the {Pumpkin Queen}

I think I should hitherto be known as the Pumpkin Queen. I've been cooking so much with it lately, but 'tis the season and it's been so good!

Today for breakfast, I made these Pumpkin Pancakes courtesy of my mother-in-law, courtesy of my sister-in-law, courtesy of allrecipes.com! It made quite a large batch (10 pancakes, I think?) so we have a couple left over for breakfast tomorrow. These were YUMMY! Light and fluffy, very flavorful, wonderful with butter and syrup. Definitely a "will-make-again".

And... {PS: I currently have Pumpkin Whoopie Pies in the oven...again!}


Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vinegar

Directions

In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

{Free} Glade Makes Me Glad!

I went to Target the other day to take advantage of the Glade deal going on. Purchase 5 Glade holiday candles, tins, or refills, get a $5 Target gift card. As we know, I'm a sucker for candles and such. The holiday candles are really pretty, too. The labels pull off and each scent has a different Christmas-y pattern etched into the glass so it looks fancy schmancy. Super cute.

I also got a card & a roll of ribbons = $1.99
10 candles @ $2.50 each = $25.00
Total = $28.61

Used:
(4) $1.50/2 candle
(4) $.50/1 candle
(4) BOGO candle
Total = $8.93 paid with gift card and got $10 in gift cards back!!

I will also submit for the $5 SC Johnson Rebate. (Purchase any 3 SC Johnson products, get a $5 rebate. Can submit for 3 rebates!!) I went back to Target tonight hoping to roll this deal and get the tins and refills (have a bunch of free coupons!) and $10 more gift cards, but they were out of the tins. Oh well, even if I miss out on that I can't complain about what I did get...for FREE!

Applesauce Day

I had today off from work and my game plan was to do some shopping in the morning and make and can some applesauce for the afternoon. I got home from shopping about 2:30pm (way later than I thought I would!) but I was pretty much done by 7pm.

I started with 3 pecks of Cortland's, cored, sliced and put as many as I could into 3 (various sized!) pots. I actually ended up making two batches of sauce.

Angus likes boxes...and the jar box was on the counter, so he decided to help. (Except that he's not supposed to be on the counter. But, I turned around, and he was there, and he was cute. So I made an exception.)
Once the three pots of apples all cooked up, I combined them all into the largest pot.

Time to start milling the "moosh" ~ Angus thought he might help here, too. I just love the pink color the Cortland's give the sauce!

I water sealed the jars...

...and the finished product!!

I ended up with 16 pints of yummy applesauce. I don't add any sugar or sweetener or anything into the sauce...it really doesn't need it. We're having a Craft Fair at work the week of Thanksgiving, so I will try to sell some of the jars there. Last time my mom was here, we made about 7 pints of sauce and I have 4 left, I think. So, I'll keep some of this batch for Aaron and I and whatever doesn't sell, it's no big loss. I'll just bring it home. Because they're water sealed, it will last forever...but I'm pretty sure it would get eaten before that!

Drumroll Please...

(if you couldn't tell already)...Baby Shaw is going to be a BOY! We're both very excited, but Aaron is especially happy to have a son. I'm an only child and haven't been around boys much, so this is going to be such a fun adventure!!

Worms, trucks, forts, sports, guns, mud, insects...BRING IT ON!

Counting Down...

In just a couple short hours, we will know what "type" of Baby Shaw we're having!! I'm so excited I could...well, you know. Pee. Which is a good thing because I'm supposed to about 1.5 hours before my appointment. Then, after "you-know", I have to drink 24oz water in 1 hour for the ultrasound. (Was that TMI?!)

Pending full and complete cooperation from the construction zone, I'll be sure to post the "results" soon!

Have I mentioned how excited I am?!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

So, what should you do with some leftover pumpkin? Make pumpkin whoopie pies, of course! This recipe was originally called MINI Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, but since there's only the two of us, I figured we really don't need 36 {mini} pies! Better to make 10 regular size ones. :o) Not only do these pies have the standard cream filling, but it's a cream cheese filling. Yum. Definitely put these on your "to bake" list.

COOKIES
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

CREAM CHEESE FILLING
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

FOR COOKIES:
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Lightly grease or line four baking sheets with parchment paper.COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large mixer bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and vanilla extract; beat until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until combined. Drop by heaping measuring teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets. (A total of 72 cookies are needed for the mini pie recipe.)BAKE for 10 to 13 minutes or until springy to the touch. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

FOR CREAM CHEESE FILLING:
BEAT cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl on medium speed until fluffy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar until light and fluffy.SPREAD a heaping teaspoon of filling onto flat side of one cookie; top with flat side of second cookie to make a sandwich. Repeat with remaining cookies and filling. Store in covered container in refrigerator.

*Since I made regular size pies, the cookie "drops" were more like a heaping tablespoon or two and the same when spreading the filling on the baked cookies.

Pumpkin-Apple Muffins

What better way to start a perfect autumn Saturday than with an appropriate fall-themed breakfast?! I've been doing a lot of apple coffee cakes for breakfast on Saturday's, so we decided to switch it up and do muffins this week. I had a can of pumpkin burning a hole in my cupboard, so these Pumpkin-Apple muffins were perfect! I also realized this morning that I only have a 6-cup muffin tin!? Weird. I never noticed before! So I made two batches of 6 for us and I used the rest of the batter to make mini-muffins for refreshments at church tomorrow.

I only did a couple things "different" to this recipe. It calls for 1 tbsp. pumpkin spice, which I did not have. So I used this easy substitution:

1 tsp. pumpkin spice =

• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves

Remember there are 3 tsp. in a tablespoon, so you should triple each of the measurments to get the tablespoon. Also, I added oats into the streusel topping. These came out wonderful and delicious and will definitely be made again.