Fall + Wood Inspiration

A little photographic inspiration in the meantime… I don’t know about you, but all of these colors make me happy and excited that this is the time of year it is. I am not taking any of these days for granted, I can tell you that.

Photo Credits: All That is Interesting, Anne-Marie Arpin, found via Tumblr, found via Tumblr, Kate The Great (Tumblr), Chinese Lanterns, Beautiful Tree, Forest Cabin.

DIY Festive Acorn Garland

I don’t know about you, but I like simple crafts. Easy. No frills. No frustrations. I don’t like to pull my hair out over things, y’know? I’m sure you don’t either. It has been awhile since I’ve made any seasonal crafts. This, of course, is my favorite time to take advantage of that. When I found this idea to make an acorn garland, I knew it was the perfect project to fit the bill.

You can really make a garland out of anything, I realized. My next idea is to make a pumpkin one. All you really need is a few basic tools, and you’re set. I opted to go ahead with this project mostly because I already had a huge role of dark faux wood grain contact paper that I bought at Home Depot several months back (remember this?). Most hardware or home stores carry it in slightly different shades of brown, and it usually isn’t more than $8. Yay for cheap crafts! It’s so easy to work with, too, and you can make all sorts of creative things with it.

The original outline suggested the use of two different tones of contact paper, but I opted to try something different. I had a new roll of green scotch tape with yellow flowers on it, and walked by the paint chips at Fred Meyer yesterday and it came to me–those would be my acorn top hats (sorry Freddie for raiding your paint chip section). Really, you can use anything. Any kind of fabric, wallpaper, or pattern, if you’re albe to glue it or affix it to chipboard, you’re cool.

So, here are the basics of what you will need:

• at least one tone of a roll of wood grain contact paper
• acorn template (see here–I had to photoshop mine to shrink the size because this original one was a bit too big for my liking)
• paint chip samples wide enough to cover the cap of the acorn, or any other type of pattern
• 3-4 pieces of thin chipboard or 2 cereal boxes, cut
• twine or yarn
• scissors
• hole puncher
• pen
• liquid glue stick
• thumb tacks or any other method to hang your garland

Place your acorn template over the wood grain contact paper and trace out the shape of the main body of the acorn. Do the same thing for the top hat color of your acorn–trace it until it stops around where the main body starts.

Punch two holes on each side of the hat near the stem, so that the acorn will be stabilized on the twine. Repeat for all of your acorns and thread them on!

And if you’re lucky enough to have a little helper, you can have some help with the string…

Enjoy your creation! I’m in love with these! I hung this one above my stove, and the patterned one in the window of my kitchen near the dining table. Thanks again for sharing, Rachel!

Pumpkin Spice Macarons

Have you ever wanted to make homemade macarons but were too intimidated to try? Don’t let all that here say about how difficult they are to make scare you. Honestly, sometimes I think people try to make things more complicated than they really are. In this case, making macarons definitely falls under that category. If you do enough research about them like I did (because I was afraid I would screw them up… see “10 Signs of a Bad Macaron” and “Parisian Macaron Crimes and Misdemeanors“), you’ll find several variations as to how to tackle them and the many things that can go wrong.

Some recommend you separate your egg whites at least 24-72 hours prior, sitting in your fridge and then setting out a few hours before incorporating them in your meringue. Some swear that you have to weigh all of your ingredients–almond flour, egg whites, and sugars (I went out and bought a kitchen scale just for that, I’ll admit). Some swear that the secret to the perfect shell is to sift the ground almond flour and powdered sugar to “weed out” all of the big nut and sugar chunks. Some emphasize the folding of the food coloring into the egg whites, to handle them gently so as to not ruin the structure of the egg protein. Some recommend you tap the cookie sheets after they’ve sat for a few minutes to remove some of the air bubbles.

Well let me tell you something. Don’t worry about any of that.

