Fall Fun Bonanza!

I like to use the word Bonanza whenever possible. Seriously.

October was whirl wind of activities! Bonfires, Antique Shopping in Lynden, Thrifting Dresses and sweaters, wearing tights, Eating Man Pies. How I love fall! I’m so glad it is taking so long for all the leaves to change. I’m so glad that the weather goes from rainy to sunny and back again, never too hot, never too cold. I’m so glad that Mr. Gaunt takes me on dates, and we eat outside in our coats. I’m so glad we switched our roadtrip snacks from Sunflower seeds to Pumpkin Seeds. I think November will just be another extension of October, and I will ride this pumpkin flavored, maple leaf smelling, puffy vest wearing coat-tails all the way to Christmas!

Forrest burning all our excess cardboard

$8 "Infinity Scarf" from Buffalo Exchange. Thanks Aunt. J for th pin!

A NEW USED WASHER! HIP HIP HOORAY!

Dress $4, "cardigan" is a thrifted J.Crew jersey tee I cut up the front, and cut the sleeves 3/4.

$6 at Value Village

 

$3 Skirt from Value Village. Didnt buy the sweater

Pumpkin Seeds for the road.

A Rainy afternoon in Lynden

Did you know Lynden is a Dutch Colony....weird.

Checking out the antique shops

Bought a cat for the Teal Cat Project! Check it out at http://www.tealcatproject.com

The Crazy Spider house!

Need a closer look?

Check out that HUGE spider on the side of the house!

Eating Man Pies...the ultimate comfort food.

 

Making Fall Wreaths

I didnt actually take pictures of our Wreath Making Process, but today my good friend Manda and I watched Step Mom (BEST fall movie EVER) and made awesome Fall Yarn Wreaths!

We got everything at Joann’s this afternoon, and whipped these bad boys out in a about 3 hours. The wrapping of the yarn takes the longest. Here is a link of a good How To in case you want to see how its done. We didn’t do the traditional felt flowers, instead we bought little Fall Embellishments that we hot glued on, or stabbed into the foam. I added a few Pom Poms from my wedding too!

I think they are so cute! My front door looks adorable, until you look up and see the spider web Mr. Gaunt put up…(: He’s making tombstones for the yard today too! I love living in a house.

 

 

Its Finally Getting Chilly!

So of course I went to Savers (Value Village) and got some sweet sweaters! I love fall! This Fall we happen to be super busy and we just never made it to the Pumpkin Farm…sad day. We also have yet to decided on costumes. Oh well, can’t be perfect every year, or most years…lol! We only have 10 days until our craft fair. Business cards have been ordered, doors have been painted, order forms are being written, paintings are getting wrapped in tissue for travel! Exciting stuff!

 

Mr. Gaunt and his mom at a wedding. New (to him) $5 sweater!

 

 

 

Fall Foods: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Would you like to consume 8 million calories in one soft pumpkin flavored cream cheese filled sandwich?! Of ocurse you would! Lets get started.

I actually made these like 3 weeks ago, and for some reason have taken my sweet time posting them. Oh well, better late than never! And we still have a good few weeks before the dreaded winter devours my all too short Autumn…):

This recipe is actually really easy, kids could easily help too. The recipe originally came from this blog, and I basically followed it to a T. It says the recipe makes like 12, but mine made 24! So I dont know what kinda crazy large whoopie pies Martha was making, but this makes a ton! The only down side I found was that they stick together really bad, and then they kind of tear themselves apart if you stack them. I may have needed to cook them a little longer to “dry them out” a bit.

The cream cheese frosting was the easiest and BEST part, I really want to make Mr. Gaunt a pumpkin cake with this frosting for his birthday!

RECIPE:

3 cups of AP Flour

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 tablespoon of Cinnamon

2 tablespoons of Pumpkin Pie Spice

2 cups of light brown sugar

1 cup of vegetable oil

3 cups of pumpkin puree

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of Vanilla

Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Filing

12 oz of Cream Cheese, softened

4 oz of unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons of vanilla bean paste  ( I just used vanilla)

2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

To make the Cookies –

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium bowl combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.  In a Large bowl combine the brown sugar and oil until well mixed. Add in the pumpkin and stir to combine. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until completely incorporated.

Using a tablespoon ice cream scoop, drop scoops on the parchment paper about 1 inch apart.  Bake for 15 – 17 minutes rotating the pans half way through. The tops should be just starting to crack or firm to the touch. Let them cool completely before filling.

To Make the Filling –

Cream together the cream cheese and the butter until they are light and fluffy. Then add in vanilla bean paste and stir to combine. Sift in the powdered sugar in 3 additions making sure to mix well after each addition. Set this aside to chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.

