare you away.  These were the best sweet potatoes I have ever had in my entire LIFE.  Seriously.  The recipe calls for coconut milk in the actual sweet potatoes.  Don't worry: it does NOT add coconut flavor, just creaminess.  There's also coconut in the topping, which I left out because I have a couple of family members who DESPISE coconut.  But I think it would be really tasty.  If you're allergic/one of those crazy people who pukes at the thought of coconut, you could always use regular milk or even sweetened condensed milk would be awesome. 

This recipe is now my total go-to sweet potato casserole.  I will never bake another one again.  It's that good.

OH.  And it has brown butter in it.  Just saying.

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Lightened-Up Sweet Potato Casserole

from How Sweet It Is

Sweet Potato Layer

2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp maple syrup

1/3 cup canned lite coconut milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

2 Tbsp butter

Peel and chop sweet potatoes into 1 1/2 inch cubes. Add to a pot with cold water, then bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes are fork tender, about 20-30 minutes, then drain. While sweet potatoes are cooking, add butter to a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisking constantly, cook until little brown bits appear in the pan – about 4-5 minutes. Remove immediately from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer (or a large bowl, using a hand mixer), add sweet potatoes. Add all remaining ingredients – sugar, syrup, spices, salt, vanilla extract, coconut milk and brown butter – and mix on low speed until combined about 30 seconds. Mix on medium speed for another 1-2 minutes, until potatoes are whipped. Spread in an oven-safe pan or dish. I used a casserole dish (I have no clue what size!).

Oatmeal Coconut Pecan Crumble

1/2 cup chopped unsalted pecans

1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

1 Tbsp flour

1/4 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

pinch of salt

2 Tbsp butter, softened

1 cup of mini marshmallows

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I forgot to take pictures.  I was too busy licking the saucepan that had the brown butter in it. 

PUMPKIN! PUMPKIN! PUMPKIN!

We're all going to turn into pumpkins.  At least the pup and I.  Wait.  He already did.   

Don't you LOVE his pumpkin suit??  That was his Halloween costume last year.  It's almost time to dig it out again! 

This time last year, BFF Michael and I were in Savannah. 

Yes, we took a Martini Tour.  It was amazing. 

My favorite place in the whole world.  And October is my favorite time of the year to be there.  While we were there, the city was hosting Wag-O-Ween.  Everyone in Savannah dressed their pups in costumes and trick-or-treated around the historic district for doggie treats.  I was DYING and squealing "omigosh! Michael!  Look at that doggy!"  Michael was not so ecstatic.  He just rolled his eyes in that special way he does and said "Oh God...."  We both know I'm a little crazy.  And that's why he loves me.

So when I got back home to Florida, I immediately decided Rocky needed a Halloween costume.  I was sad Bradenton didn't have a Wag-O-Ween.  Rocky was a little sad too.  But he dutifully dressed in his pumpkin suit and greeted all of our trick-or-treaters like the happy, excited pup that he is. 

This year, this pumpkin suit is going to get some public exposure.  There are a few doggy-ween events here in Tampa over the next couple of weekends, and you can bet Rocky is going to be making an appearance.  Alert the paparazzi.

Until Rocky can actually be a pumpkin, we're going to make do with just eating lots and lots of it.  It sounds gross, but I can eat pumpkin out of a can with a spoon.  Michael is rolling his eyes right now.  Mmmhmm.

I have a couple of other friends who are pumpkin fananatics too.  My friend/baking buddy Ali likes to send me links to recipes.  Lots of them.  I love it!  Last night she sent me a link to a recipe for pumpkin pie oatmeal.  Uhm, excuse me?  Yes, please.  It looked amaaaazing.  I made a few modifications this morning when I made it.  I think soymilk is weird.  And I'm not a huge maple fan so I don't keep maple syrup on hand, but I made do and had the most AMAZING breakfast this morning.  Rocky got a treat when I dropped the can of pumpkin and it splattered EVERYWHERE.  I was about to grab a wad of paper towels to clean it off myself/the floor/the walls/the fridge/the ceiling/the stove/the cabinets when he came in and went to work on the floor.  And my feet (yuck).  So he got most of it off the floor.  I had to scoop it out of my hair (wtf?) and off my face and elbows (again, wtf? how did it get THERE?) and the higher surfaces Rocky couldn't reach, but he took care of the floor for me.  My boy LURVES pumpkin.  Just like his momma.  Luckily I was able to salvage almost half a can of the remaining pumpkin.  Thank God.

