Christmas-time is here!

I love decorating for Christmas. I love the tradition - unpacking my favorite ornaments from my childhood and re-telling the same stories about the time that Aunt Annie gave me a certain ornament or my friend Betsy made me another. This year, we're going a bit non-traditional in our house which is normally not my style, but with a tight budget and two dogs (one of whom is a bit rambunctious), neither a real tree nor an artificial one were in the cards for us.

We were thinking of picking up a rosemary plant/tree from WholeFoods to decorate/cook with during the holiday season, but since we already have rosemary planted in the garden it seemed like it might be a bit of a waste. They smell lovely but are only about 12" high and wouldn't hold many decorations in the end. I was a bit discouraged and thinking we'd have to be tree-less when I came across this brilliant idea on (you guessed it!) pinterest.com: Make your own Christmas tree out of a tomato cage!

So, $4 and a trip to Home Depot later, we have our own DIY Christmas Tree! We ran our lights vertically on the cage and that seemed to make it more tree shaped. All in all, a super simple project that helped make our living room full of Christmas cheer.

Pumpkin Stacks (A.K.A. Whoopie Pies)

The whoopie pie trend has been sweeping the blogosphere for a while now. About a year ago was the first time I'd heard of them when my friend Kara tweeted a picture of a red velvet and cream cheese variation. I was immediately intrigued. I'm game for anything red velvet and it looked delicious. A couple weeks ago my husband suggested that I give making some of them a shot - although, for the record, originally he insisted that we call them sandwich cookies as he doesn't like their given name. I will admit that he and a friend have come up with a few other, less-wholesome, names for this sweet treat. None of which are appropriate to list here (even though, as much as I'd like to say they aren't, they are pretty funny). From here on out we will call them Pumpkin Stacks.

For the record, I thought these were going to be terribly hard to make and quite time consuming and, although, they weren't the easiest thing I've ever made, they sure weren't hard and they were pretty fun to bring to a party. People loved them.

I followed the Brown Eyed Baker's recipe for Pumpkin Whoopie Pie with Maple-Cream Cheese filling to a tee. Her instructions were great and super easy to follow. I will say that I completely forgot to chill my pumpkin filling, but that didn't seem to matter. The icing made much more than I needed for my whoopie pies, so if I make these again I'll be sure to have something else on hand that I can use it with (it would be really delish with some chocolate cupcakes).

Even though I don't know that I'll make this particular recipe again (it was pretty sweet), I'd really like to try something chocolate or pistachio flavored. Anyone have a good recipe to share?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Is your belly full? Mine is. Full and happy. Last year was the first year I came to Oklahoma with my then-boyfriend-now-husband's family. It was great, but I made the mistake of thinking I should look all put-together all weekend long.

This year, with the ring securely on my finger, I am wearing sweat pants. The cutest ones I own, which isn't saying much, but sweat pants none-the-less. I only brought jeans for when we are tempted to leave the house to go to Topeca Coffee, Taco Bueno, or Jamba Juice.

I love Thanksgiving. I hope yours is wonderful!

Pumpkin Quick Bread

While I have recently been enamored with sourdough bread, there is still a very warm place in my heart for quick breads. Banana. Pumpkin. You name it. I love it. Mostly I love bread. Any kind. A while back I went to dinner at my friend Lauren's house and she served the most wonderful Pumpkin bread for dessert and ever since I've been thinking about making some not-from-a-box mix pumpkin bread. Then, last week, I stumbled across this recipe and decided it was time to put thought into action.

Pumpkin Quick Bread

slightly adapted from NoBiggie

3 c sugar

1 c applesauce

4 eggs

15 oz can pumpkin

2/3 c water

3 1/2 c unbleached all-purpose flour

2 t baking soda

2 t salt

1 t baking powder

1 t nutmeg

1 t allspice

1 t cinnamon

1 small dash ginger

Preheat oven to 350* and cream together sugar and applesauce. Add in eggs, pumpkin, and water.

Mix dry ingredients, including spices, together in a smaller bowl and then slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet until incorporated.

