Tag Archives: pumpkin

It’s my favorite time of year!  The weather is starting to cool down, the leaves are starting to change, and you can find pumpkin spice at just about any store.  That’s what I’m talking about when I say my favorite time of year…. all things pumpkin spice.  I love the flavor, but I also love that it’s available for a limited time, so it’s something I look forward to enjoying. I like to create a few new recipes each year that are pumpkin spice themed.  Most are breakfast or dessert themed but that’s OK with me!  Pumpkin spice is a combination of nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and ginger.  It’s sweet, spicy, warm, and cozy.  Yes…cozy.  Think of the feeling you get when you drink a hot cup of apple cider on a cool day.  That’s a feeling I get when enjoying pumpkin spice food.  Even better, the pumpkin spice recipes I’m going to share with you today are hearty and filling, … Continue reading

Posted in Breakfast, Dessert, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on All Things Pumpkin Spice!

It’s that time of year…. fall…. or pumpkin spice season, as some like to call it.  I did a little research on the fall phenomenon that is pumpkin spice and was quite intrigued by my findings.  Did you know that pumpkin spice earned its name because it was originally used in cakes and pies that contained pumpkin?  I didn’t but McCormick (the seasoning brand) started marketing the spice to save consumers the effort of having to make their own homemade version and could instead buy the spice at their local grocery store.  Pretty cool, huh? The spice mix is generally a blend of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and sometimes allspice.  I admittedly have all these spices in my cabinet but understand that not everyone else does, so I can make homemade pumpkin spice if needed, but something the store-bought version is easier 🙂 I also learned that cravings for … Continue reading

Posted in Breakfast, Dessert, Pasta, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on It’s Pumpkin Spice Season

Can you believe Thanksgiving is almost here?  It’s been an interesting year (to say the least), so I’m looking forward to the holidays.  Although, the holidays might look a little different this year.  We still plan on seeing our immediate families for a nice Thanksgiving meal but will keep our gathering to 4-6 people.  We will miss traveling, seeing extended family, participating in some Black Friday shopping, and more this Thanksgiving, but will savor the time we do have with the few we choose to celebrate with…socially distanced with some delicious food 🙂 We are going to start our day with a nice fall-themed charcuterie board.  You need something to snack on while you cook, right?  If you’ve never made a charcuterie board before, you are in for a treat.  They are very simple to make, can include as many or as few ingredients as you choose, and make a … Continue reading

Posted in Holidays, Poultry, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A Socially Distanced Thanksgiving

Halloween might look a little different this year but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some spooky treats!  I for one, love Halloween and all the fun food, scary movies, and candy.  I’m sure a lot of families are deciding what is right for them…do you send your kids out to trick-or-treat or keep them home?  Do you plan a small get-together with your closest friends or family to celebrate?  Dress up and parade around the neighborhood?  Whatever people decide to do, I hope they stay safe and healthy. If you are staying in, I highly recommend making some themed treats to enjoy.  This year, I’m going to have a dessert buffet for us to enjoy.  When I say “us”, I mean Andrew and me.  It will be the 2 of us…enjoying plenty of sweets…while we binge watch Halloween movies 😊 Here’s what I’m going to make: Spooky Chocolate Dipped Strawberries Candy Corn Marshmallow Treats Spider Web Pretzels Frankenstein … Continue reading

Posted in Dessert, Halloween, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tricks…but mostly treats

Pumpkin Spice Season is upon us.  It symbolizes the end of summer and the start of fall.  I know summer isn’t officially over, and to be honest, I’m not ready to say goodbye to warmer weather, but I am going to enjoy some delicious pumpkin treats either way 🙂 I have a few go-to recipes to share with you today.  All are themed around, you guessed it, pumpkin spice.  It’s hard to say which recipe is my favorite because they are all delicious in their own way.  Luckily, because it’s still technically summer and not fall, I have even more time to enjoy them all! First up is Individual Pumpkin Pie Pops.  These are miniature pumpkin pies on lollipop sticks, so you eat them like a candy sucker.  It combines all your favorite pumpkin pie flavors in an individual size, grab and go treat. The recipe can be found here. … Continue reading