If you want the original recipe for the oatmeal, click above.  That version is vegan.  I used real milk in mine.  And that version also says this is one serving.   Sure.  For a lumberjack.  It's definitely 2.  2 HUGE servings.  So here's my recipe:

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Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

adapted from The Family Kitchen

makes 2 servings (or 1 for a lumberjack)

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup milk

2/3 cup water

pinch of salt

2 tsp sugar (I used Splenda)

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

2 tbsp liquid coffee creamer (I used sweet cream flavored, but get creative!)

Put oats, water, milk, and salt in a medium saucepan and heat on low-med heat.  While heating, stir in pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, and sugar.

Stir, stir, stir, until it comes together and oats are cooked.  I used quick cook oats, so this took about 1-2 minutes. 

Spoon into bowls and top with 1 tbsp each of coffee creamer.  Yum! 

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And yes, Rocky licked the bowl when I was done eating.

P.S. Like my new blog design?  It needed a little face lift.  Thanks to Ali and her fab photography skills for my new pic. 

A Couple Easy Fall Recipes

Ohmigosh.  I am in heaven. It's finally fall (well the weather is the appropriate temperature), the windows are open and a cool breeze is blowing through my house.  I have my Pumpkin Patch candle lit.  I have some Eric Church singing to me in the background.  I just ate a yummy baked apple (more on that later).  Life is good. 

The past week, I had the bubonic plague.  Life sucked.  That's why I temporarily disappeared.  I literally did not get out of bed for more than an hour total for about 4 days.  I read lots of books and slept (when I could breathe).  I am still having some trouble breathing and a lingering cough, but I feel 95% better.  I should be back to 100% in a couple of days.  About time. 

I do have a couple of recipes to share, but first I have to tell you about my Little Sister, K-.  I applied to be a Big Sis back in April with Big Brothers Big Sisters.  It took a few months, but they called me about a month ago and told me they found a Little Sis for me.  I couldn't wait to meet her!  She is 9 years old.  It turns out she has a 12 year old (real) sister who also got matched with a Big Sis, so we had a double meeting on Friday.  It was our first time all meeting.  When I pulled up to the house, I saw a little girl in a sparkly dress sitting on the front porch, and when I walked up, she said "Are you for me or for my sister?"  I said, "are you K-?"  And she squealed with delight, jumped up and down, and gave me the biggest hug ever.  She instantly melted my heart.  We sat outside and talked for a few minutes, when her 12 year old sister came outside to see what the ruckus was.  Such sweet girls.  Once the other Big Sis and the BBBS lady got there, we went inside and met mom, signed some paperwork, went over rules and guidelines, etc.  K-'s mom told me that she had been sitting on the front porch waiting for me for 4 hours.  After the meeting, K- and I went back out onto the front porch to start talking about what kinds of things we would like to do when we hang out.  Our first hang-out is going to be Tuesday.  We decided that I would pick her up from school and we would go to the park and just talk and get to know each other.  Then we started a list of things we like to do, and things we would like to do together. 

K: Do you like to sing?
Me:  Yep!  (In my car by myself or with Ali and Michael...lol)
K: I do too, but my sister says I'm a bad singer.
Me:  Well we can be bad singers together.  (I wrote "sing" on my list)
K:  Put down dancing too.
(I wrote "dance" on my list).
K:  Have you ever been fishing? 
Me:  Yep!  Have you?
K:  No.  Can we go fishing? 
Me:  Erm...sure!  (Gonna have to borrow some fishing poles, lol).

This went on for a bit, while we added activities.  Then I asked her what kind of food she does and doesn't like to eat.  Luckily, she likes most food.  And she likes to cook and bake.
K:  I had the best food one time! 
Me:  What was it?
K:  A Cuban sandwich.  And I had coffee too!  It made me hyper, but I liked it!
Me:  We're going to get along just fine....

This girl just puts a huge smile on my face.  I can't wait to get to know her better and hopefully have a positive impact on her life.  And I just KNOW she's going to have a positive impact on mine.  She is just full of cheer and curiosity and questions and giggles and hugs and excitement for life.  Something most of us grown-ups all need a little more of.

Well, the weather in Florida decided to finally be fall-appropriate yesterday.  Maybe it was waiting for October 1.  To celebrate, I went to Starbucks first thing in the morning (and I mean first thing- 6am on my way to work) and got a Pumpkin Spice Latte.  Oh I was a happy girl.  Weather has been in the upper 70's-low 80's during the day and got down in the 60's last night.  My phone tells me it should get in the high 50's tonight, but I don't know if I believe it.  We'll see. 

