FALL- MY FAVORITE SEASON!
I LOVE FALL! At the moment, we’ve skipped straight from ‘too dang hot’ to ‘dang, it’s COLD!’ As I type, our chill factor is 33 degrees. My poor horses’ coats are summer short and fine so I blanketed their shivering bodies this morning (Wednesday). It’s drizzly, but I wish it would go ahead and really rain. We need it badly. No telling what this abrupt temperature shift will do to the garden. Ah well, the weather usually provides a convenient condition for complaint. We’re to return to the 80's by the end of the week (much better than the multiple days of 100+). Back to loving Fall . . . Pumpkin is definitely synonymous with this season AND I happen to still have apples from our trees, so I made apple/pumpkin/pecan muffins this week. The pumpkin is from our garden a couple of years ago. It was so prolific that I haven’t needed to plant any since! They were actually Argonaut butternut squash and they were HUGE (see pic above). Of course, I had to include the recipe below. The molasses, OJ, & spices make these extra delicious!
Rich oranges and rusts are the last delightful, visual gifts of deciduous trees and bushes. I have several fused glass pendants featuring these leaves or their colors. You’ll also find some jewelry sets in these beautiful tones. As last week, anything pictured below will be 10% off for a week! A great time to treat yourself to jewelry that will compliment the change of season. Just click on the pic below for more info on that piece.
Fused Glass Pendants:
BOLO TIE:
SETS:
APPLE PUMPKIN MUFFINS
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.
Line approx. 30-36 muffin tins cup s with paper muffin cups.
Cream together:
3/4 cup very soft butter
2/3 cup white sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
Beat in with a wisk:
4 eggs
2 tbsp molasses
2/3 cup orange juice
2 cups canned or cooked mashed & strained pumpkin
1 ½ tsp vanilla
In a separate bowl mix thoroughly:
1 cup ground oatmeal (just process oatmeal)
2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
½ tsp ground allspice
Add dry to west and mix with spatula until moistened. Don’t over mix or muffins will be tough.
Fold in:
1 large apple, grated
1 cup chopped pecans
(optional - 1 cup chopped cranberries or 1 cup raisins)
Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.
Bake approx. 25 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.