Pumpkin Pecan Chocolate Latte

You read that correctly, my friends.

...No don't you go running away!

Pumpkin Pecan Chocolate Latte. It sounds almost too good to be true. No worries, it isn't!

When the weather forecast for your area looks like this..

Source
..You'll be wanting to cozying inside your coffee mug, whether you are at your desk or on your couch... under a warm blanket by a crackling fire.. watching some movie starring Cary Grant. Sigh. How I wish I were doing the latter.

Seeing as a day such as today is the current day, meaning a week day and a work day(hmmm...), I must improvise ways to crawl inside of my mug while at work.

Hence, my result: a pumpkin pecan chocolate latte.

Is this unconventional? Yes.
Does it taste fantastically magical? Pretty darn close.
Did you get weird looks from your co-workers in the coffee room? Abso-freakin-lutely.

Could this recipe be perfected when in one's own kitchen? Yes. But work with what you have people! I am sharing this with you to PROVE that you can have a fun little drink, without having to cross the street and go to Starbucks and pay $5.00 for an 8oz. drink!

Work with me here, people! It takes a little imagination and an open mind!

The suspects:
Source My lifeline at work. I keep a jar in the fridge. This plus a piece a toast will calm any moment of stress at the workplace. It's proven. Scientifically. Mmhmm.
Source Leftover from our end of the summer ice cream party at work. ....Those shindigs make coming to work so much more worth it!
Source Milk. I prefer mine from a cow, but if you like yours from a soy bean, almond, or goat! Go you!
Source A tall and dark Columbian. No. Not a Columbian MAN. Columbian coffee!!

Put 'em together and what have you got? Bibbidi Bobbidi BOO!
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Pumpkin Pecan Chocolate Latte
Inspired by: today's miserable weather
Serves: one person in need of a pick-me-up!

Ingredients
1 tsp Pumpkin Pecan Butter (you can also use peanut butter, apple butter, don't go Paula Deen on me and use butter butter, ick!)
1/2 tsp chocolate syrup
1/4 cup milk
A lonely cup of coffee

Directions:
1. Combine the milk, pumpkin butter and chocolate syrup. Heat in the microwave (if you don't have a stove at work, which most of us don't!). Stir VERY well to combine.
2. Add to your sad and lonely cup of coffee.
3. Run back to your desk. Sniff. And smell. And hide from all the people in your office that think you're a weirdo.

Butternut Squash Soup! And Some Friends, too!

My friend Natalie...

What can I say about Natalie. Well, in short, I love her. She is one of the best friends a gal could ask for. I met Natalie in college. She was one of my roommates. She was a real foodie; because of this fact, I thought she was weird.

She had a food blog and was very much into food. At the time, I was into getting my rear-end handed to me on a daily basis playing field hockey. I would come home from practice tired and beaten and the apartment would be filled with the great smell of food, Natalie’s food.

She took so much care with her cooking. At the time, I couldn’t have been bothered. Funny how things change, huh?

Natalie married a wonderful man, Nick, a graduate from the Air Force Academy. They have a beautiful son, Elliott (for whom, I have made plans of a wife: one of my unborn daughters).

Simply a remarkable family.

Sad part is, they live in Georgia! Georgia is quite a while away from Philadelphia. Therefore, any time Natalie makes it back above the Mason-Dixon, I become instantaneously full of desperation to see her.

My Natalie and Nick were over this past weekend. It was such a wonderful time. We put our efforts together and made butternut squash soup. Yum!

It was a wonderful evening full of laughter, excellent stout, and breathless conversations trying to catch up on all of the moments we have missed in between our last visit.

I am counting down the minutes until I can see them again (how many days until December?)


Love you, Herr Family.
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Butternut Squash Soup
Adapted from the Food Network
Serves: 6 to 8


Ingredients
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 sprigs thyme
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons heavy cream
12 oz bacon, chopped
3 TBS nutmeg
3 TBS Kosher salt
2 TBS Freshly ground pepper

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add onion, bacon, and 1 teaspoon salt.
2. Strip the thyme leaves into the pot, increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the squash and sugar and cook, stirring, until glazed, 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Add 5 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until the squash is tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Working in batches, transfer the soup to a blender, crack the lid to let steam escape and puree until smooth; return to the saucepan (or puree directly in the pan with an immersion blender).
6. Stir in the heavy cream. Season with remaining salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Ring Tum Ditty and Baked Potato PIZZA

Last night's dinner was inspired by none other than Ms. Paula Deen. It was a rainy, humid day in Philadelphia (my hair definitely illustrated that fact). What else could a gal want other than comfort food on a stinky rainy night? Nothin' Who would have the best comfort food recipes? Paula Deen. I decided to try this on top of a pizza. Daring thought.

