Thursday, September 15, 2011

Excuse me while I have a mommy moment....



Aaron, all of two years old

I nearly melted into a warm gooey puddle of mommy-mush
when I stumbled across this photo today.

                                      Those golden curls get me everytime.










Wednesday, September 14, 2011



Ava's first day at dance


I thank the dear Lord everyday for blessing me with a beautiful, bubbly baby girl.


Who else could I dress up in all-things-pink,
tutus, sparkles & tights?!



            Amen.

Must Like Spice: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies



Sure Signs & Symptoms It's Fall:


Sunday, I ceremoniously hung my 'Autumn Blessings' placard
just outside the front entrance of our home
& pulled out all the browning overgrown petunias in my garden.

Yesterday, I made like Betty and whipped up
a delightfully spicy batch of Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

(recipe to follow)

And this morning, I was regrettably forced
to turn on the heat for the first time in months;
hauled out me ol' Uggs for the wearing
& enjoyed a toasty warm Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks with my granny.

Warm woollies, obsessive baking & brilliant autumn foliage.

Yes, please.



About that Pumpkin Whoopie Pie recipe...

Did I mention it comes complete with a dreamy cream cheese filling?

We can all thank Matt Lewis from Baked bakery for that perfectly nummy pairing.

Recipe from Matt Lewis of Baked bakery


Ingredients:






For the Pumpkin Whoopie Cookies

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon ground ginger
  • 1 tablespoon ground cloves
  • 2 cups firmly packed dark-brown sugar
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 cups pumpkin puree, chilled
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Cream-Cheese Filling

  • 3 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper.



We begin with the making of the whoopie cookie, which essentially is a mini cake.

Generous amounts of warm spices in these beauties

Measure out all your dry ingredients into a medium sized bowl.


Whisk together and set aside.



In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and vegetable oil 'til well combined.

Then add your pumpkin puree and whisk s'more..

Add your eggs & vanilla to the party while you're at it.

Whisk, whisk, whisk..... 

Pumpkin mixture


Gradually sprinkle your spiced-up flour mixture over your pumpkin batter and mix until well incorporated.

Well incorporated.


A well equipped baker comes prepared with a small icecream scoop to dish their batter out with.

I, however, am not one of those.

Therefor, I used a tablespoon to pan-out my cookies.

An icecream scoop would come in tres handy when making your pies
as conformity is key.

~You want them all to be the same nice round shape and equal size~

They are after all named 'whoopie' pies, not 'wonky' pies...

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes
{I made my pies a bit smaller and found that 10 minutes was all they needed}

Carefully, with a spatula, remove cookies from the baking sheet as soon as they're out of the oven and let cool on a cooling rack.

Next, Filling.

In a medium sized bowl, cream the butter with a mixer until smooth and lump-free.

Add your cream cheese and continue to mix, again 'til smooth.

Gradually add the icing sugar to the mix, as well as vanilla.

Mix real' well.

Purrrrdy

Once your cookies have cooled COMPLETELY,
generously dollop filling onto the flat side of the cookie.

I find a piping bag or even a large Ziploc freezer bag with a hole snipped at the tip to be much more tidy with this task as opposed to just spooning it on.

Plus, I think piping is fun.

Sandwich your frosted cookie with another cookie
and there you have yourself a Whoopie Pie!

Recipe found at marthastewart.com


These are seriously delicious.
I kid you not.



Autumn blessings, friends : )





Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Woe is me


Ava's first full session of Kindergarten today.


I think I might just mayybe kinda sorta possibly

        ....miss her just a wee little bit.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The Challenge.










Photos of my bestie-pal, Ramie & her cute li'l fam

My personal challenge: NO SHOOTING IN AUTO.

This was a tough one for me.

I've always relied on the trusty ol' Auto setting to get me through
as mentioned in previous posts.

But lately, I've been making like a padawan
and putting forth an honest effort to
study-up in Manual mode.

The ultimate goal,
to get to know my camera inside-and-out
and utilize it to its maximum potential.

So I figured, as Ramie is my friend--

Professionalism was Null and Void.

Her and her brood, patiently stuck with me
while I constantly fidgeted with dials & settings,
more-often-than-not sporting a look of pure bewilderment.

It was intensely sunny out,
which gave me mad grief
as shadows tended to be an issue.

....Wah.

So, I scavenged for shady areas
and managed as best I could
with the challenge at hand.



As dreadful as I like to make it sound,
(I've been known to have dramatic tendencies)
     ....it was actually loads of fun.



{Thank heaven for good-natured friends}



Of the nearly 500 photos I took--
some fantastical, and some not-so-fantastical...

The above would be the gems of the bunch!


                 Love, sweet love



Motha



Motha, the winged wonder

How fabulous is Martha,
or rather-- Motha,
on the cover of MARTHA STEWART Magazine
Halloween edition?!

I don't even typically buy magazines.
But this- I could not resist.

If you're a lover of all things
autumn inspired, like myself,

thenyouhavegottogetyourhineytothegrocerystoreandgrabyourselfacopy.

Chalk full of spooktacular ideas, I tells ya.

Feathered eyelashes, Mauled Cider & Pumpkin Whoopie Pies?!!

Have mercy.....