When I picked up BHG’s special magazine edition of Fall Baking, the first spread I opened to was one of these pumpkin spice macarons. It was the selling point. I hadn’t made macarons since January of this year, and I’m in a new (very small) kitchen, but I knew I’d find a way to make them happen. Reading over the recipe, they made it seem too easy. No mention about being gentle with the meringue or separating the egg whites days beforehand. Nope. None of that. I thought it was too good to be true. But I trusted them anyway and went for it.

I seriously will not ever deviate from this basic recipe again. They turned out absolutely perfect. At least to me. Maybe it’s my oven now, but the first two macaron attempts I tried came out too gooey in the center and didn’t puff up as much as I hoped. These didn’t do me wrong. And they shouldn’t do you wrong, either.

The perfect shell and “foot”.

Plus, hello! Pumpkin spice! You’ll impress all your friends and they’ll be the perfect autumn treat to “spice up” your dining room table. You will love them, and you’ll love making macarons. I’m telling you, you’ll get addicted.

Makes about 28-30 macarons (14-15 total when you sandwich them together)

Recipe from BHG’s Fall Baking

• 1 1/2 cups finely ground almonds
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• dash of salt
• 1/4 cup granulated or caster sugar
• 8 drops yellow food coloring
• 2 drops red food coloring (I used a mix of gels: red, orange, and yellow until I got the color I wanted)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin butter

 

1. Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper; set aside. In a medium bowl stir together almonds, powdered sugar and spice; set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine egg whites, vanilla, and salt. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until frothy. Gradually add granulated sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high speed just until soft peaks form (tips curl). Stir in nut mixture and food coloring (I added the food coloring first, but I’m not sure it really matters which one you add first).
3. Spoon mixture into a large decorating bag fitted with a large (about 1/2-inch) round tip. Pipe 1 1/2-inch circles, 1 inch apart, onto the prepared cookie sheets. Let stand for 30 minutes before baking.
4. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Bake in the preheated oven for 9-10 minutes or until set. Cool on cookie sheets on wire racks. Carefully peel cookies off parchment paper.
5. Spread about 1/2 teaspoon of the pumpkin butter onto bottoms of half of the cookies. Top with the remaining cookies, bottom sides down. You did it!

Butternut Squash Tarte Tatin

Holy mother of God, this is freakin’ incredible. I might even dare to say it’s quite possibly the best dessert I have made all year (and I’m allowed to say that being that there are only 2 weeks (!!!) left). Um, yeah. Thank you Matt Bites for making my life a thousand times better by inventing this heavenly creation of butternut squash goodness. My life is now complete.

And you could say I’m biased, as butternut squash is probably, by far, one of my top 5 favorite foods. But others can attest. It was a hit at a Christmas dinner party potluck last evening. Some went back for seconds. We had to restrain ourselves to make sure everyone had their equal share. After my first bite, I honestly wanted to run away with the rest of it and my plate and have it all for myself. No. I would never do that…

The smell of this baking in the oven almost killed me. And almost didn’t make it to the party in one peace. Roasted butternut squash with a caramel cinnamon nutmeg butter sauce on top of a buttery, flaky pastry crust. This was my first time working with puff pastry! I was scared for so long (just like the phyllo dough) but it wasn’t bad at all. In fact, this may quite possibly be the easiest dessert I have ever made. You just have to roast the squash before hand, melt some butter and sugar in a pan, add the spices, put it all in a square pan, and place the puff pastry square on top of it. And then you invert it like an upside-down pineapple cake once it’s done. SO SIMPLE. I had never made a “tarte tatin” before and this surely won’t be the last. It kind of reminded me of a caramelized, crisp cinnamon roll but better. Wayyyyyy wayyyyy better.

I’m in love.

Butternut Squash Tarte Tatin

Serves 8, apparently

Recipe from Matt Bites (thank you!)

