Pumpkin is the new bacon. Or so Pinterest tells me. I don't know. I don't eat bacon. But I'll take their word for it because I love pumpkin everything.
This is the pumpkin coffee cake with streusel that was super yums.
Looking for an actual coffee flavor to mix with the cake, I made this icing. It didn't add any coffee flavor, just more sugar, which wasn't needed. If I could do it over again, I would ix-nay this icing.
I'm practicing my pumpkin baking because the next cooking club is at my place and it's going to be a pumpkin brunch!
Don't you just love when you start drawing something and your art just turns into something fabulous? I want to frame this and hang it on our wall around Thanksgiving.
Work has been getting in the way of my blogging fun. It's also been getting in the way of quality time with Man-Beast & Baby Panther.
And since I love food so much (live to eat). I would like to celebrate Thanksgiving for more than just one day. Plus it's a great excuse to have a fancy dinner with the ones I love and watch lots of football.
Therefore, I am officially making up my own holiday right now.
{Mini-Thanksgiving}
For some of the weekends leading up to the official turkey day, I am going to make a big meal. Turkey, Cornish hens, rotisserie chicken. Poultry of some sort.
Mashed potatoes. Mashed squash. Green been casserole in the crockpot. Whiskey honey carrots. Stuffing. Not all the sides at once. Just one or two at a time.
Two nights ago I bought a rotisserie chicken, made a green bean casserole in the crockpot, made mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing.
It was a success! Man-Beast and I loved it. Baby Panther was a bit jealous that she wasn't allowed at the dinner table.
I don't have pictures to show, though, because my camera pooped out. And I'm not wealthy & fancy enough to have an iPad or smart phone.
But it looked a little something like this...
Minus so many people.
Anyone else going to celebrate {Mini Thanksgiving}? If you do, send photographic goodness to julieschicklit@gmail.com and I will post your pics. And I promise more posts this weekend!
Went out to my car this morning and there was frost on my windshield. Wasn't wearing a jacket and I felt great. Besides my prehistoric-like ways, this is just another reason why I think I was cold-blooded in my past life. Love fall. Love cooler weather. Now we just need some refreshing rain in my city!
{More evidence that men do not understand women}
"I profess not to know how women's hearts are wooed and won. To me they have always been matters of riddle and admiration."
{On teaching}
"On a fine autumnal afternoon, Ichabod, in pensive mood, sat enthroned on the lofty stool from whence he usually watched all the concerns of his little literary realm."
{Get in the mood for Fall}
"The forests had put on their sober brown and yellow, while some trees of the tenderer kind had been nipped by the frosts into brilliant dyes of orange, purple, and scarlet."
Buy a print of "Autumn Tree" by Angela Taratula here
{Get in the mood for Fall foods}
"As Ichabod jogged slowly on his way, his eye, ever open to every symptom of culinary abundance, ranged with delight over the treasures of jolly autumn."
{Who knew ghosts were so lonely?}
"There is no encouragement for ghosts in most of our villages, for they have scarcely had time to finish their first nap and turn themselves in their graves, before their surviving friends have traveled away from the neighborhood; so that when they turn out at night to walk their rounds, they have no acquaintance left to call upon."
{Great quote to go on a painting of a haunting scene}
"There was a contagion in the very air that blew from that haunted region; it breathed forth an atmosphere of dreams and fancies infecting all the land."
Football! Man-Beast yelling! Terry Bradshaw! Naughty food!
Yes, football season is all about yelling, naughty foods and crazy men. This week's {Crockpot Wednesday} aims to accomplish all three of those: legit queso made in the crockpot that will make the Man-Beast yell, "Ay Dios Mio!"
No Rotel
No Velveeta.
Tricky. I know.
Ingredients:
1, 10-oz. package of Cacique's Queso Fresco
1 green chile, diced
1 tomato, diced, and try to squeeze out the juice
1 poblano pepper, diced
1/2 white onion, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/8 teaspoon cumin
2/3 cup of Cacique's Crema Mexicana Agria
2 serranos, diced, and remove seeds
2 Tablespoons diced jalapenos (I cheated and used the ones from a can!)
squirt of lime juice
Directions:
Wash and dice all you need to dice. Crumble the cheese to small little pieces. Place everything EXCEPT for the cilantro in the crockpot. Toss in the cilantro for the last 15 to 20 minutes or so. Cook on high for about 2 hours before you're ready to serve.
Results:
This recipe didn't quite have the texture I was looking for. Everything melted and came together, but I think Queso Fresco is a crumbly kind of cheese, so it looked kind of cottage cheese-ish. Maybe try adding milk? Half and half? A 1/2 cup of shredded cheese?
Let me know if anyone tries this and figures out how to make the texture perfectly creamy.
But it does taste super delish! I'm going to use it on our Bean Taco Salads tomorrow night!
