Octoberfest!

It's October! One of my favorite months of the year! I'm going to celebrate by ...

Making pumpkin bread. And pumpkin waffles. And probably pumpkin bread pudding. Thank goodness the pumpkin shortage is over!


Picking some goldenrod. I did last year and it was so pretty and cheerful, lasted quite a while, and to my surprise, didn't shed or make me sneeze.


Eating bowls of steaming hot soup. I could use a few new recipes for this season; what soup do you love to make?


Picking out a pretty pumpkin (or two).


Making homemade apple cider doughnuts. I wanted to do this last year, but never did. Perhaps if I start thinking about it this month it will actually happen before Christmas.

Hm, three of the five involve food. Interesting. What are you going to do this month?

Top three photos are mine. Pumpkins are from The Martha Blog. Doughnuts are from Smitten Kitchen.

Easy Homemade Doughnuts

I'm almost embarrassed to share this recipe, because number 1, it's not really a recipe, and number 2, there are plenty of more sophisticated versions available that actually qualify as homemade (I've been wanting to try this one). But, you asked, and so you shall receive (good thing I took pictures just in case).


For these doughnuts you will need: a can of biscuits (find them with crescent rolls at the grocery store), milk, confectioner's sugar, vanilla and shortening (or whatever you want to fry them in -- did I mention they are fried?!).

First, heat the oil over medium-high. If you have candy thermometer, you want it to be at about 350 degrees. I don't and just use the doughnut holes as a gauge (more on that later).

Separate the biscuits and -- here's where it gets technical -- use whatever you can find to cut a hole out of the middle. If you have small cookie cutter, you are set. I used an empty (and clean) Pelligrino bottle (though it was kind of hard to get the holes out). My mom uses an old prescription bottle. What ever you use, you want the holes to be about the size of a quarter so they don't completely close when cooking. You can stretch them a little if you need to.


If you aren't measuring your oil temperature, fry a couple of the cut out holes first. They should brown evenly and slowly and not create a lot of grease "pop" when you drop them in. Add the doughnuts in batches. They cook very quickly -- about a minute on the first side, and a little less on the second. Unless your oil is too hot, the inside should be cooked through. Take them out with a slotted spoon and place them on a paper-towel lined plate.


The icing is very simple. I don't measure and do it by feel, but you really can't mess it up. Take a cereal bowl-full of confectioner's sugar and add milk, about a tablespoon at a time, and whisk until it is slightly stiff. You want it to be loose enough to be able to cover the doughnuts, but thick enough to stick (again you can test with the holes). Add a splash of vanilla if you like. Drop the doughnuts in, cover with icing, then drain on a cooling rack. If you'd like a tangy, citrusy icing, try a splash of orange juice. Enjoy with a big glass of milk!

Day 959's Valentine's treat recipe

Chocolate-covered strawberries are a pretty cliche thing to eat on Valentine's Day, but the combination is pretty irresistible. Instead, I decided to make chocolate cupcakes with my favorite strawberry icing.


The dark chocolate cupcake recipe* is Ina Garten's (and that peanut butter icing is delicious too, by the way) and the stawberry icing is supposedly the recipe from Sprinkles (I think I found it on Smitten Kitchen last year). It's so delicious I could eat it with a spoon. I used a Ziploc bag as a stand-in for a pastry bag and topped them with a light dusting of red decorating sugar.


Strawberry Icing
1/2 cup whole frozen strawberries, thawed
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold
pinch of course salt
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor, and process until pureed. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed and slowly add sugar. Beat until combined. Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree** (I add it to taste) and mix until just blended. Do not overmix; the consistency should be dense and creamy -- like ice cream.

Ice your cupcakes and enjoy!

* The recipe says it makes 14-15, but I got 2 dozen. The icing covered all but four, which I put in the freezer. It also says to bake for 22 minutes, but I checked them at 20 and they were done. 19 minutes probably would have worked, too so keep an eye on them.
** I also added a bit of red food coloring to get a brighter pink.

Day 941: a question and a recipe

My mini daffodils have really grown and bloomed nicely. But we came home from a weekend away and they were all over the place. My paperwhites did the same thing in December, but they were easier to contain with a wood skewer and some raffia.


I wanted to try something I saw a florist do with paperwhites, so I stuck some sticks from the yard around the edge of the pot to hold them in. It's better, but still pretty wild. Any bulb-forcing experts out there? What am I doing wrong that's making them droop?


And now to completely switch gears, I want to share a super-easy and delicious recipe that my mom used to make. We had some crescent rolls with dinner last night (they're on sale this week) and I saved a couple for breakfast (they'll be fine refrigerated overnight wrapped in plastic wrap). Just brush them with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon and chopped pecans, if you like.


Roll them up, brush the tops with a little more butter and bake at 350 degrees for fifteen minutes. Drizzle with milk-and-powdered-sugar icing and enjoy! Healthy? No. Easy and delicious? Definitely, yes!

Day 849's recipe

So how was your weekend? I feel like I spent all of Saturday in the kitchen -- it was delightful! Pancakes for breakfast, then a loaf of pumpkin bread, and honey corn bread muffins to have with chicken corn chowder for supper.


I'm not sure how many slices of pumpkin bread I've had since Saturday. Let's just call it several. It is my mom's recipe and I think it is the best. It's fluffy, but also nice and heavy, without any nuts or strange things to get in the way.

Mom's Pumpkin Bread
2 eggs
1/2 can pumpkin
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt (I use about 1/2 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

Mix until just blended, and pour into a floured loaf pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 and half hours.

Day 837: loving copper cookware

When fall arrives, I start craving warm, intimate spaces and different textures. Summer begs for linen and cotton, but now I'm craving wool plaids and anything that resembles a sweater (even thought it's still 70 degrees in Birmingham). That goes for the kitchen, too. Copper seems just right for the season.


I'd die for Eddie Ross' ironstone collection, but his collection of copper pots and pans is also quite impressive. Here, he used them to give a Chateau Chic feeling to a Grange Showroom. Above, they are on display in Martha's stable kitchen in Bedford (his first decorating project at Living).


Just one or two pieces can warm things up, as seen in this kitchen by Nathan Egan Interiors.


Copper is great for fall entertaining, too. Joni spotted a few pieces at a recent party for Garden & Gun at Houston lighting showroom, Brown. I have one copper platter (see it here) that I would love to use to serve treats at a fall dinner party.


New copper cookware is on the pricey side -- especially since it's not a necessity for every-day cooking -- but vintage pieces are not hard to find. I spotted these at a local antiques shop. Each piece was in the $20 range (though I wouldn't cook with it until I had the interior re-tinned).

Day 726's dessert

Nearly all of my childhood Fourth of July holidays were spent at my grandparents lake house. There was much swimming, boating, hamburger-eating, and firework-shooting, but also blueberry-picking at a nearby farm. For me (and many Southerners, I'm sure), blueberries and the Fourth of July are one-in-the-same.

Now, my granddad -- Pop -- has a yard-full of blueberry bushes that he offers up to anyone with an empty bucket to fill. The last time I checked, they were nearly in (above photo). I have go-to cobbler recipe, but this year, I think I'm going to branch out a bit. The top contenders are ...


Smitten Kitchen's Blueberry Crumb Bars


Martha Stewart's Blueberry and Buttermilk Tart


Cooking Light's Lemon-Scented Blueberry Cupcakes

How about you? Have any summer memories or blueberry recipes to share?