Pour batter into 2 loaf pans that have been sprayed with olive oil. Bake for about 1 hour or until the top of the loaf has set and a toothpick comes out mostly clean.

Menu Monday

Monday night is Community Group and this week, in honor of Thanksgiving, we're having an entire meal of side dishes. They are the best part of this fall holiday in my opinion. We're bringing the stuffing. It will not be home made. It will be from a box. From Aldi's. That's the best stuffing in the world. Why go through all the trouble of making our own when they've already reached perfection?

Tuesday night I'm going with the husband to a work dinner. I'm a little nervous. I don't know these folks very well and so I was looking for an appetizer that was impressive, yummy, and could be made in a hurry after work. I think The Pioneer Woman's Stuffed Mushrooms will be just the thing.

On Wednesday we're going to a Thanksgiving celebration with some friends before we leave town. I'm going to attempt to make a Pumpkin-Pecan Pie heavily inspired by Making Life Delicious. I'll let you know how it goes!

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be filled with Taco Bueno (because it is bueno), Jamba Juice, and Topeca coffee. And, of course, leftovers, lots of leftovers. All of the delicious things that Tulsa has to offer. Yum.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends!

Sourdough French Bread

The wait is finally over. Sourdough bread reigns supreme in our kitchen. It turns out, the starter is the hardest part. After that, if you have a bit of patience, some flour, water, and salt the rest is easy-peasy.

Sourdough French Bread:

adapted from What's Cooking America

Mix one cup sourdough starter, 3/4 cup luke warm water, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon baking soda in the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the dough hook to knead the ingredients until they begin to come together into a ball. Untangle the dough ball from the hook and let it rest in the mixer for about 10-15 minutes.

Remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead well for about 5+ minutes. Shape the dough into a loose loaf. Coat the inside of the mixing bowl with a light layer of olive oil and return the loaf/ball the the bowl. Now, it's time for the longest wait. Cover with a damp towel and plastic wrap and set aside to rise for 4-8 hours. I've found that about 6 hours is the minimum for me. The dough should double in size and not spring back when touched.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly. Form into a loaf and set on a cookie sheet. I set mine on a silicon baking mat - those things are the best! You could also sprinkle the cookie sheet with a light layer of cornmeal to keep the bread from sticking when it bakes. Cover the dough with plastic wrap for the second rise - this time on 1-3 hours.

When the dough has doubled in size, remove plastic wrap, slash dough 2-4 times with a sharp knife and brush with water. I use my husbands silicon grill brush and it works great! Bake the bread for about 25 minutes in an oven preheated to 400° or until the outside is a nice light brown and the inside reads 200-210° on an instant-read thermometer. Set bread on a cutting board to cool for about 20 minutes before slicing.

Then all that's left to do is keep yourself from eating the entire loaf in one sitting!

The Starter that Lived

I have a long and sordid history with sourdough starters. I adore sourdough bread and have been trying, for what seems like for-ev-er to get my own starter growing in the kitchen. The first one died a sad, smelly, pink, bacteria-filled death. The second was literally eaten by the dog (ew). The third and fourth attempts, even with the additional watchful eye and helpful hand from a handsome gentleman failed miserably. I thought we were destined to live a life without that wonderful tangy goodness in our lives.

And then the clouds parted, the angels sang, the heavens aligned and Justin was seated next to a generous sourdough-loving, starter-possessing couple at a church function not too long ago. He told them our sad sorry tale and a few weeks later they brought us our very own jar of deliciousness to church.

Now we have an overflowing jar of sourdough starter in our refrigerator, sourdough pancakes in our bellies, and our third loaf of bread just came out of the oven. Life is good.

Parting thought: Last fall I found a pretty good bread recipe from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day so if, like me, you are having trouble with your starter and no good starter-sharing samaritans cross your path, this is a great go-to resource for the starter-challenged.

In the Kitchen this week

Cupcakes from a box, Icing made with love

Do you ever eat chocolate cake batter by the spoonful and tell yourself that it's basically the same as instant chocolate pudding? Yea ... me neither.

My friend Laura is having a baby! Her baby girl is due to arrive just after the holidays and today we are having a shower in her honor. We're feasting on all things pink and white and celebrating the fabulous mom-to-be!

