Fall Fun

There is almost something magical about fall. This year the magic made me almost creative. I have never considered myself very "crafty," but I think the fall tree almost qualifies me for that list! Brandon and I had such fun "cutting" or tree and finding the perfect decorations. It is the start of a new tradition for our family.

Fall is also fun because after 10 months of waiting there are finally pumpkins again. To celebrate the beginning of October I ate a slice of pumpkin pie. The next day I had pumpkin bars. Then pumpkin soup. Soon I decided to see how many days I could eat something pumpkin in a row. 21 days! Some of the favorites so far have been pumpkin cinnamon rolls, coconut pumpkin soup, and a delicious pumpkin bread from the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.

Our black widow and dead husband (since black widows kill their mates after mating) costume won the neighborhood costume contest. Thanks mom!

New York

In my haste and excitement that the video finally worked, I forgot to explain. At the end of the July we decided to celebrate Pioneer Day by visiting their hometown... New York City. While the low quality video doesn't quite do it justice, it was a pretty good way to cram four packed days into twelve and half minutes!

Coconut and Lime

I have noticed that I tend to get on certain kicks when it comes to baking. The last couple of weeks have been coconut and lime. We had a delicious coconut key lime pie on Friday night. Unfortunately it was so tasty we didn't manage to get any pictures, but I did get a couple of shots of my coconut lime macaroons. Here are the recipes....

For the pie

Ingredients: 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk (fat free is fine) 3 egg yolks 2/3 cup toasted coconut 1/3 cup key lime juice* 2 1/2 teaspoons key lime zest 9 inch round graham cracker crust Directions: Preheat oven to 300. In a large mixing bowl, using your electric mixer, beat the egg yolks, lime juice and zest until the eggs are creamy. Slowly add condensed milk and toasted coconut and mix until well combined. Pour into crust and bake 15 minutes or until the pie is "set" and no longer feels liquid to the touch. Cool on wire rack, refrigerate.

For the Cookies

Adapted from the Taste of Home Cookbook

1 1/3 c flaked coconut

1/3 c sugar

2 Tbs flour

2 egg whites

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Juice from 1 lime

1-2 tsp lime zest

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine the coconut, sugar, flour, and salt. Stir in remaining ingredients and mix well. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 325 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. You can add a chocolate chip for fun if you want!

A note from my sweet tooth

I have been thinking of turning this into a baking blog. Lately I have been enjoying baking. Well actually I always enjoy baking, recently I have just been documenting it. The last few weeks I have really been enjoying peanut butter and chocolate.  Chocolate peanut butter brownies were a hit. They didn't last long. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate, (2 ounces) coarsely chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp table salt
1/3 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Reese's peanut butter cups, chopped (I didn't measure, add what you want)
Peanut butter-I used creamy, about a 1/3 of a cup

Position an oven rack on the middle rung. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch round cake or pie pan. 

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Add in the chocolate chunks. Whisk until blended.
In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, eggs, and extract with a fork until just blended. 
Pour the liquid over the flour mixture and mix with a rubber spatula until just blended. The batter will be kind of dry, don’t worry. Add in the peanut butter cups and stir until combined. 

Scrape the mixture in to the pan and spread evenly. You might have to press the mixture in to the sides if you are having trouble spreading with a spatula. Swirl in the peanut butter with a toothpick or knife.

Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in to the center comes out with only a few gooey pieces clinging to it. Transfer the baking dish to a cooling rack and let cool. Cut into wedges. Add a mini peanut butter cup on top, if you wish!

I also tried three different recipes for chocolate peanut butter cookies. I figured I had too try them all at once or we wouldn't be able to pick a favorite. After a half day in the kitchen and several bites later, we all voted unanimously for.... 

Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup chunky peanut butter (I used Skippy)
3/4 cup, plus extra for sprinkling on cookies
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.

In another large bowl, we use our Kitchenaid, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix until combined. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the peanut butter and chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, I use my Silpats…like always! Using a fork, lightly indent with a crisscross pattern, don’t flatten them too much! Just gently press them with the fork. Lightly sprinkle cookies with sugar. Bake for 10-11 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.
Cool the cookies on the sheets for about 3 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

The other recipes we also great. But we compared side by side or taste by taste. These won hands down. 

Our life has been an adventure lately. In the last few months our niece Dixie was born. Liz came home from Ohio. Brandon "graduated" again. We went to moab. We went to Idaho We got pregnant. Brandon started his 225 hour capstone at Primary Children's emergency department. Miles returned from France. We tried to hike Mount Olympus.  Alyssa and I had 3 weeks of adventures. We had a miscarriage. Brandon finished his capstone.  We spent a few days at Snowbird. Our nephew Maddox was born. We went camping. We hiked to Catharine pass. We hiked to Cecret lake....

Brandon was the Easter bunny for our neighborhood egg hunt. Now our 4-year neighbor is convinced that he is the "real" Easter bunny and that he brought him lots of great things in his basket....