Fall House Decoration

The weather has turned here and I couldn't be happier!  I like summer when it is a nice 75-80 with no humidity and a nice storm every now and then.  We did not have that at all this past summer in Michigan, and I am loving snuggling up under blankets due to the cold air coming through the windows not because of the central air (which I am very grateful to have in this house).

As soon as that chill hits, I start envisioning fall decor.  Having a new house to decorate got me reinvigorated from the past year when I was burned out from the house and ready for the move.  So, here are some of my new favorite fall things I have put up or planted this month.

Flowering cabbage...my new outdoor fall obsession.

Sunflowers from Eastern Market...love the brown ones.

My stackable designer pumpkins from Eastern Market

Various gourds in glass containers and my Happy Halloween recycled cardboard garland from Etsy Seller CardboardSheek

Pumpkin Cookies

This will probably be one of the last pumpkin related posts I do this year. I have really enjoyed trying out various pumpkin "inspired" recipes! I made these cookies twice within a week (not for just us, but my manager for a party she was having), but have not had a chance to post them yet.

I got this recipe from my friend Amy and I am so glad I got to try them. They were really good and easy to make.

Amy said they yield about 40 cookies...I made around 24 bigger sized ones. As much as I like cookies, I really hate getting them on the pan.

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

1 cup pumpkin

2 2/3 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 cup chocolate chips (I used white chocolate)

1/2 cup nuts (I used walnuts)

1 cup rasins (optional, I didn't use)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla, egg and pumpkin.

Mix dry ingredients together and sift 2 times. Then add to pumpkin mixture, mixing well. Fold in the chocolate chips, nuts and raisins.

Drop by spoonfuls on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Now, I baked mine longer because they were a larger sized cookie. Mine were closer to 20 minutes until the tops and the bottoms were golden brown.

Cool completely. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Roll Cake

This roll is one of my favorite things about fall. Now that I had all the right tools at my disposal, I couldn't wait to make this! I looked around some websites until I found a recipe that was simple enough for me to fit into my fall cleaning schedule on Sunday (sorry Paula Dean, I will try yours some day!). This one is courtesy of All Recipes.

I think mine came out OK taste wise, but I need to work on the presentation. I ended up using a jelly roll pan than what was bigger than recommended, so it is a little thin. Also, the filling doesn't go to the edges, so there is some non-filling parts. I think if I would have used the right pan size, it would have been perfect.

3 eggs

1 cup white sugar

2/3 cup canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon lemon juice

3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup chopped walnuts * (see my note below)

6 oz. cream cheese softened

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. In mixing bowl, beat eggs on high for 5 minutes. Gradually beat in sugar until thick and lemon colored. Add pumpkin and lemon juice.
3. In another bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Fold into pumpkin mixture.
4. Grease a 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour the paper. Spread batter into the pan. Sprinkle with walnuts* (I actually missed this part and added them when I spread out the filling).
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes or until the cake springs cake when lightly touched.
6. Immediately turn out onto a dish towel dusted with confectioners sugar. Peel off paper and roll cake up into towel, starting at the short end. Cool completely.
7. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, 1 cup confectioners' sugar, butter and vanilla until fluffy.
8. Carefully unroll the cake. Spread the filling over the cake to within 1 inch of the edges. Roll up again. Cover and chill until serving. Dust with additional confectioners' sugar if desired.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Work has been so insanely busy for me lately, that I have not had enough time to cook and bake as much as I was hoping to this month. So, Friday night, I sat down and looked for some fall recipes to make this weekend since we didn't have a whole lot going on for a change.

Steve and I love to go out to breakfast on the weekend. Last weekend, we went to a place our friends Lisa and Joe recommended in Ferndale (we also call Ferndale the "Breakfast Capital of Michigan"), Club Bart. I was dead set on getting pumpkin pancakes, but decided on an omelette instead. It was delightful. The place looks like a total hole in the wall dive bar, but the breakfast menu was impressive. If you are ever in the neighborhood, go check it out (Elizabeth and Paul...next time you are in town, we will go out to brunch there!). But I digress...

