It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Finally! I've been dying to get the Christmas decorations up forever and now, the time has come! The tree is trimmed, the mantel is festive and the outside of the house is glowing! To avoid shocking the wallet, we didn't go too crazy this year and instead focused on the tree, mantle, and outside lights. I'm pleased with the outcome but I'm certainly already thinking about all of the things we can add to our collection next year!

AEM

Gingerbread Biscotti

I was dying to make some cookies and Dad just happened to request some cookies for Thanksgiving. Perfect timing and I get to try out a new recipe!  Note to self: while checking to see if your cookies are done because you forgot to set the timer, DO NOT touch your arm to the pan! Just a little burn to remember the day by!


Gingerbread Biscotti

3/4 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup molasses
3 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease two baking sheets.

2. Beat together the butter and molasses until light. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
3. In another bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, all the spices, and salt.
4. Mix the dry ingredients into the molasses mixture.  
5. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 equal portions. Shape each portion in to a slightly flattened log about 5-inches by 8 inches.

6. Place 1 log on each of the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 25-30 minutes. 

7. Lower oven temperature to 300 degrees. Remove from oven and place baking sheet in a wire rack to cool 15 minutes.

8. Using a serrated knife, cut into slices. Place the slices cut side down on the baking sheets.

9. Bake 12-15 minutes, turning biscotti over once during time. Cool on wire rack. I made about 2.5 dozen.

And just for good measure, 4 dozen pumpkin chocolate chips! The last batch of the season.



AEM

Pumpkin Pancakes

No, you can never have too much pumpkin! It's delicious and nutritious and versatile! I had a little bit of leftover pumpkin in the fridge from the pumpkin/gingerbread dessert and decided the best way to start a Saturday would be with pumpkin pancakes!

Here's how it worked for me...I plugged in my griddle and got that heated up to about 375 degrees and sprayed a bit of cooking spray on it. Then I grabbed my favorite pancake mix which calls for 1 cup of mix and 3/4 cup of water for 2 servings.

Pumpkin Pancakes

1 cup pancake mix

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

2 tablespoons sugar (that pumpkin doesn't taste good alone on a Saturday morning!)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

about 1/4 to 1/2 cup water...until it's about the consistency of pancakes

Mix all of the ingredients together and pour your favorite sized pancakes onto the griddle. I found they took a little longer to cook than normal pancakes because of the moisture added by the pumpkin.

No pictures but trust me, they are delicious. Even Mike, who's not a big pumpkin guy, said "Now THIS is how I like to eat pumpkin!"

AEM

Pumpkin Gingerbread Layered Desserts

For months I've been eyeing this Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle on Food Network and I've been dying to give it a try. One night while walking through the grocery store I had a brilliant idea and I was inspired. I decided to make mini-Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifles. LOVE this one.


Mini Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifles

1/2 cup pumpkin puree
Dash or two of cinnamon
Dash of pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup Light Cool Whip
10 Ginger Snaps
2 plastic cups

1. Put 10 gingersnaps in a plastic bag and crush. Put half in the bottom of each cup.
2. Mix pumpkin, spices, and 1/4 cup cool whip. Taste the pumpkin and if it's not quite sweet enough, ass a teaspoon of sugar.
3. Using half the pumpkin mixture, split evenly between the cups on top of the gingersnaps.
4. Using half the remaining cool whip, split between the cups and layer on top of the pumpkin.
5. Repeat layers using remaining gingersnaps, pumpkin mixture, and cool whip.
6. Refrigerate at least 6 hours. I prefer overnight which allows the gingersnaps to soften slightly and almost turn into gingersnap cake.

AEM

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ah yes, this is what I wait for all year, large quantities of my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. About 3 years ago I came across a recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and I believe this was the beginning of my pumpkin obsession. Baker beware, these "cookies" are very moist and fluffy and more like a muffin top than a cookie. I think they are best when kept in the fridge. Also, all those times your mom told you to be careful of the lid on a freshly opened can...yea, I should have listened. Bumped that little lid with my finger and you would have thought I hit an artery! Luckily no blood got into the butternut squash soup or the cookies! These cookies are the highlight of my fall and I change the recipe a smidge every time I've made them. Here's this year's version. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup applesauce (you could also use vegetable oil)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 
  
• 1. Combine pumpkin, sugar, applesauce, vanilla, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.

2. Add chocolate chips.

• 3. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet. The cookies won't spread or change shape as they bake so if you drop a big sloppy blob on the tray, that's what you'll get when you pull it out of the oven! Also, I kind of drop the entire tray of batter on the counter before baking. Bake at 365 degrees for 12 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

I made a double batch and got exactly 6 dozen.