4 cups butternut squash cut into 1-inch cubes

1–2 tablespoons canola oil

a pinch of salt

¼ cup butter

¾ cup sugar

¼ tsp. cinnamon

a dash of nutmeg

1 (about 8-oz) sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawedFor the squash: heat oven to 400˚F. Toss the squash cubes in 1–2 tablespoons of canola oil, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and roast until tender, about 30-35 minutes, turning once during baking to insure even cooking and browning. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool while you make the caramel.

With the oven still at 400˚F, move the oven rack to the top position.

Melt butter over medium heat in a nonstick skillet, stir in sugar and cook until golden brown, about 6 to 8 minutes, swirling skillet often. Stir in cinnamon and nutmeg; pour caramel into an 8-inch by 8-inch baking pan. Place roasted squash over caramel. Unfold the puff pastry over the squash and fold any excess pastry down the sides of the pan and under. Prick the pastry with a fork all over and place in already hot oven for 30 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate, being careful not to burn yourself. It’s hot! Cut and serve. I imagine it would be fantastic served alongside some vanilla bean ice cream and/or some whipped cream. But hey, I don’t want you to piss your pants. That’s your decision.

Gold Digger Chocolate, Mad Men, DIY Log Cabin, & other Nifty Things…

Just discovered this awesome chocolate company that lets you customize your own chocolate bar combinations! You can add up to five ingredients (spices, nuts, candy, herbs, even 23 karat GOLD flecks!) to a dark, milk, or white chocolate base. All starting at around $3.85 a bar (not including extras), it ain’t cheap. This particular combination I made up would end up costing me $15. FOR ONE BAR.

But hey, great idea to rip off and maybe do on my own at home? They even do bulk orders for parties or weddings, allowing you to put your own photo in the middle of the dang chocolate bar!

Crazy, huh?

“Tropical Island Bar”

-dark chocolate

-banana chips

-coconut flakes

-mango dices

-pineapple dices

Pure chocolate bling aka “Rizzoli & Isles” bar.

-dark chocolate

-23 karat gold flakes

“Fresh Face Forward Bar”

-dark chocolate

-dried cantaloupe melon

-blueberries

-goji berries

-roasted sunflower seeds

-organic flax seeds

“Trick or Treat Bar”

-milk chocolate

-candy corn

-fall leaves

-candy bats

HOW CUTE IS THIS?!?

Also happened to stumble upon these great black and white photos from the set scenes of Mad Men. I love this show, although I am ashamed to say I am behind by like 2 seasons, practically. Saving them all up for a crazy Mad Men marathon weekend party, I suppose?

Joan is my idol.

-Also just discovered this really awesome artsy design blog that has sucked me in a bit these past few days: Lox Papers.

-Instructions for how to build your own log cabin. So freaking rad. Ever since I was little and had a log cabin building doll-house set, I have had dreams of living in one some day. This might just be what I need to make that dream come true!

–Design Squish, a blog about all things I adore: nature, trees, art, design, sustainable living.

-Eight sweet lavender recipes from the Kitchn, in addition to sweet potato cakelets and jack o’lantern cocktails.

-Also completely in love with this wallpaper over at ModCloth (that is temporarily out of stock). That website is dangerous.

I actually DO need some wall hooks and these might be a winner…

Now as far as food goes, here are some recipes that have me excited:

–Sugar Pumpkin Lasagna

–Lavender Dark-Honey Chocolate Tart with Cardamom-Lemon Crust

–Rosewater and Pistachio M’Hencha

–Cornbread Pudding Baked in Acorn Squash

–Spiced Pumpkin Butter Pancakes

–How to make your own pumpkin syrup

–Mexicali Sliders with Mango Sauce, Guacamole, and Yam Fries

–“Killer” Halloween Desserts

–Creamy Pumpkin Penne with Crispy Sage & Toasted Pecans

Holy moley. I just need some extra time, money, and energy. I WANT TO MAKE EVERYTHING!

