Why do my parents do this to me?

Poor Asa - his snowsuit is on order but the snow already came...Naphtali came up with the idea of plastic bags for his legs so here he is....

It actually worked really well and he had a blast!

GIveaway at TRG Prints

Head on over to my dad's blog and enter to win this print!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 on the plane

relaxing with Poppy

Nicole's Baby Shower

Last week (on the night of the incredible wind storm!) Paige, Naphtali and I threw a shower for our friend, Nicole, and her adorable little girl, Quinn. I'm afraid I only got a couple pictures.

We did chocolate, pumpkin, and strawberry cupcakes for it!

Quinn's sure a cutie!

Baking Buddies

Fall (a little late!)

Our maple out back was just glowing all fall long - I kept meaning to post pictures so here they are now that snow is covering everything...

Recipe Review: Alton Brown's Pomegranate Jello

(picture from Food Network)

So when we saw this on Good Eats we were really excited about the potential of a jello replacement (and especially something with pomegranate!) for the typical 50's one at Christmas, but this was disappointing.  Which is surprising because we typically love Alton Brown's recipes.  Asa and I tried it out while Mike was gone and it turned out brown, super rubbery, and pretty flavorless.  Waste of expensive POM.  Asa, however, enjoyed eating millions of pomegranate seeds.

CSN Giveaway!!

Head on over to my design blog and enter to win a $35.00 gift certificate!!

My Favorite Butternut Squash Soup

(picture and recipe from MyRecipes.com)

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family yesterday since everyone will be out of town. I made this for the meal - it's my favorite butternut squash soup recipe yet. And it's really easy! Especially if you have a Stick Blender. This might just be my favorite kitchen tool. It doesn't have to be that expensive and it saves a ton of time and mess. You can blend soups, sauces, smoothies directly in the pot, bowl, or glass!  Here's the one I have.  Although we bought this one for my mother-in-law one with lots of attachments and those are pretty handy!

The recipe is from Cooking Light and I like it even without the half and half. I typically add only 1/2cup.

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 5 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled russet potato (about 12 ounces)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups sliced leek (about 2 medium)
• 4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 12 ounces baguette, cut into 16 slices
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
• 3 tablespoons chopped chives
• Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Preparation

Preheat broiler.

Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add squash, potato, salt, and pepper to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Add leek; sauté 1 minute. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender, stirring occasionally. Place half of potato mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining potato mixture. Stir in half-and-half. Cover and keep warm.

Arrange bread slices in a single layer on a baking sheet; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Broil bread slices 2 minutes or until golden. Ladle 1 cup soup into each of 8 bowls; top each serving with about 1 teaspoon chives. Serve 2 bread slices with each serving. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper, if desired.

Mushroom and Fontina Quiche

We tried this out for Sunday brunch along with the Ham, Leek, and Three Cheese Quiche but the Mushroom was definitely my favorite.  I made both crustless - for one, because I hate crust and it hates me but also because we were having muffins and coffeecake and I thought we had plenty of bread.

I just greased 9in pie plates and poured it directly in without altering the recipe (other than substituting some sharp cheddar in the Ham and Leek one).  It came out great!  Easy, yummy, crustless quiche! (I didn't take a picture so the photo is from  Epicurious, Bon Appetit).

• INGREDIENTS:
• 1 refrigerated pie crust (half of 15-ounce package) - left this out
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 2/3 cup chopped shallots (about 3 medium)
• 5 cups sliced assorted mushrooms (such as chanterelle, stemmed shiitake, oyster, crimini, and button; 12 to 14 ounces), large mushrooms halved - we used shitake, crimini, button, and portabello
• 4 large eggs
• 2/3 cup half and half
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups (packed) coarsely grated Fontina cheese (about 7 ounces), divided
• 
  

Preheat oven to 450°F. Unroll crust completely. Press firmly onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter deep-dish glass pie dish. Bake until light golden brown, pressing on sides of crust with back of spoon if crust begins to slide down sides of dish, about 17 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.

Meanwhile, melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots; sauté until beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms; sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté until mushrooms are tender and beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer to plate; spread out to cool slightly.

Whisk eggs, half and half, milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and nutmeg in large bowl to blend. Stir in 1 cup Fontina cheese and sautéed mushrooms. Pour filling into crust. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese over quiche.

Bake quiche until puffed, golden brown, and just set in center, about 45 minutes. Cool 30 minutes. Cut into wedges.

Halloween Fun

Superwoman and Kenneth from 30 Rock at the Fall Carnival

We found Liz Lemon!!

Asa is extremely into hats right now.  He had to wear his cowboy hat over to Grandma and Grandpa's for Halloween Hamburgers.  (One of my favorite traditions for Halloween!) Thanks Mom!