Mike's Rating: 4 out of 5 stars. "Mmmmmmm"

Original recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-III/Detail.aspx

AEM

Butternut Squash Soup

Our journey through fall continues with butternut squash soup. We were looking for something interesting and different for dinner but I was feeling lazy and didn't want anything complicated so we settled on giving butternut squash soup a try...even though we don't like soup! As usual, this was an interesting experience...one of the squashes was crying or something as I cut it and started sweating squash juice. No matter how many times I washed my hand, it was coated in a layer of squash tears which made it hard to moved my fingers right! I had to take a scrub brush to my hand, twice!


Butternut Squash Soup
1 butternut squash
1 apple
1 yellow onion
2 cups chicken stock
cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic to taste
olive oil
salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut sqaush, apples, and onions into about 1-inche cubes. Toss in olive oil and some salt & pepper. Put onto sheet pans (I used 2 pans and covered them with foil and a bit of cooking spray). Cook for about 40 minutes or until soft.

2. Once veggies are tender, puree in food processor with chicken stock. I did 1 tray of veggies and about 1 cup or so of stock at a time. Once done mashing, place in pot to heat it back up, add the remaining chicken stock and salt & pepper to taste.

Mike's Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars. "That was good, I could do that again. I'm not sure what it takes to get to a 5 but that was pretty close."


AEM

Christmas Eve Invite

It's our first Christmas in our new house and I couldn't be more excited! We invited our families to celebrate Christmas Eve with us and I whipped up some little invitations and packed up some of the pumpkin chocolate chip biscotti I made the other day. I also made some almond biscotti and threw some of those in there too. It's not too fancy because each little package has to travel across the country but I wanted to mix Christmas with fall (to prove I wasn't nuts and actually knew what time of year it is!). They should be arriving any second now!

Here is a copy of the invitation:

Almond & Pumpkin Biscotti and Invite, pre-wrapping

Invite and wrapped biscotti

All my little ducks in a row!

AEM

Pumpkin Pasta

Let's continue with my pumpkin obsession (ok, truth be told, I needed to use the rest of the pumpkin from last night's biscotti.) We like to eat pretty healthy so when I make dinner, I try to keep things interesting but also healthy without sacrificing flavor. On the menu for tonight: Pumpkin Pasta...Lesson learned tonight: if you're not paying attention, you may bump the pan and burn your finger! Oops!

Pumpkin Pasta

1lb of chicken
1 cup of onions
1 tablespoon of garlic
1/2 can (about a cup or so) of pumpkin
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 can reduced sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons skim milk
1/2 box penne pasta (we like the Barilla Plus)

1. Cook chicken however you choose. I bought tenderloins, diced them, and cooked them on the stove over medium-high heat. Set off to the side.
2. Saute onions in olive oil until onions become translucent.

3. Add garlic, salt, pumpkin, nutmeg, chicken broth, and milk to onions. Simmer until sauce starts to thicken.

4. Add chicken to sauce and continue to simmer until sauce thickens to your liking.

5. Cook pasta according to directions.

6. Serve pasta with chicken and add a touch of Parmesan cheese if you wish.

Mike's rating: 5 out of 5 stars "Very good. We should have it again. I wouldn't want it every night but it's a good change of pace." Personally, I thought it was missing a layer of flavor, it needed a touch of something, maybe red peppers, not sure yet...

AEM

Pumpkin Biscotti

I am obsessed with pumpkin so when fall rolls around, I get pumpkin crazy. Imagine my delight when my cable/phones/internet crashed and I had to go work at Starbucks on the day Pumpkin Spice Latte’s (although I get the Frappuccino version) came back. It was a glorious work-from-Starbucks day! A few years ago I started making pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (recipe to come later in the pumpkin-season!) and I was hooked. 2011 will mark my 4^th year of delicious pumpkin cookies so I decided to kick it up a notch with pumpkin chocolate chip biscotti. I’ve never made biscotti before but it seemed easy enough so last night, while Mike was out of town, I decided it was the perfect time to give it a try. Here’s how it’s done with a few of the lessons I learned:

Pumpkin Biscotti

3-1/2 cups flour

1-1/2 cups brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup solid-pack canned pumpkin

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

¾ cups mini chocolate chips (I used 1 cup...that was too many! I always forget that those mini chips go a long way!)

1.      Preheat oven to 350-degrees F and grease 2 large baking sheets.

2.      In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spice.

3.      In a small bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla.

4.      Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until well combined. I used my stand mixer. The dough will look crumbly but will ball up nicely.

5.      Knead in the chocolate chips.

6.      Place dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into 3 equal portions. Shape each portion into a slightly flattened log about 3-inches by 12-inches.

