Painted Pumpkins

Last week, Brandon and I were invited over to our friends Jami and James' house for an evening of pumpkin painting. In the past, I've always carved pumpkins, but frankly, that's a lot of work and I'm always just a little bit afraid that I'm going to cut off my finger.

Anyway, it was a great night full of good friends, hot cider, pumpkin beer, crockpot mac and cheese, and chocolate chip banana bread. Oh, and painting pumpkins of course.

{there are about a million things I love about this picture- from some of the awesome faces, to the fact that Nikki and I pretty much are dressed as twins.}

We had a lot of creativity going on in that room- from a Charlie Brown pumpkin, to a spider web one, they all turned out great. Inspired by these pumpkins from Madigan Made, I decided to do a little gold thumbtack bedazzling.

I simply freehand painted horizontal white stripes. If you wanted something a little more precise, this is where painters tape might come in handy. After making my way around once, I painted a second layer on each of the stripes. Then, I let it all dry slightly and started in with the thumbtacks. For this pumpkin, I used all but about 20 in the pack of 300 (tip: go buy them at the dollar store).

Here's the result:

 

Top view!

And here we are, next to the husband's Chargers pumpkin that I "ruined" by bedazzling it. If you ask me, I only improved its beauty and made it coordinate better with my stripey thumbtack creation.

Like it? I love it!

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Whole Wheat Pumpkin Waffles w/ Cinnamon Whipped Cream

Oh wow. These are good. Like really good. And the whipped cream is a must. I'm kind of on a pumpkin craze right now, so watch out. I think the fact that I know pumpkin is seasonal makes me want to get as much as I can in. Seriously, I grab a can of pumpkin pretty much every time I'm at the store. Don't judge me.

In my quest for a pumpkin waffle recipe, I cam across this one at a blog named solely for the pumpkin waffle. They called it the ultimate, so I figured I'd better give it a try. Leave it to me to change it though. I really wanted some whole wheat goodness in there, so this is my variation. It's a bit of work, but is well worth it.

We start with lots of yummy spices mixed into a delicious batter.

And some glorious whipped cream

Put em together and you've got autumn heaven for breakfast.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Waffles
{Makes 6-8 standard or 4 Belgian waffles}
Ingredients:
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp.nutmeg
1 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ginger
2 eggs, separated
1 cup milk
1 cup canned pumpkin
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Preparation:
Combine brown sugar, cornstarch, flours, baking powder, salt and spices in large bowl and whisk together well.

In a separate bowl, combine eggs yolks, milk, canned pumpkin and melted butter. Once well combined, add pumpkin mixture into dry ingredients. Mix lightly- lumps are ok.

In medium bowl, beat egg whites with electric mixer on high until stiff peaks form. Fold egg whites into batter.

Cook waffles on preheated waffle iron, set to desired temperature.Top with cinnamon whipped cream, recipe below.


Cinnamon Whipped Cream
{Makes about 2 cups}
Ingredients:
1 cup cold heavy cream
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preparation:
Place medium bowl and mixer whisks in freezer for 5-10 minutes. This is especially important if your kitchen is rather warm.

Beat heavy cream on medium high speed until well-thickened. Don't beat too much though, or you'll end up with butter. Add in sugar and cinnamon and beat on low just until combined.
  
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Fall Wishlist

Although it still feels exactly like summer here in San Diego, I know that the calendar says September 16th and that means Fall is coming! Fall might be my favorite season. (But don't judge me if Winter, Spring or Summer come around and I start calling those my favorite seasons too...they all are special in different ways)

Anyway, I've been seeing so much fall goodness in magazines, on Pinterest and all around the blogosphere and I can't help but get excited for boots, sweaters, fall tv and all things pumpkin. Along with all of those, I have a few extra things on my wish/to-do/to buy list this Fall:

A Cable-Knit Throw

How cozy does that look? Don't you want to just snuggle up under it on the couch? I know I do. The one pictured above is from Pottery Barn and costs a whopping $79, but I think I found some looks for less, from here (IKEA )and here (QVC of all places)!

Something, anything with card catalog details

 via Dream Book Design

Ok, so something on a MUCH smaller scale because my slightly less than 700 square foot apartment can't even begin to handle that gorgeous beast, but you get what I mean. Maybe I'll try and make something using card catalog pulls, found here. What does this have to do with fall? Good question. I won't even go down that rabbit hole where it makes sense in my head. Just know that it does.

 Branches in a Vase

{via Fiori Belli }

Don't those branches just make you feel all autumn-like? I want some sort of branches to replace the spring/summer flowers I have in the vase in my living room. I love the branches in the picture above- hopefully I can find something similar at Michael's.

The Perfect Pumpkin Muffins

Once upon a time I had the most amazing pumpkin muffin recipe at my fingertips. Now, it is no more. Sooooo....this fall will be my quest to find the perfect pumpkin muffin recipe. Get excited.

Butternut Squash Soup

Never made it. But I know I love it. This goodness needs to happen soon in my kitchen. Any recipes? 

Send 'em my way.

Roomy Boots

Dear husband, if you are reading this, I know you're asking yourself WHY I need another pair of boots. Well....let me start by saying that I didn't buy any new boots last fall or winter. Yeah, that's pretty much all I got. I just want them. I don't need them :) Basically, I want boots that are really wide around the calf. Apparently my calves are big for my shoe size because I always have trouble with my boots being too tight. Why can't I find boots that fit like this?:

{via}

Rice Pudding 

My coworker has seriously turned me on to rice pudding. I need to learn how to make it. So good. Definitely happening.

and last but certainly not least. What would fall be without....

Pumpkin Spice Lattes

{via starbucks} 

Oh, Starbucks, how did you manage to make something so amazingly delicious? Now that I have my espresso machine at home, I must figure it out!  I've seen a few recipes floating around the internet, but none seem like quite what I'm looking for. Time to get in the kitchen and experiment!

What are you looking forward to for Fall?

Fall Cupcake Round Up

My mom is planning a fall themed party for some friends and came to me for cupcake ideas. Although I haven't baked any autumn cupcakes recently (besides some delicious pumpkin ones that I can no longer find the recipe to), I knew my trusty friends google and pinterest would provide plenty of inspiration. And disappoint they did not.

When I think autumn, I think apples. How cute are these apple cupcakes displayed in a crate?

Apple Cupcakes via Family Fun

Or these apple cuties make with red frosting, pretzels and sour green apple strips!

Apple Cupcakes via Martha Stewart

How about these bits of apple pie deliciousness?

Apple Pie Cupcakes from Suzy Bakes

Speaking of pie... pumpkin pie cupcakes anyone? Genius!

Pumpkin Pie Cupcake via Food Beast

Apples? Cinamon roll? In cupcake form? Sign me up!

Apple Cinamon Roll Cupcakes via Chocolate and Carrots

Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting? Yum!

Pumpkin Cupcakes via Real Simple

Of course, now I really want a cupcake.

Have any recipes to share??