A little bit of pumpkin

I'm loving the wee bit of fall crispness in the air lately.  And even though I adore summer, I must confess that autumn holds its own special place in my heart.

A few of the things I love most about autumn are tiny little pumpkins, and (of course) pumpkin spice lattes.  So when I spied this recipe for homemade pumpkin spice lattes I knew I needed to try it.  Turns out it's pretty good - a bit sludgy at the bottom - but tasty none the less.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

2 cups milk
1 cup espresso or double brewed coffee
4 T canned pumpkin
2 T sugar (or sugar substitute)
1 T vanilla extract
1/2 t cinnamon (plus more for garnish)
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t ginger
1/8 t cardamom
optional: whipped cream for garnish
note: you can substitute all the spices for similar amount of pumpkin pie spice (I use a. lot. of spices so adjust to taste)
serves 2-4

via here

p.s.  Do you like my new funky chicken dishtowel?  I was such a happy girl to pick it up for a quarter at a yard sale yesterday!  Ahh, it's the little things right?

Wordess Wednesday: Pumpkin Patch 2011





Friday's Letter

Dear Mr Veen:  last night while looking at you lying on the couch I said: "You look like death warmed over"; well this may have been a slight exaggeration and I'm sorry for that.  Also, I'm sorry you have such a bad cold.  Dear New Shoes:  why couldn't you have been honest from the beginning and told me you were going to KILL my feet after an hour of wearing you?  Dear Henry:  ever since Mr. Veen was out of town overnight you've taken to sleeping on the bed.  At what point did I become such a sucker for you?  You are definitely our new baby!  Dear Trader Joes:  thank you for supplying all my fall essentials:  pumpkins, apple cider, pumpkin bread and YES pumpkin beer = delish!  Dear Mumford & Sons:  how I do love thee!  The following is the first song I ever heard of yours and I was hooked.  Bonus points for dropping the f-bomb in such an artistic sensitive way.   This song proves that sometimes there's no substitute for a well placed swear word.  And last to Mr. Veen:  this is the first weekend for awhile that we're all going to be home together - yippee!  Can't wait to spend some time with you and my favorite peeps.

HAPPY WEEKEND!!

For the love of pumpkin

It is Monday which means a couple things:  grocery shopping and baking!  We have had the most glorious fall here in Oregon and the colors on church street have not disappointed this year.  All this golden goodness has got me in the mood for some more pumpkin!  Pumpkin spice lattes are my favorite of the holiday drinks that come around - although in my opinion they make them a bit too sweet (just one pump of syrup for me), still one sip and I know cool weather and Christmas are in my near future.

Hmmm - picking up one of these might just make grocery shopping enjoyable.;)

Later this afternoon I plan on using up that lonely little jar of pumpkin sitting in my cupboard on some pumpkin spice muffins.  Since I always like to try something new I found this recipie and it looks promising.  

RECIPE FOR PUMPKIN MUFFINS
From Gourmet November 2006
Adapted from the American Club
Makes 1 dozen
Active time: 15 min.
Start to finish: 1 hour INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpking (from a 15-oz can) (I accidentally put the entire 15 oz. can in, with no ill effects at all)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp pumpkin-pie spice (a combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice)
1.25 cups plus 1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Equipment: 12 foil or paper muffin liners; a muffin pan with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups
DIRECTIONS:
Put oven rack in middle positiona nd preheat oven toe 350F. Put liners in muffin cups.
Whisk together flour and baking powder in a small bowl.
Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin-pie spice, 1.25 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.
Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.
Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about 3/4 full), then spinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and a wodden pick or skewer inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

So here's to the last of those golden, pumpkiny fall days!  Grab your pumpkin treat of choice and enjoy the now....

Wordless Wednesday: I heart fall.....