This pizza is not for the faint of heart. It is filling, boy! But it doesn't leave you feeling too full. I had two slices and was set for the night (two homemade-sized slices, mind you, probably equivalent to one and a half slices of pizza shop pizza.)

DapperDan? Well. He ate the other 3/4 of the pizza and didn't end up in a coma from overeating. So noted.

Hounddog? She begged for a slice, but was refused! My pizza, you bad hounddog.

...Okay she's not bad, she's good. But she's always after my pizza. What can I say? I raised her right!

Let me tell you people. It was good. There is no smell quite like bacon and onions cooking in olive oil. Nothin' like it.

Make this pizza as soon as humanly possible and give me a slice, while you're at it why dontcha!


Ring Tum Ditty and Baked Potato Pizza
Inspired by: Paula Deen
Serves: Two hungry Malloys


Ingredients
Pizza dough
3 slices of bacon, chopped
1 cup chopped onions
1 (15 oz) can whole tomatoes, drained, juice reserved
1 cup corn
Dried thyme
Salt and pepper
1 cup grated mozzarella
1 russet potato, baked and sliced to 1 inch pieces


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Saute bacon and onions together in a heavy pot over medium heat until bacon is crisp and onion is translucent.
3. Add reserved tomato juice to pot and then squish the tomatoes through your fingers into the pot. Add corn, thyme, and salt and pepper, to taste, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until desired thickness.
4. Add cheese and stir until melted.
5. Roll out your dough to desired thickness (I rolled ours out pretty thin, and it still worked out, even with the heavy topping).
6. Place Ring Tum Ditty over dough. Spreading out evenly.
7. Top with potato slices.
8. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes and eat a whole pie with your husband in a sitting.

Yumm!

YOUR Fabulous Fall Recipes - September

My goodness. It is hard to believe that September has already begun to come to a close! I would really like to wonder where all of the time goes!

Some FABULOUS recipes were submitted in this month's challenge! Check them out below!

Missed this month's submission? No fears! You have your chance again October 23rd! I bet your submissions will be SPOOKtacular! :-)

Check out these great recipes submitted by YOU!


Caramel-Chocolate Dipped Sugar Pears by Sprinkled with Flour

Recipe found here

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Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagna by Oven Love

Recipe found here

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Apple Cranberry Oatmeal by Re-Fresh

Recipe found here

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Orange and Cinnamon Cake by Matbakhun

Recipe found here

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Maple Butter Spiced Popcorn by A 1L Who Cooks

Recipe found here

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Healthy Celery Chicken Recipe by Shirley's Luxury Haven

Recipe found here

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Great submissions, everyone! If that doesn't get you into the fall spirit, I don't know what else will!

Missed this month, but you have a recipe? Just post it in the comment section here and I'll add it!

I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with for October, just in time for Halloweeeen!

Apple/Raspberry Picking and Raspberry Cobbler

On Saturday, I had the absolute pleasure of spending the day with my beautiful aunts and cousin. We went to Highland Orchards in search of the best apples and raspberries that the beautiful Pennsylvania countryside can offer to the picker. It was a radiantly sunny day without a cloud in the sky. Simply picture perfect.

Yes, there was the occasional trip over a downed apple, the frequent swatting of bees and flies, but it, nevertheless, was a picture perfect day.

It was a day full of laughs and "taste testing" of apples and raspberries. Let me tell ya, raspberry pickin' ain't for the faint of heart.. that there requires good and steadfast hard work.

It was really such a beautiful day, did I mention that?

It was great to get out of the hustle and bustle of the City and go back to my roots! ...Back to the quiet country. Boy, do I miss it sometimes. ...Especially during this time of year.




From left to right: Aunt Christina, I happen to be the floating head above Aunt Anne, and Julia, my cousin, who is moving to Spain on Sunday! Gonna miss her!

Thanks again, Julia, for all of your wonderful photo-taking!

Shenanigans, as always

Go get 'em Julez!





Oh, the bounty!