7.      Place logs 3-inches apart on prepared baking sheets. They will not rise and spread like cookies.

8.      Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and place baking sheet in a wire rack to cool 15 minutes.

9.      Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.

10.  Transfer each log to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch slices. Lesson I learned the hard way: don’t saw the logs like a loaf of French bread! Your little biscotti pieces will only break if you saw at them. It took me an entire log to figure this out…just put the serrated knife where you want it and press down, saw at the very end if need be.

11.  Place the biscotti on their side on the baking sheets and bake 10 minutes, flip and bake another 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Mike Scale: 3.5 out of 5 stars "Excellent, pumpkin makes me want a coffee or some hot cider!"

AEM

Change of Direction

Hello faithful followers! All 16 of you!

It's been awhile since we've last chatted with each other. Ash, Kady, and I LOVE this blog and love YOU! Our lives have been so busy over the past few months with some great times (weddings, engagements, sun tans, comedy shows, trips) and some of the hardest times in our lives (Love you always Grandpa, Number 1 always!)- but the three of us have stuck together and made it almost 3/4th of the way through 2011!

Now, we've done alot of "soul searching" about this blog. We felt like it was at a stand still. I mean we've got plenty of funny stories to share, but is it really enriching our followers lives? Are we really doing something to help the blogsphere? We got to thinking about our passions and hobbies and we kept coming back to the same thing...FOOD!

But not just food, while we do love to eat it, our idea took on a new direction: fun new recipes, cute ways to present party appetizers, decorating for holidays and parties, fun invitations, party planning and hosting, the latest fashions, do it yourself projects, and the list went on. Our idea went out of control! But so are we and that's the new direction we've decided to take this blog. Don't worry, we'll still be our funny selves and we'll blog about all the mistakes and laughs we've made along the way to helping us all become the Ultimate Hostess whether it's for a night with the hubby/boyfriend, cocktails with friends, or a Holiday party!

We'll also be re-do'ing the look of the blog so be on the look for some exciting changes and make sure to give us your feedback! Who knows? This could be the start of the "Keeping up with KAK" book series and accessory line! Watch out Martha! Here we COME!

Ciao yall!

Kristin

Black Bean Brownies

Yep, you heard me right, BLACK BEAN BROWNIES. I did it. I had to, I felt I had no choice. I saw this article: Naughty Foods Made Nice and being a self-proclaimed baker, I had to try it...once I stopped feeling nauseous. I googled it first, of course, to see if this was a ridiculous joke or a tree-hugging hippie idea trying to pass for something tasty and healthy. Everyone claimed it was great and you couldn't taste the difference and how could "everyone" be wrong?

So...I did it. I went to the store and I bought myself a box of brownie mix and a can of black beans. I rinsed the beans, put them back into the can, filled the can with water, and dumped them into my mini-food processor. Then I pureed. I had to stop myself from gagging as I took the lid off to examine my mashing. I ended up with this purpley bean juice. I shook my head, shrugged my shoulders and told the dog "welp, here goes nothing" and added the bean juice into my brownie mix. It smelled like brownie mix and beans and I was feeling queasy but my pan was greased and it was too late to turn back.

I poured the batter into my pan and stared at the spoon and bowl, the best part of brownies. The only reason I make brownies is so I can lick the spoon when I'm done. But alas, today was not a spoon day. I took one, small cautious lick and much to my surprise it tasted like brownie. Mentally I had ruined the experience because my brain kept repeating "black bean juice" over and over again and the spoon and bowl ended up in the dishwasher instead of my tummy.

Into the oven the brownies go as I take a look at the box to examine the stats of my new brownies. Packed with fiber and protein, I cut the calories and the fat! But was it worth it? 20 minutes later the house began to smell of brownies! 30 minutes later the timer went off and I stuck a knife into the center to see how we were looking (I'm out of toothpicks). I tasted the little bit of brownie on the knife. It tasted like brownie!

A while later it was time for dessert. Mike knew nothing of my nonsense and I decided only to tell him dessert was healthy tonight. He looked at me funny and said "...brownies?!..." I added some blueberries and a dollop of cool whip, still fearful we'd have beany brownies. One bite in and I was amazed. Mike gobbled it down and told me he liked it. I ended up telling him my secret and he was shocked but instead of being disgusted told me "there were really good!"

I'll probably never trust another brownie again but, in all honesty, I think I'd consider doing it again. They REALLY don't taste any different from normal brownies and I'm always very skeptical of "healthy alternatives". Try it if you don't believe me!