Posted in Dessert, Party, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice

With the temperatures starting to drop I’ve been craving something warm and hearty for dinner.  My criteria is the dish has to be hot, filling, seasonal, and something good enough (and big enough) to have leftovers.  I ended up with the following: Pumpkin Dinner Rolls Apple Cheese and Beer Soup Banana Cookies with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting   The Pumpkin Dinner Rolls are homemade.  Sure, you can buy store-bought rolls if you prefer but there is something about the smell of bread baking in the oven that gets me every time.  The bread is fresh (literally right out of the oven), warm and so easy to pull apart to eat. I recommend using a stand mixer to make these rolls but it’s OK to mix by hand if you don’t have a stand mixer – you’ll just get quite the arm workout! Heat the milk in a microwave safe … Continue reading

Posted in Dessert, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Perfect Fall Meal

Any meal with pumpkin in it is the definition of fall.  Some are skeptical of pumpkin being a pasta sauce and I used to agree with them…until I tried it!  Let me tell you, it was delicious!  It’s a great mix of unusual flavors that actually complement each other very well.  The recipe I would like to share with you today is for Cheese Ravioli with Pumpkin Alfredo. The sauce is creamy and luscious, and a great autumn flavor as opposed to traditional Alfredo.  I chose to use cheese ravioli, but you could substitute any flavor of ravioli or even use tortellini in this dish.  You could also made homemade ravioli if you have the necessary tools, and time.  Otherwise, store-bought ravioli will work just fine.  (Not only can I cook but I can also rhyme 🙂 ) The recipe can be found here. Start by boiling a pot of … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Cheese Ravioli with Pumpkin Alfredo

It’s the time of year for all the pumpkin flavored lattes, pancakes, cookies, pasta, etc. starts popping up.  If you can eat it, I’m sure someone has tried adding pumpkin flavoring to it!  It’s a craze that I’m more than happy to participate in 🙂 But, another fall favorite I don’t think gets enough credit is apple cider. I thought it would be fun to do a taste test of pumpkin vs apple cider with breakfast foods to see which the fan favorite is.  I made the same two items with both flavors. Apple Cider French Toast Apple Cider Waffles Pumpkin French Toast Pumpkin Waffles   All recipes are made the traditional way, except you either add pumpkin or apple cider, or substitute it for another ingredient.  I chose to make french toast sticks and sliced the bread into 3 pieces, but you can leave the bread whole if you prefer.  I also used a … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Fall Themed Breakfast Showdown

I look forward to Thanksgiving every year.  Not just for the delicious feast, but because it’s a time to get together with family and friends.  For some it’s also about football and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which I too enjoy.  I’ve put together a handful of my favorite recipes and ideas you can use to host the perfect Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving.   What’s a party without some appetizers?  Two of my favorite appetizers for Thanksgiving are Cranberry Crescent Bites and Brie and Apple Crostinis.  I think they are sweet and savory but also a little salty.  Both fit the holiday theme, are easy to make, and can feed a crowd.  The recipes can be found below. Cranberry Crescent Bites               Brie and Apple Crostini   I’m a huge fan of sangria so I like to make a big batch of Cranberry Sangria to … Continue reading

Posted in Holidays, Poultry, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A Thanksgiving Feast

If you’re anything like me, you love pumpkin spice!  I know, I know, a lot of people are over the pumpkin spice craze but with so many recipes to try how can you not be intrigued by its deliciousness?  I personally think it should be a year-round item and not just seasonal, but it’s not up to me.  To fulfill my need for pumpkin I decided to have ‘pumpkin weekend’ at our house to hopefully get it out of my system (between us, it will never be out of my system 😊). The first item on the menu was Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting.  These are life changing and I don’t know if I’ll ever make cinnamon rolls without pumpkin again!  The smell of pumpkin and cinnamon fills your house as the rolls bake and for me it brought back some childhood memories because my mom liked to … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on ‘Tis the Season for Pumpkin