J.K. Rowling's new book will be available Sept. 27, 2012 here
{1}
We know fall is the bestest of them all because of Dia De Los Muertos and pumpkin flavored everything, but there are also a slew of great books by our favorite well-known authors coming out. Let's celebrate with pumpkin cream cheese muffins!
{2}
A soldier's story makes some people wonder if killing an unarmed person is acceptable, even if it is Bin Laden. {Update: I removed the original link because it contained the real name of the soldier, and I'm just not a douche like that. Shame on you, Fox News Channel.}
{3}
An inspiring young lady writes a children's book to tell other students the affects of bullying. (Teachers and parents: great for back-to-school reading!)
{4}
Judy Blume opens up about having breast cancer and taking care of her health.
{5}
"Fifty Shades" movie producers tweet that American porn actor, James Deen, is on the short list to play Christian Grey.
{6}
All women in the world stun scientists and Fifty Shades producers as they say "ew" all at once.
{7}
Ann Curry is rumored to write a tell-all book about Matt Lauer and the Today Show. Lauer last seen hiding under Al Roker.
I'd suggest pairing this {Crockpot Wednesday} recipe with The Legend of Sleepy Hallow. I just finished the classic tale from Washington Irving today, and by the middle of it, I could taste autumn. I want to gobble it up.
This original recipe is one of my favorites. But I tweaked it just a bit (notice the dark chocolate):
Pam spray
1 pound ground turkey
1 can tomato sauce
2 cans kidney beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained
2 cans diced tomatoes, not drained
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small can diced jalapenos
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 pinch ground allspice
salt to taste
3 small pieces of dark chocolate
Spray Pam on a skillet and brown the ground turkey.
Combine all ingredients in a crock pot. Add cooked ground turkey. Cook on high for four hours or on low for eight hours.
Autumn needs to start happening. I wrote my top 13 reasons why I love fall and now I'm moving on to the best stories that'll get everyone ready for the witching hour.
1. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. You'll actually feel for this "monster."
2. The Witch's Life by Anne Sexton. Great imagery, great word choices. And, if I'm reading it right, this poem is saying that kids make lovely, sain women turn into grumpy old witches.
4. The Skeleton at the Feast: The Day of the Dead in Mexico by Elizabeth Carmichael and Chloe Sayer. This informational book explores the culture in Mexico and how Dia De Los Muertos (my favorite holiday) is celebrated. Get a used paperback from around $5.
5. The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice. The follow-up novel to Interview With a Vampire, this novel follows Lestat (Tom Cruise's character) as he goes on a search to discover his own origins. After you read this, you'll want to throw your town's version of The Vampire Ball. (Send me photographic goodness if you do and I'll feature you on the blog!)
Anne Rice's mansion in New Orleans where The Vampire Ball was originally held
6. Wicked by Gregory Maguire. The play is good. The book is even better (books are always better because you get to use your own imagination.) This novel gets a little naughty, so hide it from the munchkins. It portrays the Wicked Witch of the West's side of the story of Oz, before Dorothy came and ruined it all.
4. Football. Sitting on couch? Yes. Yummy smells from the crockpot? Yes. Good excuse to eat naughty food? Yes. Men in tights!? Yes... and God bless America.
5. Leaves. How about we expand this idea to just the colors. Look at this photographic evidence. I can just eat it up like candy.
6. Halloween. Especially reading spooky stories to get in a Gothic-kind of mood. Read Dracula by Bram Stoker or Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (click on the titles for free downloads from Project Gutenberg) to get you ready for the witching hour.
7. Disney's Halloween Treat.
8. Pumpkin. Everything! Must! Be! Pumpkin! I cannot get enough of this flavor. Here are 41 pumpkin recipes. And this is how you can make your own pumpkin spice latte at home... in a crockpot, no less! (Thanks Urban Nester.)
9. Scarves. I know, I know. Trendy. Probably one of the biggest trends right now, and it's still summer! But it's the ultimate in fashion meeting comfort. Learn 15 ways to tie a scarf from The Fashion Spot.
10. Road trips (see number 5.)
11. The Nobel in Literature laureates are announced. Still waiting for mine... still waiting to write something. Still waiting for the Nobel Prize in Blogging to come into existence {tapping pen next to keyboard while wearing my writer's hat.}
12. Summer clothes on sale. Love shopping for summer clothes in fall and winter clothes in spring.
13. Apples. Here are 11 recipes from Tree Hugger that aren't your typical pie or fritter.
Goodness sakes. Can you tell I love food? And because we celebrate literature on this blog, here is Miss Lizzy's beautiful sonnet in full:
How Do I Love Thee?
{Sonnet 43}
By Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861). Photo from Poets.org
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
{Why the top 13? Because it's lucky to me. If you add up the numbers in Man-Beast's and my anniversary date, 3.27.10, you get 13.}