So, I really wanted to make pumpkin pancakes this weekend to make up for not getting them last weekend. I found this recipe on All Recipes and loved it! Full of pumpkin flavor and easy to make.

This made enough for Steve and I to have 4 pancakes each (not overly huge, maybe around 4" across) and we had batter left over for next weekend. I hope it stays good in the fridge!

2 cups all purpose flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 egg

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons vinegar

In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. (I used my hand mixer to mix it up well.

Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, all spice, cinnamon, ginger and salt. (as I am typing this, I realized I forgot baking powder...whoops. It still turned out OK for us!)

Stir into the liquid ingredients just enough to combine. (Used the hand mixer again)

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium to high heat. We have one of those fancy electric skillets, so I had the temperature at 375 if you have one of those. Pour or scoop batter onto heated griddle, using appx. 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown both sides and serve hot.

I sprinkled them with a little bit of powdered sugar per Steve's request for "presentation". :)

Apple Cake

I grew up having this often thanks to my mom making it. It is so simple and so good! The hardest part is peeling the apples. Thanks to my Grandma Van for giving me the recipe for our shower!

1 1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

3 eggs beaten

3 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups apples, peeled sliced (make them into about 1 inch in size). I used Macintosh

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 300.

Combine oil and sugar, blend in eggs. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add to oil and sugar mixture. Add vanilla extract, apples and walnuts. Place in greased 9x13 inch pan and bake for 1 hour, 20 minutes in a 300 degree oven.

Homemade Applesauce

My mom had picked up some Macintosh apples for us last weekend, since I wanted to bake apple cake. I had peeled too many for my cake, so I had to figure out in a hurry what to use them for since they were getting brown before my eyes.

I didn't want to make more sweet goodies to lay around the house and I wanted something simple. I Googled a few applesauce recipes and something similar to this one. Simple and quick. And boy was it a delight warm!

Here is my version:

4 apples, peeled cored and chopped (I used Macintosh)

1/2 cup of water

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Add apples and water to pot. Bring water to a boil. Allow to boil at a medium/high heat for around 20 minutes. Add sugar, allow it to dissolve then add the cinnamon. Stir until well blended.

Fall is arriving!

Well almost! It got really cold here in Michigan, and now the temps are back in the 80's with humidity...ick! I am ready for sweater weather. Call me crazy, but I love our 4 seasons we get in Michigan and I have just come to realize, the more you hate on one specific season (winter), the more awful it is. So I just embrace it...along with my North Face coats and Uggs!

My previous post was about my journey to Eastern Market this weekend. I thought I would share with you what I bought and the touches of fall I have begun to add around our house.

Our front yard has this light post in it, which I always decorate with corn stalks, usually a bale of hay and some pumpkins. I decided to switch it up this year with the mums since I got such a great deal over Labor Day weekend for these at Eastern Market...all 5 for $10! Woo hoo! If I kill them, I won't feel so bad! I bought the corn stalks this past weekend, 2 for $5. Gotta love<>

Next up, the interior. I got two large bunches of sunflowers for $10 total as well. Fresh flowers make me happy, but I don't like to spend a lot on them...which is why going to the Market is so worth it to me!

A small bunch in our living room:

Another small bunch in our newly painted and drywalled ceiling bathroom:

And another big bunch on our kitchen table, with some new placemats from Kohl's! I was inspired to stop by there at lunch yesterday after seeing My Happy House's cute fall table runner. I got these placemats for 50% off! Yay! Thanks for the tip Molly!

Last but not least, my favorite thing so far, my fancy pumpkins I spent at least 20 minutes trying to decide which ones to get at Eastern Market. I wanted ones that stacked just right, but weren't too big for our buffet in the kitchen. I got all 3 of these for $15 and it was so worth it! There were so many different kinds, white ones, green ones, orange with green. I highly suggest you check out your local farmers market for some of these pumpkins. They are great fall decor!