Last night, when I got home from the work, I cranked open the windows (all 3 of them in my old house that will open...gotta talk to the landlord about that) and got to work on dinner.  I've been eating very healthfully the past few days and had a lot of veggies begging to be roasted.  Sweet potatoes, baby carrots, and onions sounded perfectly fall-ish.  Here's my recipe:  (P.S. I measure when I bake, but not so much when I cook...sorry!)

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Roasted Fall Vegetables

makes 2 servings

2 sweet potatoes, cut into cubes

1 small onion, roughly chopped

a few hand fulls of baby carrots

2 cloves of garlic

3-4 Tbsp olive oil

dried rosemary, dried basil, dried oregano, dried thyme (to taste- I used about a Tbsp of each, I guess)

salt and pepper

1.  Preheat oven to 425.  Cover a baking sheet with foil (makes cleanup easy!) and spray with cooking spray.

2.  Dump veggies into a large Ziploc bag.  Use a garlic press to smoosh the garlic and throw in the bag with veggies. 

3.  Add olive oil, spices, salt and pepper.  Zip up the bag (make sure it's closed tightly!) and squish around until all the veggies are coated with olive oil and seasonings. 

4.  Dump veggies onto cookie sheet and bake for about 45 minutes, until roasted and brown.

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I'm a doofus and didn't take any pictures.  I was too busy eating.  But they were yummy.  Perfect recipe to start off October. 

Tonight, I discovered my new love.  Honeycrisp apples.  Oh.  Em.  Gee.  First, let me tell you I'm not a HUGE apple fan.  I love Granny Smiths.  But otherwise, I can take or leave apples.  I love them in baked dishes, but I hate biting into them, and I can't STAND when an apple is grainy (hence: my aversion to pears).  Lately, I've been craving baked apples.  It's fall fever, I tell you.  My friend G- lives in Rhode Island and recently blogged about picking Honeycrisps.  (Look at her pictures, much better than mine!) Just the name honeycrisp sounds appetizing.  I've heard from lots of people that they're amazing, but I had to find out for myself.  I had no idea what I was missing.  I picked up a couple at the store the other day.  And they're HUGE.  Like the size of softballs. 

I was DYING for a baked apple tonight when I got home from work.  I've kind of been avoiding baking lately because I am trying to eat healthy, but I figured this wouldn't be such a bad dessert.  Wow.  It was amazing.  The apple was so big that I "baked" half of it and just ate the other half.  And then I texted G- (who is an apple-lover).

Me: OMG.  Just tried my first honeycrisp apple.  I'm in love and I'm not an apple fan.

G:  You can't not be an apple fan.  You just haven't found your apple.  Other recs: opal and jazz- similarly delicious. A bit more tart but still great: macoun. 

So I guess I will have to try those out too.  I didn't know an apple could have such flavor.  It tastes just like it sounds.  Honeycrisp.  Go try one.  And do yourself a favor and make a baked apple. 

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Baked Honeycrisp Apple

makes 1

1 honeycrisp apple

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 Tbsp cold butter

1 Tbsp instant oats

a few drops of vanilla

1.  Preheat toaster oven to 350.  Line a small pan with foil.

2.  Core the apple.

3.  Mash together brown sugar, butter, oats, and vanilla.

4.  Stuff inside the apple and bake for 20 minutes.

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Okay.  I have a confession here.  I am the worst apple-corer in the world.  I don't have a handy little tool to help because I don't eat apples that much.  So i tried with a knife. 

Yikes.  I guess it doesn't look so bad here, but it was awful.  And the apple was splittig dow the sides.  And I almost chopped off 3.5 fingers.  So after all that, I just cut the apple into big hefty slices and dumped them in the pan.  Oh, and I totally baked this in the toaster oven. 

Delicious.  I'm in love with fall, and I'm in love with these apples. 

I got my first Daring Bakers challenge yesterday!!!  It definitely looks...um...challenging.  I have to keep it a secret until the 27th, so check back then to read all about it!  It's probably going to take me until then to read the 10 pages of directions....

My SO Cute Recipe Box!

Happy Friday everyone!  Too bad I have to work tomorrow.  So I found such  a cute idea for a recipe box on Cleverly Inspired's Blog.  I have so many printed out recipes laying around the house and stuffed into my cookbooks that I needed a recipe box anyway.  I don't know about you, but to me, the best things that can be passed down through generations are recipes.  I especially love when people hand-write their recipes for me.  Seeing recipes in my Granny's and my mom's handwriting just brings back so many memories.  What I loved so much about this idea is that Tracie used her mother's handwritten recipes to make such a personal, sentimental recipe box.  I HAD to make one for myself.  So, I headed to Michael's and stocked up on all my supplies. 