I decided to leave the apples for eatin' but use the raspberries we picked that night! Note, no photos were taken of the raspberry pickin' as we were frantically in search of a good amount, and also we found ourselves eating more of the raspberries than we were actually placing into our basket. So you'll have to take our word for it, we picked these raspberries, Promise!


I couldn't wait to bake a cobbler with these raspberries! ..And well, DapperDan and I ate the whole cobbler in a sitting while watching Mad Men. :o) It was good stuff.


You bet your life I did!



Raspberry Cobbler
In our case: serves 2, but should serve up to 6!!
About the photo.. When I went to upload it, I actually hit delete instead. So no photo. Take my word for it. It was good!

Ingredients
2 cups raspberries
1 cup flour
1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cups milk
2 TBS vanilla extract
whipped cream

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Liberally butter a 9x9 baking dish.
3. In a medium sized bowl, combine the berries, 1 TBS vanilla, and 1/2 cup sugar, pour onto bottom of baking dish.
4. In another medium sized bowl (or the same one, if ya washed it out) combine the remaining ingredients, mixing very well.
5. Pour mixture on top of raspberries.
6. Bake for approximately 30 to 40 minutes, or until the cobbler has nicely browned and a toothpick comes out cleanly!

Best Tastes of Fall Challenge- September

Is there any season as intoxicating as the fall? The crisp autumn air that comes at dawn, with the ground adorned with leaves. No, I daresay there is nothing quite as picturesque and lovely as the fall. Everything is as it should be.

The welcomed warmth of the day, coupled with the brisk temperature at night.

The tantalizing smell of the wood burning in a neighbor's fireplace.

The comfort found in the spices and flavors of each autumn meal.

No, there is nothing quite like the fall and her warm, earthy colors. I am lovestruck!

Fall, to me, is perfection. It is also best accompanied by the Chieftains, I cannot quite explain why. Give me a chai tea latte on a brisk autumn morning, with the Chieftains' and Tim O'Brien singing Shady Grove, and I am in absolute heaven (obviously, DapperDan and the hounddog are in the picture there somewhere!).



There is so much comfort in the meals of Fall. ...And we cannot forget to mention that the desserts are in a league of their own. Truly. Nothing else like it. In a dish where nutmeg and cloves meet pumpkins, you will find me.

If that doesn't make you ponder and sigh, sweetheart, I dunno what will!!!!

I absolutely adore seeing what other people love and find so diverting about this season, which is why I began this so-called "challenge." There's nothing quite challenging about it; it's quite pleasurable, in fact.

As you have seen with yesterday's post, I released a preemptive shot for a comforting autumnal food. So often, we think of desserts and breakfast items as great ways to illustrate the season. I decided to challenge myself a bit (hmm.. perhaps the word challenge does fit after all) by trying to encompass the fall into a dinner.

This is my submission for this month's challenge. I hope you enjoy. I can't wait to see what each of you have come up with! Stop by tomorrow to see everyone's fabulous submissions!


Cranberry Pork Roast
Yields: Approximately 4 servings


Ingredients
1 and 1/2 lbs pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat
2 cups cranberry sauce
2 cups tomatoes diced, along with their juices
1 white onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 TBS ground mustard
1 TBS rosemary
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Directions:
1. In a medium sized bowl, combine all of the ingredients, except for the pork.
2. Pour half of the the cranberry mixture into the slow cooker.
3. Place the pork into a slow cooker.
4. Pour remaining of cranberry mixture into slow cooker.
5. Place heat on low and cook for 8 hours.
6. Slice and serve.


***Don't forget to post your recipe in the comment section of this blog post so others can see your great Fall Recipe, too!!***

Rice Krispies, Meet Fall.

You know what tomorrow is???? The first day of Autumn. Holy Moses. This broad is excited.

Know what else that means? You have to submit your favorite fall recipe by commenting with it on my recipe post tomorrow. You'll love this post. The only hint I will give you is that it is in my slow cooker at this moment, making my house smell all kinds of good. So you just have to stop by tomorrow and see what it is and share with us the link to your best fall recipe!

To inspire you for tomorrow, I'm going to give you a little taste of an autumnal recipe!

I took the normal rice krispie treat and fall-ified it in two different ways. Hope you enjoy!

Rice krispies, meet fall!