Using a piping bag, pipe a good amount of frosting on one cookie and top with another cookie pressing down ever so slightly. Repeat with the remaining cookies.

These were a HUGE hit at the party I went to. I even bought this cute plate at target for $3! If you have a Halloween part I definitely suggest making these!

FALL FOOD: pumpkin scones

I made these at the beginning of September and am just now getting around to posting them. I actually made two batches of these they were so good!  I enjoy scones way more as an adult, as a child I found them dry and bland. Even still sometimes they are. These however are much more cake like, a little soft, the recipe describes them as more like Starbucks Scones.

The recipe is from this website and goes as follows:

Combine in a large bowl:
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
7 tbsps granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼tsp ground cloves

Cut in:
6 tbsps cold, unsalted butter, cut into chunks

In a separate, small bowl whisk together:
½ cup cooked pumpkin (I used the stuff that I went crazy and bought 50 million cans of last Thanksgiving. I don’t KNOW why!)
3 tbsp half & half (I just used 1 tbsp heavy cream to 2 tbsps 1% milk, because that’s what I had.  I imagine whole milk would work okay, too.)
1 large egg

Combine wet ingredients with dry, being careful not to overwork the dough. This is tricky because they really don’t want to combine. I used a cutting motion with the side of my plastic spatula that is probably so not approved by the Culinary Institute of America but screw them, because these are the bomb anyway.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, pat to 1 inch thick and cut in the shape of your choice. Bake at 425˚ for 16 – 17 minutes. When done, remove to cooling rack to cool completely.

I iced them first with confectioners sugar blended to a thick glaze with cream and milk. No exact measurements, just mess with it till you get the consistency right. Not to thin, though! Then, when that had hardened up a little, I mixed even MORE confectioners sugar with the spices in the scones to an ever THICKER consistency, and drizzled it over the top. It looks like a lot of icing, but honestly it’s…

a lot of icing. I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it. Happily, that’s one component you can leave out or adjust to your liking.

Now that the weather is SLOWLY creeping out of the 80’s and 90s’ (don’t EVEN get me started on how pissed off I am at Colorado for ruining my LAST fall here! No one wants 96 degree weather in September!) I plan to do more fall baking! I even bought Rachel Ray’s magazine that has so many yummy fall recipes in it! I’m also craving chili like you wouldn’t believe! As soon as it’s a nice 65 degrees I will be having Mr. Gaunt crock-pot some!

A Fresh Start

Well first off I would like to give a hugely fantasticly excited warm welcome to….SEPTEMBER! Me and September go waaaay back, in fact September was the first month that I ever got to see in person, September 12th to be exact. And September has always just been a good exciting month of changes! Back in the day September was a new school year, homecomings, football games, reconnecting with friends. As Ive gotten older September has consistently been the month I move to a new place, sign a new lease, start fresh.

This year September brings less change than usually. Mr. Gaunt and I will be renewing our lease in our current place (please note in the 6 years I have lived away from home, I have NEVER lived in a place longer than a year) because its a pretty sweet pad and we feel like the only upgrade we would do would be buying a house, and that may be awhile. 

I also will be turning 24 on the 12th. This is exciting because 24 was the first year I was declaring “mid twenties” (24-26) and because come on people I LOVE BIRTHDAYS! Its a smidge sad this year that I will be forced to work (raise your hand if you think I should call out sick?) because I would love nothing more than to bake these Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting! and wear a cute dress and spend the day painting pottery with Mr. Gaunt (I know this would be torture for most men, but he really does like it). Birthdays are fun and beautiful and special and only come once a year and they are just yours…sigh…I ❤ BIRTHDAYS. 

September also means a change in the weather, and for those of you who dont know I LOVE FALL! I love fall the most! And I love HOT HOT summer the least. So I am sooooo looking forward to fall where I can wear sweaters and scarves and flip flops (seriously) and we can go get pumpkins and do a haunted corn maze and bake galore! I get a little excited on this topic. So yeah fall and me are friends.

This year is also pretty sweet because I weigh almost 45 lbs less than I did a year ago. GOOD FREAKING JOB TO ME! That my friend is excellent! Im also planning my first wedding to be put on this weekend. This will be fun and crazy and scary and stressfull. Im going to take a million pictures for you all to see! It will be a fun weekend. 

Ok now Im off to make lunch (post to come) and to finish some wedding shopping before work. Oh and no weigh in this week, it just didn’t fit into the schedule, come next week though and Ill get some real numbers. XOXO