Bourbon Pumpkin Pie

Happy (late) Thanksgiving! We celebrated on Friday this year because I worked Monday-Wednesday night…and slept all day Thursday. Fortunately, all I had to make was a pie. I decided on a Bourbon Pumpkin Pie from Serious Eats. I will admit that despite my love for all things pumpkin, I do not generally go for the pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving or Christmas. I'm very picky about the texture, and I feel like it's often lacking in excitement. This pumpkin pie, well, it's not boring.    

This is by far the most flavor-packed pumpkin pie I've ever had…and it's got a smooth, creamy texture. You can use bourbon or bourbon extract. The bourbon adds a nice depth of fall flavor with some vanilla, oak, and caramel notes. The ginger in the filling gives this pie another punch. If you're not big on ginger, I'd definitely cut the amount down…maybe add in some cinnamon. You've got another layer of flavor with the toasted chopped pecans. And then, the whipped bourbon maple mascarpone really tops it off. Delicious. 

You can snag the recipe by clicking here. I used Paula Deen's flaky pie crust recipe from her Southern Cooking Bible. If you do not have this, you are missing out. Mostly because she has written comments at the bottom of every recipe, which are very entertaining. It's like you can hear her saying what you're reading. The brother does a great impression. 

Fair warning: this pumpkin pie is quite rich. It's as rare for me to say that as it is for me to not be able to finish a piece of dessert. It's practically unheard of. Really all you need is like half a normal piece! 

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Herbs

I love spaghetti squash. It's super versatile. You can use it as a side. You can use it to replace noodles in  main dishes. You can mix almost anything with it. It's great stuff. I whipped it up as a side dish with some of my favorite herbs tonight. It tasted like fall. Yum!

It turns out, this is one of those things that can stay in the oven for a while after it's done and be okay. I had to test out my "cook time" setting tonight because I was halfway through roasting the spaghetti squash when I decided to run across town for a Sarah Palin book signing. I hadn't used the "cook time" before, but I assumed it would automatically turn the oven off when the timer was done. It works! The oven was still warm 3 1/2 hours later, but the squash wasn't over-done and the house hadn't burned down. Success!

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Herbs

1 spaghetti squash, halved and seeds scooped out

EVOO

Salt & pepper

Herbs to taste (I'm into rosemary, thyme, and sage)

Parmesan (optional--to sprinkle on top)

• Preheat the oven to 375*F.
• Place your squash on an oven safe pan, skin side down. Drizzle with EVOO. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Roast for about 1 hour.
• When it's done, remove it from the oven, and either scoop out the flesh or peel off the skin. Mix in a little EVOO or butter, along with whatever herbs you choose. Sprinkle on some parm. 

Enjoy!

{Workout Review} Ballet Beautiful

As most of you probably know, I've had some Achilles tendinitis going on. Which means I've, again, been mostly banned from my favorite high-impact workouts. Fun times… In my quest to find low-impact workouts, I came across Ballet Beautiful by Mary Helen Bowers. I read about it online. It happened that the local library had a couple of the DVDs (although you can find several of the workouts online). I figured I might as well give it a shot. Like, what's the worst that could happen? 

It could kill me. That's what. I'm pretty sure I took more breaks (doing the beginner version) than I did when I started Insanity. I didn't exactly break a sweat, but I was weeping. Ballet Beautiful is (obviously) a ballet-inspired workout. It hits your core, arms, butt, and inner and outer thigh. Most of what I tried out was mat work (a.k.a. torture). And it worked my muscles in ways they haven't been worked in a really, really long time…maybe ever. I've had pain I didn't know existed. 

What you need to know- Ballet Beautiful is completely portable. No equipment. No shoes. Very little space. There are several shorter (10-15 minute) workouts on a DVD, so you can keep it short or do them all. It's great for getting toned, long, lean muscle. There is zero impact. Lots of repetition.

Overall, I think it's a really nice compliment to what I like to do. It's a challenge. However, I don't think I could do it solely for any length of time. I like my craziness too much. At this point, I'm mixing it in with a couple of Les Mills Combat workouts that I can keep low-impact, Zumba, and Yoga. Fortunately, the tendon is getting better. I'm hoping it's 100% by the time P90X-3 is released!  

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

I love any reason to make cake, and today is the mother's birthday! Score! There were several recipes to choose from, but the winner was this Chocolate Pumpkin Cake with chocolate ganache and pumpkin whipped cream from i am baker. By the way, i am baker is one of my favorites for sweets. Great stuff. I'm generally against cake without frosting. I don't see the point. However, this cake is definitely the exception. The cake itself is perfectly moist. The pumpkin whipped cream is spectacular. And how can you go wrong with ganache? Deliciousness.  

I didn't really change anything from i am baker's recipe. My cake is just round instead of square. Mostly, well, all because I don't have a square plate…and a square cake on a round plate would really mess with my OCD. Here it is:

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

For the cake:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 TBSP vanilla

4 eggs

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cups AP flour

2/3 cup cocoa

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

• Preheat the oven to 350*F and prepare two round or square baking pans.
• In a small bowl, mix together the pumpkin and buttermilk.
• In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, powder, soda and salt.
• In a mixer, beat the sugars, butter, and vanilla until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. 
• Alternating, add the flour mixture and pumpkin mixture to the sugar mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix for about a minute on low, until fully combined.
• Divide the batter evenly among your pans. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Let cool in the pans about 10 minutes before inverting one onto your plate or cake stand, and the other onto a cooling rack or whatever you want to use!