This box took me a couple of days to make, just because I've been kind of busy and just worked on it when I had a few minutes to spare.  It turned out great!  I will tell you how to make one, but first, look at what I decided to whip out (I'm boycotting the weather!):

That smell just relaxes me and puts me right into fall.  Love it.  Anyway.  Moving on.

I started with a cardboard recipe box that I found at Michael's (in the unfinished wood section- they have cardboard stuff too).  I bought some red acrylic paint and painted the whole outside of the box and let it dry overnight. 

While the box was drying, I dug out handwritten recipes by some of my favorite people:  my mom, my dad, Aunt Peggy, Granny, and Aunt Sis.  Then, I made copies of them on my printer/copier and used cool-shaped scissors to cut out random sized pieces. 

The next morning, I glued on the recipe pieces randomly.  I painted Decoupage glue on the back of the paper with a paintbrush and smoothed the paper out as I placed it on. 

After I was satisfied with the way the box looked covered in the recipes, I painted on a coat of Decoupage glue to seal everything.  I painted it over the whole box with a sponge brush.  ***Be careful not to glue the box shut!  I almost did!***  I did 2 coats, letting it dry about 20 minutes in between coats. 

Once the box was completely dry, I got out my new toy!!!!

Heck yeah!  $2.49 at Michael's!  I love this little booger.  Anyway.  I used the hot glue gun to glue some (caaauuuute) ribbon around the rim of the lid. 

When I was at Michael's getting all of the supplies for this box, I found some adorable recipe cards (from Paula Deen!) for 50 cents a pack.  So I scooped up a few of those.  But for the life of me, I could not find recipe box dividers.  So I decided to make my own with some brownish-gold cardstock (looks like a paper bag in the picture, lol).  I measured the size of the box and cut out a pattern, then made 10 dividers. 

Then glued on some more of that cute ribbon! 

And now I have myself a way cool recipe box!  The hard part is going to be copying all of my hodgepodge recipes onto the cute cards.  I did a few today.  It's going to take awhile.  But the box looks perfect in my black and red kitchen!  Yay! 

If anyone has a recipe to add to the box, send it to me!  :) 

Black Bean Soup, Pumpkin (Finally!), and Drag Queens

Eeek!  It's been a few days since I've written.  Boooo me.  I've actually had a pretty busy week, which is unusual.  I normally come home from work and sit on my butt, watch TV, eat dinner, go to bed.  Not this week!  Tuesday night, I baked up something yummy with pumpkin (I couldn't wait any longer!), and last night, I had an experience that involved drag queens, twinkies, and fugitivies.  But more on that later. 

First, I have to tell you about the best black bean soup I have ever had.  My friend Sherry brought some black bean soup to work Monday for her lunch.  (I don't usually put whole names, I know, but she TOTALLY gets credit here.)  I told her how good it smelled and she asked J- and I if we wanted to try some.  We practically ran over each other to get to our desks to grab a plastic spoon.  Wow.  It was wonderful!  Smoky, perfectly spicy, not too soupy (not a huge fan of soupy-soups). 

As a side note, let me say that I'm a connoisseur of black beans.  I think I'm secretly part Cuban.  I have tried my fair share of black beans/black bean soups, and when I tell you this is the best I've ever had, I MEAN IT!!! 

Anyway.  Sherry's black bean soup got such a reaction out of J- and I that she brought in a whole crock pot of it for us the next day!  (We are lucky little worker bees to have such a cool boss!)  I ate a bowl of it for BREAKFAST.  And another bowl for lunch.  And another bowl after that.  I would've eaten another bowl but it was all gone.  J- so kindly brought some Cuban Bread and Corn Muffins to go along with the soup, and I crumbled a Corn Muffin in one bowl and it was OUTSTANDING.  Although this soup is just amazing on its own and doesn't need a corn muffin.  I asked Sherry if I could share her recipe on my blog.  And she said "of course!"  So.  Here is my very first guest recipe! 

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Sherry's Super-Duper Amazing Best Black Bean Soup in the Whole World

2 cans of black beans (one drained and rinsed, one not)

1 onion

One bag of sliced carrots

1 can of jalapenos, chopped (save the juice) 

1 package of diced ham

1/2 cup chicken stock

salsa

1.  Caramelize onions in a skillet with butter olive oil.

2.  Drain one can of black beans and add to large pot (or crock pot).  Add the other can of beans with the sauce from the can. 

4.  Add in diced ham, onions, jalapenos, carrots, and jalapeno juice. 

5.  Add in chicken stock. 

6.  Simmer for a few hours.  (Sherry cooked hers overnight in a cast iron pot, and then brought it to work in a Crock Pot).