Street Lights....People

Ahhhh Saturday, I look forward to you all week. You allow me to eat, drink (Dark & Stormy followed by Absolut & Fresca), and be merry and you don't judge me. You let IU lose a bullshit game by 1-point, that Mr. Saturday, is unforgivable. You helped me file my tax return and because I'm not pleased with the amount you're giving me back because the government screwed me yet again, I'm choosing to not submit them quite yet. You let Mike light the grill with the lighter instead of the electric starter and forced me to learn what burnt (arm) hair smells like. GROSS!!

Street lights and people! DON'T STOP BELIEVING!

That being said, let's give it up for Journey on this lovely Saturday evening!

Blog Block 2011

Hello Faithful Followers!

It's been way too long since I have graced the blogspere with the very intuitive yet sometimes meandering anecdotes of my life. As I sit here with my trusty DC and Cap and try to make it happen (pun totally intended!), I can't seem to find my wording! Almost as bad as a girl with her uncle at a bar (see: Jersey Shore, Season 3, Episode 3 - too bad for Vinny!), I've got a big block! A big, fat BLOGGING BLOCK!

Now don't get me wrong, 2011 has been great so far! VERY busy - lots of fun: lots of GT basketball games, a comedy show, babysat Bentley, Supper Club, great family time, many fancy vendor dinners, great TV (Bachelor, Shore, Bones, GG), on-boarded Facebook (buy virtual goods on your T (NYSE) mobile bill!), spent 21 days straight with KT$, and the list goes on and on and on. So even though I can't seem to find anything to write about, I'm going to share some of my new findings in 2011!


Favorite New Line: "I'm a blast in a glass!"
Favorite New (who is actually OLD) Band: Train (not really, this one is for Brad Womack!)
Worst day of adult life thus far: 1/18/2011 - Regis Philbin announced his retirement
My Most Debated Potential New Couple: Blan or Dair (Bland or Dare?) = Blair and Dan...will they really go there? The Queen Bee with Lonely Boy?
Favorite New Goal: To win a drinking competition at Club Med like Jane Velez-Mitchell
Favorite New Touching Quote: "It's been 28 years and it was the biggest thrill of my life." - Reeg
Favorite New Moment to Look Forward To: LAS VEGAS! The A in KAK's Bachelorette! WHO LET THE DOGS OUT...Zack Galfanakis, anyone? Word of the wise: we won't be doing any Jager shots from fully bearded men...it'd at least have to be Makers!
Biggest Disappointment in 2011: AJ is back in rehab. Don't mess up my show man.
Proudest Moment in 2011: Kirk Dumont and all of his awards!


I wonder if anyone shares these sentiments above. Let me know what your new findings of 2011 have been so far!

Again, thanks for keeping up with KAK, followers! Forcing myself through this blog block has actually helped! Now I have a few ideas for upcoming posts. Here are a few teasers to keep you interested!

- Ice Storm 2011 - Atlanta Style
- My review of the Bachelor
- Goals for Vegas!

Till next time...

Ciao yall!

Kristin

2011 is off to a quick start!

Saddle up, it's GO TIME!!!

The year has just begun and I'm hitting it head-on! Started the year off right with a trip to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando to watch a devastating loss by MSU; halfway through the game, I actually thought I was in some awful dream and I would wake up soon and everything would be different...no dice. Besides the horrendous score a great time was had by all!

The wedding is now about 4 months away so we're in full wedding-planning mode and finally nailing down (aka driving everyone crazy with) the details. On a related note: we're also planning a big weekend trip to Vegas - Mike for his Bachelor Party and me for my Bachelorette Party. It should be complete awesomeness, given everyone survives...luckily what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas (well maybe it stays in Vegas and on the blog)! Also, I need to really buckle down and figure out our trip to Hawaii for the honeymoon. 

Mike and I are going to IU in about week to catch a basketball game (my secret trick to get him really sucked into IU basketball. You've gotta go see a game in Assembly Hall to really fall in love) and hopefully meeting up with some old friends from IU and MSU. Including KT!!! 

And as if that's all not enough, we're also stalking every neighborhood in the area for houses that are for sale, hoping to find/buy the perfect starter home (with a pool and plenty of guest rooms of course!!)

All I can think is...what the hell am I going to do with my time when June rolls around? I'LL FINALLY HAVE A FREE-AND-CLEAR CALENDAR...yea right! haha

...I think I need a personal assistant. My goal in 2011 is to survive and have a good time...sounds totally do-able! What's on tap for you this year?

What annoys you?

I found the second half of this article REALLY amusing and VERY true so I had to share...

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/05/the-notebook-hazardous-to-relationships/?hpt=C2

Happy New Year!!

2011 should prove to be a very exciting year for all of us! Good luck to everyone in all that you do this year! Make it a good one!!