FRIDAY FAVORITES.... The BIGGEST PUMPKIN EDITION

Oh my goodness you guys, the first three days of this week were literally picture perfect Fall days; crisp mornings, and daytime in the sunshiny 60s! I was hoping for that weather this weekend as we are on our leaf touring vacation but as in most years, rain and winds that make the rain sideways are predicted up north. We shall make the most of it since it includes a fall parade, lots of hot cider, pumpkin donuts and seeing the big pumpkins! Heck, knowing how adventurous Mr. Nine and I are, we may even go for a hike in the rain! See Last year's adventure HERE!

1. Giant Pumpkins
Kids, per my Front Porch, you know I love pumpkins! And I especially love a giant pumpkin contest! I am probably viewing the biggest pumpkin in our Lake Michigan town as we speak! Here are some of the winners from the past! Love having my picture taken with the big ole pumpkin!!

2. Boy Time
It is now rare that I will have all three of my boys’ home at once so I will take any opportunity with any of them whenever I can get it even an extra son or two! One of our boys was home for Fall break this past weekend and brought along a fraternity brother with him! We had a ball doing all the family things! We even topped off my home cooked Sunday meal with pumpkin spice ice cream from our new local creamery!

The RECIPES for the chicken and Potatoes is HERE

3. Week's Attire

Top HERE // Bralette HERE // Shoes HERE

I got a little excited over this dress on my Insta Stories this week, lol. Um, because it’s Sam Edelman and only $10!!
Dress HERE

Top HERE // Skirt HERE// Boots HERE

4. Rust Bat Wing Sweater

Of course, I’m loving my porch for pumpkin picture opportunities but when I can go to a local town and find cute pumpkin displays that makes me happy too. Here is one of my pretty new bat wing sweaters in the rust color (I showed you HERE last week) at a cute display in a local Amish town! 

BUY SWEATER HERE // Similar Booties HERE & HERE // Grey Jeans HERE

More Inspo

5. Misc. FUN
Post of the Week
Monday ~ Amazon Fall Purchases

Wednesday ~ The Pink Blazer I had to Have and Link-Up

Pumpkin Recipes

For you pumpkin lovers, I’m so sorry I haven’t been doing any pumpkin recipes. Remember my Pumpkin Palooza? So, I thought I would compile a few of them just in case you’re needing something sweet and pumpkiny! And don't forget when I rated the Pumpkin Spice Products!

From Top Left Clockwise:
PUMPKIN DROP COOKIES W/ CARAMEL FROSTING HERE (boys fav)
PUMPKIN SPICED FUDGE HERE (so good)
CARAMEL CIDER PUMPKIN SHEET CAKE HERE
PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE MOUSSSE PIZELLES HERE

THREE CHIP PUMPKIN COOKIES RECIPE HERE

(one of my most popular pumpkin recipes) 

PUMPKIN SPICE WHITE CHOCOLATE CARAMELITAS RECIPE HERE (my fav)

PUMPKIN SNIKERDOODLE MUFFINS RECIPE HERE

BAILEYS PUMPKIN HOT CHOCOLATE HERE

HAVE THE BEST FALL WEEKEND!!!! 

Linking up with  Friday Favorites  // High 5 For Friday  

xoxo

BAILEYS PUMPKIN HOT CHOCOLATE

Get Cozy with this warm deliciousness! So, you know I do love some pumpkin but not in your face overly clovey nutmeg overdosed pumpkin but mild flavored light on the cinnamon pumpkin, lol. So, this light on the sweet hot chocolate with my beloved chilly season Baileys is just what the Doctor Andrea ordered! Tasty! And I promise no more Pumpkin Recipes til next Fall. Grab a cookie and a mug and sit with your thoughts, a book, a friend or your favorite TV show! I drank one of these about 8pm one evening and slept like a baby! 

Cutest little napkins are from Home Goods.

What you'll need

Baileys Pumpkin Hot Chocolate 

INGREDIENTS 

2 oz white baking chocolate

2 oz milk chocolate (I used chocolate chips)

1 3/4 cup Milk 

1/3 cup pumpkin purée 

1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

3 oz Baileys Irish Cream Liquor

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Whipped topping and

Pumpkin pie spice for garnishing. 

DIRECTIONS

In a small saucepan, combine chocolates and milk over low heat until the chocolate is melted. Whisk in the pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and Baileys and whisk for a minute. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla. Serve immediately with whipped cream and sprinkled with pumpkin pie spice. Serves 2. **Of course you can totally omit the Bailey's and just have a pumpkin Hot chocolate, maybe replace it with a little heavy cream or Half-n-Half.

Gotta Have the Whip!