A Maple Brown Sugar Rice Krispie Treat
Yields: 12 to 16 treats, depending upon how they are cut


Ingredients
4 cups Rice Krispies cereal
2 cups Maple Brown Sugar Shredded Wheat cereal, smashed a bit
3 cups marshmallows
3 TBS butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp nutmeg

Directions:
1. Over low heat, melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the marshmallows.
2. Stir the marshmallows frequently until they are completely melted. Add the vanilla and nutmeg.
3. Add the cereal and stir until well combined.
4. In a well buttered 9 x 9 baking dish, pour in the cereal/marshmallow mixture.
5. Smush down until well compacted (yes, smush is a technical baking term, if you were wondering). Allow to sit until fully cool.

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Cinnamon and Pretzel Rice Krispie Treat
Yields 12 to 16 treats


Ingredients
4 cups Rice Krispies Cereal
2 cups pretzels, smashed a bit
3 cups marshmallows
3 TBS butter
2 TBS cinnamon

Directions:
1. Over low heat, melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the marshmallows.
2. Stir the marshmallows frequently until they are completely melted. Add the cinnamon.
3. Add the cereal/pretzel mixture and stir until well combined.
4. In a well buttered 9 x 9 baking dish, pour in the cereal/pretzel/marshmallow mixture.
5. Smush down until well compacted (again, smush is a very technical baking term). Allow to sit until fully cool.


Yumm.. you can already taste the fall! It's just... about.... here. I... can... almost.. smell it.

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

I have always sworn by this recipe for whole wheat sandwich bread until last night.

I'm not quite sure what it is about this new recipe. I somehow managed to make LESS of a mess in the kitchen (a fact that DapperDan was quite happy to continually note), and use fewer ingredients, but still come out with a great sandwich bread.

This is inspired and taken from a post from earlier in 2010 from Jen of My Kitchen Addiction. I love her blog. It is so inspiring!

I cook DapperDan's sandwich bread twice a week. Although I do love the recipe I normally use, it was fun to shake things up. I remembered seeing a great recipe on Jen's blog and really wanted to try it, and then, forgot about it. I was stalking her blog the other day and came across this bread recipe again. It is based off of King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking Cookbook's recipe. It's one fabulous book that I recommend you purchase.

I have tried this recipe, I love the use of orange juice to cut the sometimes harsh bite of whole wheat, but I must admit, I really wanted to try something completely new. Like, putting Greek yogurt in the bread, as Jen from My Kitchen Addiction did with this recipe. She also had the brilliant idea of braiding the top of the loaf. GENIUS. I was curious about trying this myself, so I did! DapperDan was most excited about making his PB&J sandwiches with this bread! I had a slice for breakfast with pumpkin butter on top! Yum!

Thanks, Jen, for your constantly inspiring recipes that show novice bakers, such as myself, that we can make great breads, too!

Note: one thing to remember, the amount of flour used and time spent for the dough raising will alter depending upon the humidity. So, really pay attention to what you are doing!

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
Courtesy: Jen of My Kitchen Addiction
Yields: One loaf


Ingredients
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 cup lukewarm water
2 1/2 teaspoons or one packet of instant yeast
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup bread flour
3+ cups white whole wheat flour

Directions, as best worded by Jen:
1. "In a large mixing bowl, combine the water and the orange juice. Sprinkle with the yeast and granulated sugar, and stir to dissolve. Add the yogurt, canola oil, salt, and cup of bread flour.
2. Use a wooden spoon to mix, beating vigorously to start to develop the gluten in the bread flour. Gradually, add the whole wheat flour, mixing with the wooden spoon until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl to form a ball.
3. Turn the dough out onto a clean, floured surface, and knead until you have a smooth dough (about 6-8 minutes). The amount of whole wheat flour needed will vary on the humidity and other factors. Add just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your hands as you knead.
4. Return the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover (with plastic wrap or a damp towel), and let rise until the dough has doubled (about an hour or two). It has risen sufficiently when the imprint of your fingers remains and the dough doesn’t spring back up.


5. Punch down the dough and form it into the shape of a loaf. If you prefer, you can make a braid-topped loaf (like the one in my pictures) by reserving 1/3 of the dough, dividing it into three long strands, and creating a braid. Place the braid on top of the loaf, tucking in the ends. Place the shaped loaf into a greased loaf pan, cover, and let rise for an additional hour.

6. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the bread uncovered for 15 minutes, then cover with aluminum foil (to prevent over-browning on the top) and bake for an additional 20 – 25 minutes. The internal temperature of the bread should be 190°F when the bread is done."