Some of you may know Laura better as the voice behind FoodSnobSTL.com. She a pretty creative food blogger so I'm ashamed to admit that all of the tasty cupcakes that I made for her shower came straight out of the box. I wish I could say I doctored the mix a little to give it a certain je ne sais quoi, but nope, they are regular old cupcakes. Don't tell! I did take the time to whip up my own icing though. Nothing fancy. Just some good old fashioned buttercream.

Buttercream Icing

1/2 c shortening

1/2 c softened butter

1 t vanilla extract

4 c powdered sugar

2 T milk

Cream together the shortening, butter, and vanilla. Carefully add in the sugar one cup at a time (watch out that stuff gets everywhere) while mixing on medium speed. Add milk until the icing is light and fluffy.

Free tip just for you: I use small cheap plastic baggies as icing bags. Simply cut off a tiny corner of the bag and viola! icing bag. Ready to make cute letters or design fun swirls. The best part is there's nothing to wash at the end :)

A lesson in disappearing wine

Gift cards are awesome. At one of my bridal showers a friend gave us a gift card to Trader Joe's. Brilliant. It was immediately set aside for wine. TJ's is my hands down favorite place to buy wine. I love it because I can always find something better than drinkable and within my budget. The people are friendly and helpful and our favorite wine lady, Lynn, has never steered us wrong.

Last summer Lynn introduced us to our favorite white wine - Green Fin White Table Wine. We loved it. Then, one day, it was gone. Saddest. Day. Ever. That's the thing about Trader Joe's wines, they come and go as they please, but, luckily, our gal Lynn was there to introduce us to the Chariot Gypsy. It's a fabulous everyday red wine and we loved it. We bought up several bottles right away, but still, it's time came and it disappeared from the shelves. Sad.

This past Sunday I was meandering the TJ aisles with my friend Kara who was picking up some wine for a dinner party and I turned the corner and there she was. The Gypsy. Gasp! The aforementioned gift card immediately started to burn a hole in my pocket. Now, I'm new to the wife thing and I didn't know the rules about spending the wedding gift cards. I knew I had enough gift money to get 3 bottles, but in a fit of uncertainty I called the husband from the check out line to make sure he was cool with my purchase.

Me: Hey, I'm at Trader Joe's with Kara and guess what?

Him: What?

Me: The Gypsy is back! You know that gift card we have? It's enough to buy 3 bottles. Sound good?

Him: No...

(this is where my heart stopped for a second and was ready to be very, very sad)

...buy six!

So, back to the shelves I went to get 3 more bottles happy to know that the Gypsy would be gracing our wine rack once again this winter.

Butternut Squash Soup

Sunday afternoon was our first day back in full swing since the wedding. I was up at 6 to set out some sourdough bread to rise (the first rise takes 4-8 hours!). We were at church by 8 and then I was off to a bridal shower for my friend, Blake. So, when Justin set about making Butternut squash soup for dinner, I was thrilled. I made some tea and puttered around the kitchen, pretending to help and trying not to get in the way.

Two different squashes from our final CSA delivery of the season survived our time away and we didn't want to see them go to waste. I wish I could tell you that I paid enough attention to what he did to give you a specific recipe, but I didn't. I can say though, that you should take the challenge of making your own improvised butternut squash soup on your next rainy Sunday afternoon.

Photo challenge debacle

Free advise: Do not start a 30 days photo challenge the month of your wedding or another major life event. It's a silly idea. Project officially postponed until the new year.

But, for now, how about I share a few of my favorite pictures from our honeymoon in Seaside, Florida? Will that do? Can we still be friends?

This is us on the roof deck of the house we stayed in. Roof deck, people. Roof deck.

The above mentioned roof deck. Yes, those are raspberry martinis. Yes, this was the perfect happy hour.

The house came equipped with a dream kitchen. This Le Creuset pan was rarely left in the cupboard.

Sugar sand!

I'm baa-aack

Turns out I've been a little busy. Blogging has kind of slipped my mind the last few weeks. So many things to share. More updates coming soon. For now, in case you missed it: