Chocolate + Hazelnut = Heaven

Yes. I licked that spoon. 

So yesterday I was flipping through my Cooking Light magazine and stumbled upon a recipe for Triple Hazelnut Truffles. jaw. drop. I didn't have time to make them before work so I dipped a fork in nutella and a slice of fudge and decided that was enough. These truffles were going to happen.

I got off from work a bit early and went straight to the grocery store to pick out the things I needed - cocoa and Frangelico.

Triple Hazelnut Truffles

3 tablespoons Nutella
2 1/2 tablespoons Frangelico (hazelnut-flavored liqueur) - I actually bought Bailey's hazelnut liquor (its New!)
1 tablespoon light-colored corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash of salt
5 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped salted hazelnuts, toasted

1. Combine the first 6 ingredients in the top of a double boiler. Cook over simmering water until chocolate melts (recipe said 2 minutes, it took me closer to 5), stirring constantly. Spoon mixture into a shallow dish. Let stand at room temperature 6 hours or up to overnight.

    if you are impatient like me you can pop it in the fridge for an hour and then leave it on the counter for another thirty and then do step 2
2. Scoop about 1 tablespoon chocolate mixture with a spoon. Dredge in nuts; roll into a ball. Repeat procedure with remaining chocolate mixture and nuts.

I had never toasted hazelnuts before and I really didn't think to look it up

I just popped them in the pan and kept shaking them over the heat, They started to crack and the brown skins (is that what they are called?) started to come off. Then I popped them into the food processor and they were all crushed and ready for chocolate!

If you don't like hazelnut, you should just skip this recipe but if you eat nutella out of the jar like me some people then these are an easy people pleasing dessert that you must try!

Hot n Juicy - Restaurant Review

Ok, so I am by no means a food critic, but I do know good food and I like to help people out when they are trying to find something new to try out. Hot N Juicy Crawfish is a must-try place if you love seafood.

The moment you walk in you are completely engulfed with the smell of the seasonings. It is intoxicating.

And for those of you in Florida - You're in luck! There is one in Orland, FL!!

You order the crawfish, crab, and/or shrimp by the pound, picking your seasoning and heat level. Went we went, we ordered 2 lbs of crawfish and 2lbs of shrimp with the Hot n Juicy seasoning (a blend of all the seasonings: Louisiana Style, Juicy Cajun, Garlic Butter, and Lemon Pepper) at Spicy heat.

The waitress told us the crawfish were  live  fresh, in the back. When they came out they were piping hot and insanely juicy (hmm, see where the name comes from?). 

There are no plates here - just the bib they give you and your hands. Oh, and a few napkins (we went through half a roll)

Oh, those fresh raw oysters were pretty darn delicious too

It is really a fun dining experience. How many times can you say that?
I am positive we could have killed a clan of vampires with our breath from all the garlic but since we ate it together we couldn't really tell. (ie. if you are meeting up with someone later, you should probably just bring them to eat with you so you are on the same page)

Final Damage

I cannot wait to make my next trip to this awesome place - who wants to come visit me now?

I'll be "dam" 'd

When I first got here, I remember someone who had been living here telling me "I'f I have to take one more person to the Hoover Dam I will go nuts." I didn't realize it was such a tourist thing and that people wanted to see it. It is about a 50 minute drive from my house and with all the people I have had in town, I still had never made my own trip over there. Until now.

 

What was I waiting for?!

Now, dam wise, Hoover dam is not as structurally impressive as Grand Coulee Dam. It is a lot more peaceful. However, the architecture, bridge, and surrounding area certainly give it a run for its money.

This Dam provides power for California (56%) Arizona (19%) and Nevada (25%)

The first concrete was poured in 1933. Can you imagine building something of this proportion with the technology of the 30s?  They had to build entire government camps just to house the 20,000 plus workers who came in to make this thing happen. I certainly do not envy the men who had to scale the canyon in order to remove the loose rock. 

112 men died in the building of the dam (not counting the ones who died pf pneumonia, which some say is a cover for carbon monoxide poisoning), however contrary to popular belief, they were not buried in the walls. 

The dam has been open for tourism in 1937. It closed during WWII, during days of remembrance of Presidents Kennedy and Eisenhower , and then again during September 11, 2001. 

They offer airplane and helicopter tours of the dam too, but I prefer the on-foot tour.

Apparently this is an "art-deco" style of a dam. I love that we can take something that has such a practical use and turn it into a beautiful tourist attraction in order to appreciate its architectural wonder. 

If you are driving through Arizona to Nevada, or just need a chance to recover from all of your alcohol and gambling, try and make a trip out to the dam!

Visitors!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to enjoy the time with some friends and family. I was unable to go back "home" to Florida this year because of work but my Daddy was able to come out to see me for my first Thanksgiving in Las Vegas so I can't be sad.
He and Teresa started the party before they even left Florida but thanks to Delta and their absurd delays and shitty flights they were sober when I picked them up. tourists.

This was not only my first Thanksgiving in Vegas but it was my first ever Thanksgiving without a home cooked meal. Gasp. We decided that with so many amazing restaurants having so many featured meals, we wanted to give them a chance. Not to mention it was pappa bear's first time in Vegas and we really didn't want to spend the whole day in the kitchen. I mean, it is a pretty awesome kitchen but I thought he should see the strip too. =)

We started with breakfast at the Bellagio Buffet. We heard one lady say "I've never had Thanksgiving dinner this early in the day." We looked at each other and thought, Lady, this is just the warm up, we still have dinner!.It was a pretty good buffet, however in the future I recommend Wicked Spoon at Cosmo over this one. Even Caesar's. But Dad and Teresa said the prime rib rocked and there were definitely some delicious nuggets of goodness at the Buffet. Once we stuffed ourselves to 80% capacity we decided to walk the Strip for the next 7 hours before dinner.

Bellagio

Believe it or not, it really was Dad's first time in Vegas. Crazy huh? So we tried to get as much of the Strip in as possible, by which I mean, we walked the entire strip.

#DaddysGirl

We did a little gambling.. I lost. don't ask me how much. But Dad won, that was exciting. I was his little keeper, letting him know how much he was up and when it was a good idea to stop. It worked out pretty well! We also learned how to play craps! We went to an empty table and all the dealers (are they still called that at a craps table?) taught us how to play and what to do! It was a ton of fun, I think we found our new favorite game!

After lots of gambling and lots of walking off breakfast we headed to Hash House a Go Go for our Thanksgiving dinner!

mmmm Bloody Marys

Hash House has the best bloody marys I have ever had and I was so excited for Dad and Teresa to try them!! The menu at Hash House was so good but the portions are just way too big! I had pumpkin bisque to start which was phenomenal and then a portabello "burger" with potatoes. not very Thanksgiving-y I know, but I don't eat meat so what do you want? They shared an amazing stuffed turkey meatloaf. I tried some of the mashed potatoes it was stuffed with - insanely good.

We definitely left with that "I'm stuffed" Thanksgiving feeling!

Then we needed to walk... again. So we headed over to the Venetian. They had all sorts of winter wonderland characters out in front of the hotel so I decided to take my grown-up Disney pictures, you know like the ones you have with Goofy?

They told us to stick around for the parade at 8 so we thought we would give it a shot. It was free and pretty fun to watch for a couple minutes, especially when they brought out these guys

They were so nifty on their stilts and everything, especially the ones covered in flowers.

Seriously, how cool is her face!

I like the faces and masks at the Venetian because it reminds me of all the masks I used to have hanging on my walls in my bedroom as a child, all of the ornate porcelain masks with ribbons...it really was pretty cool.

After the show we decided we were actually pretty exhausted, having been on the go for almost 13 hours and so we headed on home to get some rest for our next day of hiking. I'll post more about that tomorrow!

Crazy Baking

Ever have those weeks when all you want to do is bake?
I as a bit busy the last few days between the Pumpkin Muffins, Maple Bacon Cupcakes, Pumpkin Cookies, Holiday Squashand fudge, and peanut butter crumble and tonight.... Sweet Potato Cornbread and then Chocolate Gingerbread loaf.
I just love making food, and the more delicious that things turn out, the more I want to make!

I just keep buying sweet potatoes and so I wanted to find a recipe to use some of them and found

Gluten Free Sweet Potato Cornbread

Ingredients

3 large organic free-range eggs

1/2 cup extra light olive oil or vegetable oil

3/4 cup sweet potato puree

3/4 cup organic light brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten-free stone ground cornmeal

1 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Mix with 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon GF Pumpkin Pie Spice blend (I didn't have this so I just used Allspice and Nutmeg and Ginger, about 1/4 tsp of the second 2, 1/2tsp of the first)

Sea salt, to taste

I didn't have sweet potato puree so I just boiled a sweet potato and then popped it into the food processor to make my own puree!

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease the bottom of a 8-inch cake pan and dust it with cornmeal.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until foamy [I used my KitchenAid Stand Mixer]; add the oil; whisk again to combine. Add in the sweet potato puree and mix well. Add the light brown sugar, and vanilla extract, and mix to combine.

In a separate mixing bowl whisk together the dry ingredients: cornmeal, gluten-free flour mix, baking powder, cinnamon, Pumpkin Pie Spice blend, and sea salt.

Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, add the dry ingredients into the wet; and stir by hand just enough to make a smooth batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

Bake on a center rack in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes or so, until the cornbread is firm to the touch and golden. Check with a wooden pick, if necessary; if it emerges clean, the cornbread is done.

Cool the cornbread in the pan- on a wire rack- for ten minutes. Remove from the pan and continue to cool.

Serve slightly warm with a dab of your favorite butter or buttery spread.

And of course while this cornbread was baking I decided I wanted to make something else! I was looking for more sweet potato recipes but ended up deciding on Chocolate Gingerbread. I found a recipe for sweet potato pumpkin soup that I cannot wait to try later !

The kitchen was going nuts with the oven timer and the microwave and the mixer all going at once. It was kind of lots of fun!

Anyways, since I have made this, I keep finding myself sneaking into the kitchen to grab another bite. I meant to make it for a Thanksgiving morning breakfast snack with tea...hopefully it lasts that long!

Gluten Free Chocolate Gingerbread

don't let the gluten free scare you. seriously, it is delish.

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice flour [I use Bob's Red Mill]
3/4 cup almond meal
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 large  eggs, beaten
1/2 cup unsulphured molasses  I didn't have that so I used maple syrup instead
1/4 cup organic coconut oil
4 tablespoons non-dairy milk I used Almond Milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Unless it is already preheated from the cornbread.  Line a 9-inch ceramic loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper that rises up the long sides of the pan  (This makes it easy to pull out of the pan) I didn't have a 9-in loaf pan so I just used my mini-loaf pans. I baked them for about 35min but with a whole loaf it should be almost an hour cook time.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients- brown rice flour through nutmeg. I made a bit of a mess with this step....

Oops!

Add in the eggs, molasses (or maple syrup), coconut oil, almond milk and vanilla extract and beat well, until the batter is smooth. My stand mixer was a champ for this

Scoop the gingerbread batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake in the center of the oven. The top will crack a bit. A cake tester inserted into the center should emerge clean.

Allow the loaf to cool in the pan until it is cooled enough to handle. Gently remove it from the pan (this is where the parchment paper lining comes in handy) and continue to cool on a wire rack.

Slice with a sharp bread knife.

Wrap the loaf well for storing overnight. For longer storage, slice and wrap pieces in foil, bag, and freeze.

This loaf had a soft inside and a chewy crust on the outside, like I said, I keep sneaking in for another bite!

Enjoy Your Holiday!

It's like a Breakfast Cupcake!

Bacon dipped chocolate.

It seems to be all the rage lately. Personally, I thought it just sounded weird. But if that many people are buying and selling it, I figured there had to be something to it. I had been meaning to make a more manly cupcake and so today I decided was the day. 

I made a, wait for it, Maple bacon cupcake with chocolate ganache, maple frosting, and chocolate dipped bacon. you can let your breath out now. I can't eat them of course since they have gluten but the frosting was absolutely delish. (and I may have had a nibble of bacon in the chocolate. dangerous.)

They may sound crazy but I really think you're going to want to try these.

Maple Bacon Cupcakes 

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 4 1/2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 1/2 tablespoon bacon drippings (left in the fridge to become solid)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 5 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup
• 1 1/4 cup self rising flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup milk [whole is supposed to be the best, I used 1% because that is what was in the house]
• 1/4 cup crumbled bacon, cooked and drained 
• The rest of the bacon for garnish

1. Cook the bacon! I cooked all of it at once. Save some of the drippins' and put them in the fridge to solidify. (yah, that was definitely something that I never thought I would do - put bacon fat in my fridge)

     crumble about 1/4 cup of bacon and then save the rest for garnish

2. Beat the crap out of the butter and solidified bacon fat 'till light and creamy.  Thank goodness for my Kitchenaid Stand Mixer!.Add the brown sugar and maple syrup and beat well until combined.

3. Add the egg and beat until incorporated.

4. Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and powder together.The recipe said this was supposed to be a fine crumb. It definitely was not for me, it was very gooey and smooth.

5. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix, then 1/2 of the milk, then continue to alternate the dry and wet ingredients, ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in the bacon.

6. Now the recipe was for normal size cupcakes in which case you would want to scoop the batter into cupcake papers and bake at 350 F for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.I made mini cupcakes so I just baked them for 12 minutes.

Next I made the frosting

Maple Frosting

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup
• 1 cup of powdered sugar

Combine the syrup and butter until combined. Add the sugar, a bit at a time, and whip at high speeds until combined. Pipe or spread onto cupcakes. 

and then I topped it with the chocolate dipped bacon!!

I put a glass bowl over a pot filled with water for a double boiler. I put about 1/2 the bag of Hershy's milk chocolate chips in with a little corn syrup and a little milk and stirred until smooth. Once the chocolate melted I dipped all the pieces of bacon that I had broken up earlier. I made my pieces a bit smaller since they were mini cupcakes. The extra chocolate went straight to the cupcakes before being frosted, adding a little something extra.

Then you just put it all together.

Boom.

The roommate has eaten about 5 already and it hasn't even been 10 hours.

Some people at work were a bit hesitant to try. I tried to warn people at first because if you are expecting chocolate and vanilla and you get bacon it kind of can throw you off. One of the responses I got was "it's like breakfast....a breakfast cupcake!. you know, like when you pour maple syrup on your pancakes and then rub your bacon through the extra syrup!" I chuckled. Considering I work in a male dominated work environment, I thought it would be just the place to try a recipe like this out. I'm going to call it a success!

In other news, it is Thanksgiving week! and I have almost all of my christmas gifts for everyone bought and wrapped!

Have a wonderful week!

3 for. Recipe Post(s)

Yup, 3 for 1 recipe post!
I had another dinner party tonight so I would have more reasons to cook and have friends over of course. And tonight was full of all my favorite fall foods, pumpkin, butternut squash, and apples. yum.

I made Pumpkin Cookies.
       They were soft and chewy (looking) and I think they would be just divine in a glass of milk, which is ironic since I hate milk and I can't eat these cookies. But everyone seemed to enjoy them so by the third cookie each I was convinced they weren't "just being nice."

Pumpkin Cookies

Dry Ingredients

• 2.5 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1.5 cups sugar

Wet Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350'F and grease the baking sheets

Combine the dry ingredients first until well blended and then beat in the wet ingredients

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto the baking sheets

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until edges are firm [I did right about 16 minutes]

You could probably add a glaze to them, with powdered sugar and butter and vanilla if you were so inclined but my guests seemed to enjoy them just as is. They did look very soft and delicious...oh the gluten.

For my "entree" I made my Holiday Squash. I got the recipe out of a cookbook I bought in New Mexico a couple years ago and I have made it for every Thanksgiving and Christmas ever since. Since we aren't cooking Thanksgiving this year, I decided to give it a go.

Holiday Squash

• 1 butternut squash
• 1 cup raisins
• 2 apples, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup pine nuts [optional] 

Directions
Cook the butternut squash - I do this by cutting it in half, taking out the seeds, filling it with water, wrapping it in saran wrap and microwaving for about 20 minutes or until the squash is soft enough to scoop out with
   Somehow, I always burn my hands on this part, the scooping out...I just get too excited I guess. every time....
After that it is super easy - just mash the squash in a bowl; add all the other ingredients and mix well

Then place it all in a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes at 325'F

The recipe says that this is enough for 4-6 people but every time I make it, it can feed at least 8. It is a lot of food but pretty darn healthy when you get down to it. Sweet, delicious, and nutritious. Pretty much a win.

Then I decided to try my hand at...peanut butter. Why, you may ask, would I try to make peanut butter when there are so many affordable brands and flavors at the grocery store? When in fact I have 2 jars of peanut butter in pantry as I type? ....I really couldn't tell you

A friend recently turned me on to Peter Pan Honey Roasted Peanut Butter and I just thought I would see if I could make my own.

I looked up a couple recipes on how to make peanut butter and they basically said "put peanuts in food processor and go" easy enough. or so I thought.

In went the honey roasted peanuts I bought at the store. Process away...and....not peanut butter. I found a recipe that called for a little honey and a little oil so I started to add honey, then pure maple syrup, then grapeseed oil [because I don't have peanut oil]. Well, whatever the recipe thought I should add, they lied.

I probably added 1/4 cup of maple syrup, 1/4 cup honey. 1/4 cup oil. [That may be a little in excess] and it still didn't get that delicious creamy consistency that makes you want to spread it on a piece of toast.

It kind of reminded me of almond butter that I bought at a farmers market in terms of consistency, so maybe that is as smooth as homemade can get. I have to say, the taste is delicious. Incredibly sweet but I will definitely be putting some on my gluten free toast in the morning. Or even my oatmeal.
Maybe I will try this again...maybe not. A lot of times it is cheaper to make things yourself but I am just not sure that this is a very economical recipe....

I guess it is really 4 for 1 because I also made my Sangria. OK, maybe not really a "recipe" but it sure went fast. I don;t like those Sangria recipes that call for fruit juices and sparkling soda. Its all alcohol or nothing for me.

Sangria

I made my white Sangria tonight. One bottle of white table wine, One bottle of Champagne, and then about 1-2 tsp of cinnamon, 1/2 tsp all spice and 1/2 tsp nutmeg.
I really don't measure....I just shake and taste.
I also sliced pears, apples, and grapes to add for effect and for munching on after the wine is gone. Mmm, nothing like a good cinnamon and champagne soaked apple slice.

I had a glass left of a red Moscato wine that I just poured in as well for a little color. Tastes like Christmas...that is, if Christmas tasted like a delicious spiced alcoholic wine beverage. I am looking forward to whipping up a pitcher of my red Sangria next. It has a bit more punch to it ;-)

All in all, it was a pretty good afternoon of cooking and evening of baking.

I love having friends over to bring and share food with. I even was introduced to a new game tonight, Kan Jam. It is kind of like corn hole [or bag toss if you prefer] but with mini garbage can type bins and a Frisbee. You can see what I am talking about here.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy the seasonal food while you can!

Pumpkin Muffins

As mentioned in my last post, I am super excited about all the fall foods and baking for this upcoming season  and so I started off tonight making some Gluten Free Pumpkin muffins.

Yup, now that you see it was clearly that good, you know you want to keep reading and try out the recipe.

I don't often bake gluten free - in fact, I purposely don't cook gluten free so that I can't eat anything I make. saving those calories, bad, I know. But I have been wanting pumpkin and bread so why not bring them together in this pumpkin muffin!

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 cups Almond Flour 
• 1 tsp Baking Soda 
• ½ tsp Sea Salt 
• 2 tbsps Pumpkin Pie Spice 
• I didn't have Pumpkin Pie Spice so I just got creative on my own - 1tsp Allspice, 1tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp ginger. I think I would add an extra 1/2 tsp of Allspice and cinnamon and 1/4 tsp ginger if i were to make these again. 

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 cup Pumpkin Puree 
• 3 Eggs 
• ¼ cup Grapeseed Oil 
• ½ cup Agave Nectar
• 1 cup Chopped Nuts (optional) 
• I used walnuts and only about 1/2 cup 

So you mix all the dry ingredients together to get out all of the lumps 

Mix the wet ingredients separately and then add the dry ingredients and mix well

Spoon into 12 lined muffin cups [they will be full but I promise it makes exactly 12, trust me]

and bake at 350 for 23 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I ate mine as soon as it  cooled came out of the oven and it was soft and a little gooey in the middle. Like I mentioned in the ingredient list, I like a bit more cinnamon with my pumpkin but I have to say, these were pretty good and as for being gluten free? you can't even tell.

Guess what I just discovered? One week till Thanksgiving! How exciting!

xo

Fall Happiness

I love fall. 

And no, not just because that is when my birthday falls. I love that crispness in the air, even the smell in the air as the seasons change. There is just something about fall that brings warm fuzzies all around me. All of a sudden the things that rarely crossed your mind in summer seem like wonderful ideas. Don't get me wrong, I love my sunny days but I also love those cozy nights!

I was so excited to trade out my sweet fruity summer candles for the winter-wonderland, forest, snow, and cranberry scented candles <3

Beyond changing out the candles, some of the things I have been doing lately are

Bubble Baths

In the summer time, bubble baths are just awful because your warm before you even go in the water and then you are just stewing in stagnant warm water. There is just something to be said for a bubble bath when it is 70 degrees or colder in your house. Even better is getting out of the bath into a nice fluffy robe and getting a nice cup of piping 

Hot Tea

I have a tea pot and this awesome "tea-cup" that I got for graduation from collage from my Aunt Wendy. It is from my fav restaurant in Colorado Springs - Coquette's Creperie. You place the steeper cup in the main cup and let the tea stay for a couple minutes before taking it out and enjoying it. I love tea. Much more than coffee. But sometimes when it is so hot outside you are just not in the mood. The boyfriend bought me 6 different new teas for my birthday with two new travel tumblers and I have just been enjoying them every chance I can. 

If you have never been Teavana, you should look up the one closest to you and scoot your little behind over there to sample some teas and get some for home!

One of my other favorite things to break out are the fall and winter clothes. Scarves, Sweaters, and...

Boots

I think that I have worn boots every single day I have left the house for the last two weeks. It makes me so happy to slide my lil flippers right in there. It is a little hard to not want to buy a new pair of boots every time I go out but so far my willpower is holding pretty strong. I just feel like there is something so classic about boots with a sweater or scarf. I even wore boots out to the club last weekend with my dress!

While I have held my strength when it comes to shoes...I have had less success when it comes to...

Food

Just walking into the grocery store, I love that this time of year I am always greeted with these delicious items. squashes, sweet potatoes, apples [especially honeycrisp] and pomegranates.I literally spend an hour hours every day just looking up recipes with all the fall flavors. I think I have 6 cans of pumpkin in my cabinets right now and I have three recipes on hand for these beauties coming up soon, possibly tomorrow. I just love all the fall flavors, and especially the fall food prices! Between the food and the weather, I just always have the urge to be in the kitchen!

Holiday Parties and Get-Togethers

I just love having people over and cooking and something about fall and the holidays just makes it that much easier and that much more fun. Sangria, Pies, food, and friends. what could be better?

But if I am not in the kitchen [or sitting on the couch looking up recipes] I love just looking around outside.

Scenery

This picture doesn't do it justice because I took it with my phone. Every time I am down this street I tend to be in my car but surprisingly enough, even in Las Vegas, trees change colors. At least, some of the few trees we have. I know that elsewhere in the country/world people are enjoying even more incredible views - and I am happy to be looking at those pictures. If you have amazing views, I hope you are out enjoying them while you can!

And I am just happy that I don't have to deal with any snow. Sorry everyone, it is just not for me!

What are some of the things you love about fall?