7.  Stir in a couple of spoonfulls of salsa and let cook for a bit longer.  

8.  Get a big bowl and eat a whole bunch of this amazing soup!  

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TRY IT.  YOU WILL LOVE IT (especially if you're secretly Cuban like me). 

So after all the beans I ate Tuesday, I was in the mood for some PUMPKIN.  I've been trying to hold out and wait until it's cold before I started on my fall baking, but I couldn't do it.  Florida weather sucks and it's still 90 degrees here.  My family in Missouri and Illinois and friend in Indiana all told me it's such nice fall weather up there.  It even got down into the 30's this morning in Chicago.  Sigh.  I hate fall in Florida. 

Needless to say, I couldn't wait another month to make something with pumpkin.  I didn't have any cream cheese, so I couldn't make pumpkin bread or pumpkin cake (it's not right without cream cheese icing).  I was in the mood for something with a crumble topping, so I googled recipes for pumpkin crumble bars.  And found this little gem from Sweet Sista'.  Yay!  Another blog for me to read!!!  This recipe looked perfect the way it was, so I didn't make any alterations.  Except I left out the nuts.  Not because I don't like nuts, I just didn't have any.  I didn't take any pictures- sorry- but my pictures aren't that great anyway so you're not missing much.  I took these to work the next day and everyone loved them.  Maybe everyone else is in the fall mood too.  You just can't help but want some pumpkin in the fall. 

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Pumpkin Crumble Bars

from Sweet Sista'

For the base and topping:

1 1/2 cups quick oats

1 1/4 cups flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temp

For the filling:

2 cups canned pumpkin (I used one 15 oz can and it worked fine)

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice

1.  Preheat oven to 375.  Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan.

2.  Combine ingredients for the base.  Beat with a hand mixer until crumbly.  Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the mixture for the topping.  Press the remaining mixture into the greased baking pan.

3.  Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

4.  Prepare the filling.  Beat all ingredients until well blended.  Spread over crust and sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.  Bake for 25 minutes at 375.  Cool and cut into bars. 

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So last night, I had quite an adventure.  I met a really nice girl B- at my book club Sunday, who told us she was going to Drag Queen Bingo on Wednesday night.  She invited us to come along and of course I couldn't miss that!  I had been once before and it was a blast!  Sherry came with me too!  Drag Queen Bingo is hosted by Hamburger Mary's in Ybor City, every Wednesday night.  Before I went, of course I had to look up their menu. I was drooling.  Their burgers look fantastic (even if they are 15 bucks...) but their desserts looked the BEST.  Everything was fried!  Fried cheesecake, fried brownie bites, fried bananas foster...fried TWINKIES?  Uhmm....excuse me?  Wow. 

So when you go to this particular Drag Queen Bingo, you buy a bingo card for $10.  There are 10 games of Bingo with different patterns you have to get for a Bingo (and they have hilarious names, which I cannot repeat here).  I figured the prizes would be something kind of silly- but they were really great!  (And of course I didn't win any).  A tequila gift basket, a $150 gas card, 2 nights stay at a resort, a massage package, concert tickets....nice!  And all of the proceeds go to a non-profit, so it's all for a good cause! 

You know I had to try those fried twinkies, but first Sherry and I shared some fried mac and cheese.  Yum!  Not quite as good as the fried mac and cheese at Cheesecake Factory, but pretty close.  Then a big burly man came up to our table with a plate and said, in a very monotone voice, "Did someone order some Twinkies?"  And I screeched "meeeee!"  Ohmigod.  Sherry could only eat a few bites and she was done.  Yes, they were rich.  I ate every last bite.  The cream kind of melts into the rest of the twinkie when it hits the deep fryer.  They had a raspberry sauce around them and some whipped cream.  Ohmigod.  I can't stop saying that.  They were crisp and hot and gooey.  Ahhhh!   I was practically licking the plate. 

So Bingo wasn't a success, as far as prizes go, but Sherry and I had a mission.  A particular friend is a police officer (who shall remain unnamed) and had us on the lookout for a drag queen (who shall also remain unnamed) who is wanted for a certain crime (which shall remain unnamed).  We had a mission to find this drag queen and we were sent a mug shot to compare with.  First of all, in the mug shot "she" was in man form, but with eyeliner.  No wig, no other makeup.  Just a pretty man with eyeliner.  Well you all know drag queens go all out with their hair and makeup, girl.  So it was a little hard to find Ms Fugitive Tranny.  I thought I found her and tried to get a picture, but it was all blurry and she was making some scary face into the camera.  I sent it to Police Officer Friend and I haven't gotten a response, so maybe Sherry and I shouldn't quit our day jobs to become bounty hunters....Weekly Bingo players?  Definitely.