For the Ganache:

12 oz Velata milk chocolate

6 oz heavy whipping cream

• Place your chocolate in a heat-safe bowl.
• In a small sauce pan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from heat and pour over the chocolate.
• Mix together until smooth. Let it sit for just a few minutes to thicken.
• Pour over the top of each layer of cake. Spread to the edges &/or let it run over the edges. Let it sit for at least an hour.

For the Pumpkin Whipped Cream:

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1-2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup pureed pumpkin

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp all spice

• In a small bowl, combine pumpkin and spices. Mix together.
• In a mixer, beat the whipping cream on medium-high until soft peaks are formed. Add 1 cup of the powdered sugar (1/2 cup at a time). Mix until combined.
• Fold the pumpkin mixture into the whipped cream.
• Beat in the remaining powdered sugar (1/4 cup at a time) until the desired texture is reached. I ended up using a total of 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar. 
• Let it chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

When you go to assemble your cake, I recommend using placing straws through the whipped cream and bottom cake layer to support the top layer. It'll keep the top layer from squishing out all the whipped cream!

Enjoy!

Decorating for Thanksgiving

My work week begins tonight, so I spent last night doing crafty things and decorating for fall. Yes, fall. I guess really more like Thanksgiving, if you want to get technical. I have many friends who have already decorated for Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas. But I feel like the time between asking strangers for candy and telling Santa about all the things you want is quite overlooked. 

And there's so much to be thankful for… Friends & family. Football is in full swing (although I wish my Sooners would play). NBA is revving up. Starbucks has red cups. I got to go to Zumba last night. And then tried out some Ballet Beautiful. Edy's has there slow churned egg nog ice cream out. It's appropriate to wear sweaters, boots & scarves. And I know there are many, many other things…but I've been awake since 11 AM yesterday… 

So, decorating for Thanksgiving. I obviously hit up Pinterest for some inspiration. I checked out Hobby Lobby, but they literally have like 1/2 an aisle for fall. The rest is Christmas. I knew I wanted to get a couple candlestick things to set little pumpkins on. There were a couple I liked at Hobby Lobby, but even 1/2 off, they were $15-$20/each. I found these at a thrift store for $2:

Ugly as all get out, but paint can do a lot of things.

And, of course, there were no little pumpkins left at Hobby Lobby. I found these at home. Apples & pears are fall-ish fruits, right? I got some supplies to make a banner for the mantel. I already had paint & twine at home!

Ta-da! I would like to possibly add some colorful ribbon between the letters, but this will do for this year. I made a template in Pages and traced around it on the burlap. Cut out the pieces. Stenciled on the letters. Hot glued the twine on back. It's really handy having a reclaimed piano thingy as a mantel because it has these knobs that made it super easy to attach the banner. 

I don't really know how I feel about scarecrows, but this guy was another $2 thrift store find…so, why not?

Here's the whole picture. I'd like to add something to the wreath (next year). The milk can at the bottom is a family heirloom, filled with wheat from the family farm. Score. 

And then there's, Tom. I grabbed him for under $9 during Scentsy's Monster Monday Sale. You can grab yourself one by clicking here! 

Now, I should really go sleep before heading into work this evening. Hope everyone has a Happy Hump Day!

{Snack Time} Apple Dippers

I can't say that I've been cooking a lot lately. I'm all about what's basically ready to eat. Food that someone else makes for me is even better. So, I thought I would share one of my new favorite snacks. It's incredibly easy. Super yummy.  

Just mix up about 1/3-1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt with a spoonful of peanut butter, a splash of vanilla, and a dab of honey or agave (I don't always do this). 

I like to dip granny smith apple slices in it, but I'm sure other apples or fruits would be just as tasty. I just prefer some crunchy tartness! 

Hello, Night Shift.

I switched over from days to nights the last week of October. I've gotten a lot of questions about how it's going, what's the difference, is it hard to stay awake, etc. I'll say it's literally as different as night and day. I think it's been easier to have charting done by shift change. The craziness is more at the beginning, with some "chill" time from midnight to 4, and then things pick up again. At this point, I think I still prefer the steady craziness of day shift. Overall, things are going well… The other night nurses are great. And I only have one week left on orientation!

The adorable 31 lunch bag from my coworkers!

Things I've learned…

• I can't eat vegetables & hummus in the middle of the night. These had been staple parts of my lunches. I also had generally been packing like a meat & cheese sandwich. But I can't handle the smell or taste at 2 AM. So now all I eat is a PB&J sandwich. Sometimes applesauce. 

• I don't have problems sleeping during the day… but I also can no longer sleep at night. Even on my days off. And being awake during the day is extremely challenging. I'm dead until like 3-4 PM. Maybe I'll just become a night lifer. It's amazing how much you can get done at night. Seriously. Try it. 

• A major pro is that I can wake up at like 4 and get in a quick workout before going to work. Whereas that would never happen before a day shift. It's a great start to the evening! 

In the words of a fellow night nurse:

"I sleep when I can. Eat when I'm hungry. 
And that's all I know."

I worked Halloween night. It was super fun to be able to dress up. And I've always wanted to be the Pink Power Ranger. Shout out to the mother for making covers for my Ugg boots!