HAPPY TASTY AND THIRSTY FALL TUESDAY

Linking up with   Metamorphosis Monday //

xoxo

THREE CHIP PUMPKIN COOKIES

Here we go! Recipe number two for the Pumpkin Palooza. A couple months ago, our local grocery store had Nestle baking chips for only 99 cents each, no limit. So you know I had to stock up for the Fall and holiday baking season! 
Yum  

The thing was my local store was out of the "good chips"....you know the milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate ones. However, on a bottom shelf, a bag caught my eye that said "Triple chip." Yeah, getting them for under a $1, I'll take several bags of those!! 

How excited was I to deliberate pumpkin cookie recipe ideas and decide to throw one together with these new triple chips!

What you'll need

TRIPLE CHIP PUMPKIN COOKIES
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup pumpkin purée 

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 (10 oz) bag Nestles Triple Chip Morsels 

DIRECTIONS

Please note this cookie dough does take two hours of chill time in the fridge. First, mix melted butter, pumpkin purée, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl and mix until combined. Continue mixing in the vanilla and egg yolk. Add the baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger and mix until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Slowly  mix in the flour until a smooth dough forms. Stir in the chips. Preheat your oven to 350°. Place 2 tablespoons of cookie dough on your cookie sheets. Bake each sheet for 12 to 15 minutes until the tops are no longer shiny and the bottoms start to brown. Let them cool completely before removing. Store in airtight container. But they won't last long!!

I'm Still thinking about how GOOD these were!! I've got many more bags of triple chips...cookie time ON!!

Linking up with Creativity Unleashed // Two Cup Tuesday // The SITS Girls // Snickerdoodle Sunday // Dishing It & Digging It // Feathered Nest Friday // Weekend Potluck // Pretty Pintastic Party // Metamorphosis Monday // The Scoop // Flaunt It Friday // Best Friday Features // Try It Thursday // Let's Look

xoxo

PUMPKIN SNICKERDOODLE MUFFINS

Ahhh My friends, are you ready to get your great pumpkin on? Today begins the beloved Pumpkin Palooza 2.0. Today and for the next two Tuesdays, I will feature some of my own delicious pumpkin concoctions. Yum  

Over at The Blended Blog, I am featuring all my recipes from last year's Pumpkin Palooza. Three unique and Fabulous recipes for the Fall at all my fellow pumpkin lovers delight. My dear friend Amanda, who's posting a little Pumpkin Palooza of her own today, even hosts a Pumpkin Palooza Fall Party every year!!! Makes me want to fly right down to North Carolina and see my lil sis!!

So, first up we have The Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Muffins! Let me tell you how this recipe came about. During my early 4-H years, one of the categories I was always entered in was Foods. Imagine that? Anyway, during year two, the request of food had to be a muffin. My mom and I found a recipe for these amazing Yam muffins and they were a blue ribbon winner! Enter in a few years later in six grade when I knew I had to do something to soften the stern Home-Ec teacher. The first thing tackled in that class with Baking so I decided to bring her some of my delicious Yam muffins. She loved them, requested the recipe for the whole class and from that day on, I was one of her pets! LOL!

Another favorite thing to bake growing up was snickerdoodles, my mom made the best! So as I was I was reminiscing about these two things, the Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Muffins were born! All I did was substitute pumpkin for the canned Yams in the recipe. Wa-La!

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Muffins

INGREDIENTS 

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup white sugar + 1 Tbsp. 

2 tsp. Baking powder 

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Cinnamon, divided

1/4 tsp. Nutmeg

1/2 cup whole milk or buttermilk

1/2 tsp. Vanilla

1/2 cup pumpkin purée

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 egg

DIRECTIONS 

Preheat the oven to 400°. Grease the bottoms of a 12 medium muffin pan. In a small bowl, mix the 1 Tbsp sugar and a 1/2 tsp of the cinnamon, set aside. In a liquid measuring cup break the egg and add enough milk to equal a half cup, then add the vanilla, stir well. Pour into a medium mixing bowl and add all the remaining ingredients. Mix until the flour is just moistened. The batter should be lumpy. Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full and sprinkle each with a 1/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Immediately remove from the pan.

AND In case you missed it, yesterday, I posted my 

RATE THE PUMPKIN SPICE TREATS Post.

Linking up with // Tasty Tuesdays // Tuesday Talk // Wonderful Wednesday's Blog Hop // Full Plate Thursday // Tickle My Tastebuds Tuesday // Creative Muster Party // Wow Us Wednesdays // Thursday Favorite things Blog Hop //Best Of The Weekend// Handmade Hangout // Share It // Grace At Home // Creativity Unleashed // Two Cup Tuesday // The SITS Girls // Snickerdoodle Sunday  // Weekend Potluck // Pretty Pintastic Party // Metamorphosis Monday // The Scoop // Flaunt It Friday // Best Friday Features // Try It Thursday // Amaze Me Monday // Cooking & Crafting with J&J

xoxo