Fall Plans

Today is the first bit of rain we have seen in some time.  The chill of fall eradicates any semblance of summer and the transition excites me.  I've pulled out the sweaters that have long been dormant and turned the dial on my space heater at work all the way to the last setting. I understand this fickle state of Oregon may send us a sunshine teaser or two, but I will plunge full force into fall regardless.  To kick off the season, tomorrow I will surprise Dave with a trip to the Mason Hill Orchard in North Plains, OR.

This time of year I embrace anything pumpkin, anything soup, and anything hot and coffee.  Yes, I realize all of these involve food, but I just can't help myself.  This year, I hope to prepare my own pumpkin puree for my freezer, rather than purchasing it from the store.  I will need it for endless Pumpkin Log and Pumpkin Curry Soup making.  Maybe the girls will come over and we can make a day of it.

For the second year in a row, we will be hosting a family Thanksgiving at our house.  When I say family, I mean anyone and everyone who wants to come.  We have dear friends staying with us from the east coast, as well as local friends and family.  Per our traditions, Thanksgiving will be spent preparing food, eating, and enjoying each others company.  Then, the very next morning, we will trek out to Mt. Hood to find our tree, bring it home and decorate our house for the holidays.

Also planning a trip away over Christmas with the husband and brother and sister-in-law.  Dave and I will be celebrating our 5 year anniversary, my birthday, and Christmas all at once.  Looking forward to getting away and seeing beloved family members.

What are your fall plans?

Wedding Fun

I had the pleasure of making the desserts for a co-worker's wedding a couple of weeks ago.  It was a sweet, simple, country wedding out in beautiful Trout Lake, WA

Zander, the family dog, was there, much to Dave's delight.

The lovely bride chose three different desserts providing a variety of choices for family and friends.

Rich fudgy brownies topped with salted caramel sauce and real chocolate sprinkles (artistic credit of caramel drizzle goes to my handsome spouse).  Thanks to The Pioneer Woman for this lovely recipe.  I made this exactly except I used Trader Joe's Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce:

Butterscotch Yummies: a family favorite.  This dessert has been a staple of mine ever since I learned the recipe from a good friend years ago:

Miniature cheesecakes topped with blackberry compote and a blackberry and sprig of mint to garnish.  I used this recipe, but replaced the cookie base with a simple graham cracker base, and selected a different flavored topping.  Simple and delightful!

What a fun assortment for a beautiful wedding and a stunning couple.  I am honored to have taken part in their celebration.

Pear-a-phernalia

My parents have always had an abundance of produce growing in their backyard: if not from their fruit trees, then from their freakishly successful garden.  This year's pear crop proved to be pear-a-mount. 

Pears are a LOT of work.  Each one needs to be peeled, cored, and sliced into desirable portions.  They also need to be processed with a sense of urgency to avoid over-ripening.  After I brought these home, I surfed the web for all possible recipes and settled on making Pear Butter and Pear Bread.

Once the pears are prepped, the rest is easy.  For the pear butter, I filled the crockpot to the brim with pears and set it on low for 14 hours.  I didn't measure anything, because of an aversion I have to following instructions.  Once that was done, I added 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp of nutmeg.  It turned out just right.

I found a delicious recipe for pear bread on allrecipes.com.  Delightful.

I ended up freezing the pear butter and eating all the bread.  Life is good.

Banana Peppers

I don't have much of a green thumb, but having grown up with a garden, I am inclined to give it my best shot.

This last weekend I collected a few handfuls of banana peppers from the two little plants I have growing in an old metal washtub out front of my house.  They're competing for "Most Leafy" with the bell pepper plant and the rosemary, all squished in the middle.

After perusing the interwebs for some canning ideas, I decided I would just do the usual: decipher the important principles, ratios, etc, and do my own thing.  

I sliced the peppers into rings, first removing the stems.  Meanwhile, I'm sterilizing the lids and rings in some simmering water on the stove.  Since the packed jars will be processing in a hot water bath for at least 10 minutes, there's no need for me to sterilize those.  I just made sure they were nice and clean.  

Then I combined my vinegar, sugar, salt, and water in my saucier and brought it to a boil.  I packed the pepper rings in the jars, and filled them with my vinegar concoction, leaving 1/4 inch of head space.

On go the lids and rings and then a nice 10 minute bath in boiling water.

I let them sit on the counter while I finished baking some banana bread.

All three tiny jars sealed up nicely, and they now sit on my shelf to finish the pickling process.  In two weeks,  they'll be ready to consume!  I'll let you know how they taste.

So, I've started a blog. I've considered doing this for quite awhile, but was apprehensive about whether or not I'm the blogging type. With some encouragement that it "doesn't have to be perfect," and reassurances that I can "change the title if I end up hating it," I gathered enough gumption to make it happen. Thanks, Amy, for being my biggest cheerleader in starting this up. Now its your turn, Mrs. Clawson!