Date-Nut Butternut Squash Muffins

Alright, we’ll I’m not going to waste any time with this one. These are, hands down, the best muffins I have ever made. Better than any pumpkin or bran or blueberry or vegan whatever muffin there might have been, these are #1 ruler of the Muffin Kingdom. And, yet again, I went off of a recipe but tweaked it a bit. I bought this particular book, Pumpkin: A Super Food for All 12 Months of the Year (might perhaps be the #1 ruler of any pumpkin or baking book to exist… I know, big statement, but it’s pretty much the shizzle) in Seattle three years ago and remember being astounded that someone was genius enough to come up with a cookbook with a ton of fabulous pumpkin-including recipes. I pretty much squealed with delight in the middle of the Elliott Bay bookstore. There are recipes for every style and part of a pumpkin you could ever imagine. Sometimes I have to shame myself for not utilizing it more often. I want to make everything in it: roasted ginger pumpkin-pear soup, wild mushroom pumpkin risotto (and sage-pumpkin risotto), blue cheese and pumpkin galette, pumpkin chutney, pumpkin pizza with gorgonzola, pork stew with pumpkin and prunes, crepes with spinach and creamy pumpkin sauce, mexican pumpkin lasagna, ten different versions of pumpkin bread, coffee cakes, scones, white chocolate pepita apricot pumpkin bars, pumpkin baked alaska, lemon pumpkin strudel, pumpkin-rice pudding… okay I’ll shut up now before you kill me for making you so hungry and enticed. I suppose typing out all of the recipes that I’ve been meaning to get to stirs up the motivation process and reminds me.

So yeah, back to how amazing this muffins are. My grandparents even called and left me a voicemail this morning exclaiming how they were (are?) the best muffins they have ever had. I can’t delete it, it’s so precious. I have already listened to it 3 times. In her twangy Texas accent, “Hi Kylie, this is Nana, I just wanted to say those muffins were the best I’ve ever tasted, including the Silver Spur or the Buttery” (um, if you had any idea how amazing the pumpkin muffins or any other baked good those places make, that’s saying a lot). Then she goes, “and your Pops agrees…” (hands over the phone). Pops: “Me too.” (In the background) Nana: “Well, you could’ve said more… but, you know…” (phone clicks).

They crack me up.

So the recipe originally calls to use pumpkin, but I have had this can of butternut squash puree lying around for a bit too long, saving it for something “special” or a rainy day, perhaps, and this was my chance to be daring. So I went for it and have no regrets. Also used 1/4 cup of walnut oil and 1/4 cup of Smart Balance EFA butter in replacement of 1 stick of unsalted butter. I tend to go for oils > butters in muffins as they tend to turn out more moist. On top of that, there is a buttload of pureed dates, in addition to the moist squash puree, so over all this is definitely not a dry muffin. Me no likey dry muffins. And dates are amazing. And so is butternut squash. And figs. Basically what I’m saying is you’d be crazy to not make these.

And I couldn’t resist topping a few with fresh fig slices.

These muffins practically scream Autumn.

Date-Nut Butternut Squash Muffins

Adapted from Pumpkin: A Super Food for All 12 Months of the Year by DeeDee Stovel

Makes 12 muffins

2 eggs

1 cup canned, unsweetened pureed butternut squash

1/4 cup walnut oil

1/4 unsalted butter

1 cup dates, pitted and chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

1 cup spelt or whole wheat flour

3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

pinch of clove, cardamom, & ginger

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with 12 cup liners (bonus points if you use ones with Halloween/autumn themed cheer).

2. Whisk together eggs, butternut, oil, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in the dates, walnuts, and pecans.

3. Sift the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, clove, cardamom, ginger, and salt into the pumpkin mixture. Using a rubber spatula, mix in the flour mixture until it is just moistened.

4. Evenly distribute the batter into the muffin cups. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan when cool and either cool completely on wire rack or eat immediately. I would recommend the last bit.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Happy Autumn! Why is there only one week left of October?!? It went by wayyy too fast (but I’m not complaining since that means I’m half way done with the school semester!) Oh how I wish it could be October all the time… anyhow, I’ve finally managed to go a little pumpkin crazy the past few weeks at least, thank goodness. I’ve needed something to balance out my busy studious life. Pumpkin patching, baking, and eating are all enough to make me pretty stoked on just about everything in life. All I need is pumpkin. Seriously.

Or maybe I could just turn into a pumpkin.

That would be really cool.

(I probably will turn into a pumpkin at the rate I’m going…)

My lovely friend Tyler and I went to Farmer John’s Pumpkin Patch up highway 1 a few weekends ago and had a pumpkin freak-out. It was awesome. The October issue of Sunset magazine featured this place as one of the best farms to find “offbeat” pumpkins. So of course that sparked an interest. And I got about 5-6 pumpkins and squashes that ended up costing me only $20! Way cheaper than I expected. Maybe it was because I had a little self control (as opposed to the other years I’ve gone). It was pretty darn cool. I just wish some place around here carried cheese pumpkins! I’ve been searching all over for them. But they may just be an east coast squash because of the climate. I’m not sure. More research is needed to be done… supposedly they are the best pumpkins for pies and soups. Maybe I’ll have to resort to buying some seeds perhaps…

As far as the baking and eating goes, this vegan chocolate pumpkin date (fat-free) bundt cake is what started it all off. It was a recipe from the Vegetarian Times cookbook that I’d had dog-eared for quite some time, but I added my own spin on it by using spelt flour (bad idea) and by mixing a little cocoa powder in there for an extra twist. How did it turn out? Not so good. Dry. Flavorless. Boring. But the chocolate sauce made with brown rice syrup and almond extract was quite good! So, needless to say, I won’t be posting the recipe. It’s just a bit disappointing. The words “fat-free” should have been cautionary enough. No oil in vegan baking is just bad, bad, bad. A big no-no. Add to that spelt flour and what you get is yikes! dryness. So yeah, there you have it. If you’re looking for a NON-vegan version of this (what inspired me to make it with the cocoa swirl from the get-go), maybe try out this recipe. I think I’ll go that route next time… it calls for buttermilk and eggs. How can that fail?

So as much as I do love vegan baking, this little experiment turned me off a bit from it. I haven’t given up on it of course, but I suppose it turned me into the complete opposite direction. Like into the direction of eggs. Cream cheese. And BUTTER.

Yes. You heard that right.

That equals out to be these delicious pumpkin cheesecake bars!

I have never made or baked with cream cheese to make any sort of cheesecake before. I’m typically not a cheesecake kind of gal. It is usually sickeningly rich and after the first few bites, I’m over it. But you can give me a piece of pumpkin cheesecake any day and I’ll happily take it off your hands. Who knows what brought on this craving, but I was certainly feeling it one afternoon and I was in the perfect baking mood. And I just so happened to have a block of neufchatel cheese. Only one though, so my cheesecake cake had to be scaled down into bars because typical recipes like this one typically call for four packages or so. I find that a bit unnecessary, especially as it can add up cost-wise pretty quickly! So I made it into bars by using a few various recipes. And they came out amazingly well. Not too rich, just the right amount of creaminess, spiciness, pumpkin and graham cracker goodness. And those little bits on top are crystallized ginger, incase you were wondering. Pretty much is equivalent to the cherry on top. Yes, I’m pretty proud of this one. Just wait. Make it and you’ll understand.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Makes 8-12 bars, depending on many factors of course… (you may not want to share)

For the crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped pecans

zest of one lemon

For the filling:

8 oz. neufchatel cheese, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup pureed pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

pinch of cloves and cardamom

Directions for the crust:

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until the crumbs look moistened by the butter.

Press into an 8×8 pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or so until the crumbs look a little browned.

Let cool slightly.

Directions for the filling:

With a handheld mixer, beat together the cheese and sugar on low to medium speed until combined. Add the eggs, pumpkin, vanilla, and spices and beat on low until all combined and smooth.

Pour over the crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, or until set and slightly browned on the edges.

Cool and/or refrigerate and cut into bars (or cut em up with cute cookie cutters!)

Cranberry Coconut Pumpkin Bisque

It’s rare that I repeat a recipe more than once. Unless it’s really, really good. Or a staple. I mean, there are so so many out there to try with so little time. You have to pick and choose. That being said, I’ve made this pumpkin soup TWICE within the past month, so that’s saying a lot. The inspiration for this recipe came from studying for finals in a coffee shop/cafe one day a few months back, as it was available on their board as “the soup of the day”. It sounded way too enticing to pass up (me and my pumpkin obsession), so of course I had to try it. I typically don’t really go for pureed soups very often. I like to have something to chew on in a soup. Not down for baby food. But I do love a nice bowl of curried butternut squash soup anytime it’s available, and pumpkin anything is usually never a disappointment. I have to say, it was eye-rollingly delicious. I was amazed. And it seemed so simple to make, too! Creamy coconut milk with pumpkin puree, studded with several dried cranberries and a few subtle spices. Within the next hour after lunch time, I overheard some disappointed hungry people being turned away because it had sold out due to its popularity.

A few weeks later I went on a Google quest to try and find a pureed pumpkin coconut concoction that sounded similar to the tastes of what I tried, and I pretty much got it spot on (plus or minus a few of my own adjustments). I tried to use as many coconut related ingredients as possible, like coconut oil and coconut butter. I used a lot of this the first time I made it, and it tasted best that time. Fairly simple and insanely good. It makes a fairly good amount and I just reheat it, add some unsweetened shredded coconut, dried cranberries, and a ton fresh cilantro, and have it for lunch and/or dinner over the course of the next few days. Oh, and it can vegan too very easily! Just use water or veggie broth in place for the chicken broth. It’s that simple. Let me know of any alterations you may make to it, I’d love some new ideas!

Cranberry Coconut Pumpkin Bisque

Makes about 6 servings

2 tbsp. coconut oil

1 cup chopped yellow onion

1-2 chopped garlic cloves

3 cups canned solid pack pumpkin (the big 32 oz can does the trick)

2 cups chicken broth or water

2 tbsp. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. allspice

1/2 tsp. ground cayenne

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1 1/2 cups canned, unsweetened organic coconut milk

(additions I incorporate into individual servings)

1 tablespoon unsweetened shredded coconut

1 tablespoon dried cranberries

a few sprigs of fresh cilantro

Melt oil in a large, heavy stockpot over medium heat.

Add onion and garlic and saute until golden brown, about 8 minutes.

Add pumpkin, broth, sugar, allspice, cayenne, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender until smooth and return to pot.

Bring soup to a simmer, thinning with coconut milk until it is the desired thickness and taste.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Mix in and garnish with some unsweetened shredded coconut, a tablespoon of dried cranberries, and some fresh cilantro.

And with that, it will probably be a little more quiet around here in the next few weeks ahead. A whirlwind of a month (and year) is ahead. I head up to the Ayurveda program starting this Friday, my 21st birthday is this Sunday, and I’m going to Vegas next week for a few days. I’m sure I’ll be back with plenty to talk about!

Be well and Namaste.

Pumpkin S’mac

Invented by yours truly. It’s rare that I actually make up my own dishes from scratch. Usually I tweak and add my own flair to things, but this, this is pretty much the product of a lot of foodie thinking. This is what happens when I meditate on a few ingredients and acquire inspiration throughout my days working at a grocery store and going out to dinner every now and then. I am so, so proud of this dish, I cannot lie. It turned out INCREDIBLE. I had so many ideas and ingredients I wanted to incorporate into creating a creamy pumpkin pasta dish and this was the final product:

(Pre-panko bread crumb broilage…)

How it turned out after put under the broiler a few seconds too long…

Yeah, so basically this is my dream dish come true. Freshly roasted pumpkin, orecchiette, sage, thyme, truffle oil, creamy comforting yumminess in a single-serve dish. The idea was inspired mainly from a dish that I always order at a local restaurant, a version of mac n’ cheese made with truffle oil and some amazing smoked gouda cream sauce. And I wanted to be able to make it on my own, but take it to the next level. And that’s exactly what I did. I also have to thank Country Living’s Pumpkin-Sage Cream Sauce for inspiration otherwise it wouldn’t have been the same…

Pumpkin S’mac

(Serves 1-2 people in a single-serve dish, or you can save for leftovers, or divide it up however the heck you’d like)

Roasting the Pumpkin:

-1/2 sugar pie pumpkin, deseeded, skin peeled, and cubed into 1/2″ inch pieces

-1 teaspoon walnut or olive oil

-salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cube the sugar pie pumpkin and toss with the oil and a bit of salt to your liking. Place squash on a baking sheet and roast for about 20-25 minutes, until somewhat browned and crispy, or until you’re able to pierce squash easily with a fork.

Meanwhile, make the sauce, and fill a medium sized pot with enough water to boil the amount of pasta you want to use (I used about 1/2 box of orecchiette) and put on “high” on the stove.

Pumpkin-Sage Truffle Cream Sauce:

-1 cup heavy cream

-1/2 cup pumpkin puree

-1/4 cup freshly grated grana padano Parmesan cheese (this stuff is BOMB, my new favorite Italian cheese, discovered thanks to an evening dining at Greens Restaurant in SF)

-1/2 cup any other cheese(s) that suits your fancy (I used a mix of smoked gouda, sharp white coastal cheddar, and a semi-firm goat cheese)

-16 sage leaves, sliced into thin strips

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground pepper

-1 tablespoon truffle oil

Combine the cream, pumpkin puree, Parmesan, other cheeses, sage, salt, and pepper in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Simmer the mixture until slightly thickened, 10-12 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in truffle oil. Set aside until pasta is cooked.

Cooking the Pasta:

Once your pasta water is boiling and ready to go, add the orecchiette and a pinch of salt and boil according to directions (usually about 12 minutes, until al dente).

Putting it All Together:

Use any kind of oven-proof dish that you’d like (mine was ceramic and about 5×5 or something like that), place as much pasta and some roasted pumpkin that will comfortably fit into the dish and toss, and pour the pumpkin-sage sauce over that. I also added a little fresh thyme to mine as well, for some extra flavor. Now you could leave it at that and place it under the broiler for about 2-3 minutes to get a little crispy, or you can sprinkle some panko bread crumbs on top for an extra crunch, if you’d like. Just be careful and don’t do what I did, which was putting it under the broiler for more than 1 minute because I smoked up the whole house and the fire alarm went off. I’ll never do that again!

Take it out when it’s ready and hot and prepare for your eyes to roll to the back of your head.

(Feedback is very much appreciated…)

A Few Things That’ve Been Keeping Me Going

Where I wish to be someday, this time of year, when the leaves change: Vermont.

Just the very thought of it makes my heart full of delight.

It’s on my list of things to do.

Adventure into the forests and backwoods, photographing the rich hues of fall foliage.

Ahhh, I can’t wait!

While I’m at it, I’d also go to Acadia.

Ever since I saw a feature in National Geographic years ago, I’ve had dreams about this mystical place.

I’m also getting very excited about Fantastic Mr. Fox!

I absolutely loved this book as a youngster.

Turns out there’s a character named Kylie! Random! Haha, maybe in my next life I’ll come back as a hamster/mole/rodent (I’m not really sure what it is) and be George Clooney’s (Mr. Fox’s) loyal accomplice.

Yay, Wes Anderson!

I’m also really digging this band I’ve just discovered, Plants and Animals.

Check out this Blogotheque video.

(I’m a sucker for whistling.)

Also, I’ve had this as my cell phone wallpaper for the past week or so and it has been a very helpful reminder.