A Winner Announced!

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

Cue those fireworks!!

The winner from Cleanliness is Next to Godliness' CSN Stores giveaway is: Commenter #12! Claudia, aka PegasusLegend, from What's Cookin' Italian Style. Thanks to Random.org's Random Number Generator!

You go girl!

Claudia, just shoot me an email and I will send you the specific information regarding your PRIZE! Woohoo!!!

What fun! I can't wait to do it again!

Make Your Hubby/Kids Eat a Salad

I promise that if you cannot get your husband or children to eat either of these salads, I'm not quite how you ever could. They are delicious, and bordering on treats, but are still maintaining healthy components. They are fun salads (if it is not too strange to say such a thing) but aren't terribly boring and won't clog your arteries in the process!

Huzzah.

These recipes were quasi-on-the-fly, but so much fun to make. I left the house thinking that I would be making Tilapia tonight, but really found myself having a hunkering for a good, old, sloppy grilled chicken salad. Oh yeah, I said it is sloppppy. There is nothing neat or sophisticated about this salad, but who is sophisticated on Wednesday nights, honestly?

DapperDan is pretty neutral on salads. He would NEVER order one in a restaurant, but would eat a whole plate of raw spinach, if I gave it to him. Weirdo, I know. Since I had decided I was in complete need of a salad last night, I had to make one that was husband-friendly. What I would eat on a salad, DapperDan would never touch. I was left with one solution...

I made two salads for dinner last night. I had a hunkering for one with onion rings on top, but I figured DapperDan would greatly enjoy a salad with black beans and roasted corn. I adore onion rings, DapperDan can't be bothered with them (although, I did see him sneaking some). I wanted him to eat some tomatoes in his salad, but he'll only eat a tomato after it's been cooked. Therefore, I came up with this roasted corn and black bean salsa with grilled chicken salad. The salsa would fill in the void of a salad without salad dressing (yeup, he doesn't like salad dressings, either, unless homemade). This is the perfect salad for the person who doesn't like salads.

The onion rings are baked, not fried! I used whole wheat bread crumbs from old homemade bread gone stale. The moral of the story? GUILT-FREE onion rings. K? I share these things with you because I love you.

Try one of the two salads, go on! There's not too much to these salads, but boy they are yummy! Not feeling salads? Just make the dern onion rings, then, why dontcha, you Debbie-Downer.

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Grilled Chicken Salad; Two Ways

Roasted Corn and Black Bean Salsa Salad with Grilled Chicken


Ingredients:
1 boneless chicken breast, grilled and diced
fresh lime juice
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
olive oil
1/4 cup roasted corn
1/4 cup black beans
1/4 cup tomatoes
1/4 cup onions, chopped
Tortilla chips to top
1 cup spinach, rinsed and patted dry
Cheese, optional

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, marinate the chicken in olive oil, lime juice, 1 tsp oregano, and 1 tsp cumin. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan, cook the onions in olive oil until transparent, about 5 minutes, add corn, beans, and tomatoes. Add the remaining oregano, cumin, and chili powder. Cook for approximately 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Once the chicken is finished marinating, grill until fully cooked and slice into small pieces.
4. Combine the spinach, salsa, and chicken.
5. Break some of the tortilla chips and place on the salad
6. Sprinkle with any cheese and salad dressing that you desire!

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Onion Rings with my Grilled Chicken Salad


Ingredients
Onion rings!!!!!!! (recipe below)
1 Chicken breast
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup bell pepper, diced
1 cup Spinach
Champagne Pear Vinaigrette

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, marinate the chicken in olive oil, lime juice, 1 tsp oregano, and 1 tsp cumin. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

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My Spin on My Mom’s Onion Rings
Adapted from: Patti Ziegler, my mom!

Ingredients
2 TBS all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs (using old wheat bread gone stale)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 cup buttermilk
1 or 2 large vidalia onion

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Remove the ends of the onion(s), peel off the outside layer. Slice from end to end, into rings.
3. In a shallow bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, bread crumbs, and seasonings.
4. In another shallow bowl, place the buttermilk
5. Dip the onions in the buttermilk and then into the bread crumb/flour mixture and place onto a greased baking sheet.
6. Spray the tops of the onion rings with canola oil.
7. Bake for approximately 10 to 12 minutes, or browned, carefully flip the onion rings, and bake for an additional 5 to 7 minutes, or until browned.