Fall in Love With Fall

Ahhhhh!!  It finally feels like fall up here in the Northeast.  It may have been a cool, rainy, and somewhat uncomfortable day for some, but I am just enjoying the fact that my favorite season is once again here.  I am also pretty excited that I am headed home tomorrow night and looking forward to trying something along the lines of a pumpkin baked good :)

Another thing fall gets me excited for is, of course, the holidays!!  I know that you all probably do not want to hear anything about snow, cold weather, Christmas, or anything of the sort but, as it turns out, there are only 87 days left until Christmas.  Around early September I started listening to Holiday music so I am well prepared to start off the holiday season.  Not to mention all the baking and all the posts I can do!

Sorry for the short post, but I am headed to bed!  Have a fabulous Friday all!

Lazy Tuesday

So Tuesday is my busy day (contrary to the title) with four classes, gym time, and homework all squished into the 16 hour block that is my day.  By this time at night, it's time to relax! 

I was thinking today, how surprisingly easy it can be to eat healthy in this day and age compared to even a few generations ago.  Now, I LOVE food.  There is nothing wrong with loving every aspect of a chocolate cake or a Thanksgiving diner.  However, I also enjoy being healthy and eating smart.  Everything is fine in moderation in my view.  How cliched is that? But no, really!  All you see these days are articles on what not to eat, not what you can eat and still feel good about yourself.  So, in my humble opinion, eat what you want (again in moderation), exercise regularly, and keep up on your sleep and you can lead a very healthy and still pleasurable life style.  I just know that I would be miserable if I had to give up cake and iced cream for the sake of following some strange fad diet.  In many of my recipes, you will see that I make some substitutions.  Usually I will put these as a side note, and you are more than welcome to just ignore it.  I promise though, the recipes I put up, I have tested with the substitutions and I wouldn't put them up if they didn't work! 

Have a good Wednesday all! Hope to post again Thursday :)

French Toast Sunday

Yesterday was my parent's 29th anniversary and since nobody was home yesterday, I made French toast this morning.  On  my way home from school Friday, there is a very small bread shop, all made in a house (I know; people still do that?!).  Anyway, she has all sorts of different kinds of bread and though I know her cinnamon raisin bread is to DIE for, I wanted to try something new.  Walking into the bread shop was like walking into heaven.  I would pay big for my own house to smell like that.  Perfect air freshener.  I spot exactly what I was looking for.  She has the mini loaves sitting there temptingly on her shelf.  Besides the cinnamon raisin, plain, and asiago cheese, there was maple walnut as well as cranberry orange; both of which I got.  Might as well have variety!
So! They turned out wonderfully and I think the overall favorite was the maple walnut bread.  It just seemed to work better with the maple syrup... I'm thinking next time I may try making a fruit syrup like cranberry maybe?  Anybody have any good recipes for that?

Made the trek back up to school and all I want to do is sleep for the next week or so.  Trying to battle the startings of a cold.  I'm hoping that if I will it away, it will just leave...I'll let you know if that works.

Hope youhad a relaxing Sunday all!

Rainy Day and Quilting Stores

So, I'm sorry to all of you that like this delayed summer weather up here in the Northeast but I, however, am all but thrilled about it.  It was rainy this morning only to lead to a rather hot and sticky day.  To me, fall should be crisp, cool, with a hint of musk in the air, better to enjoy sweaters, hot cider and cozy gatherings around the first fires of the season.  Call me sentimental, but that's what this time of year is all about.  Enough with the humidity please, Mother Nature.  Even just a little cooler would be much appreciated! 

Today was the annual Seacoast Shop Hop in the quilting and crafting world.(www.seacoastshophop.com) Besides having a lot of food at each shop, they also were doing raffles, having sales, and just in general enjoying the company and enthusiasm of other quilters and crafters alike.  I know that this years shop hop is almost over (tomorrow being the last day), but it was a lot of fun and I highly recommend going to future events!  Not to mention, you can get a nice jump on holiday sewing where a lot of these shops are now getting in their fall and winter fabrics!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Saturday!

Fridays are Awesome!

Does anybody else agree with this statement?  I think it's a well known fact that Fridays are indeed second only to Saturdays on the awesomeness scale. Home for the weekend and I couldn't be happier.  I even got to make my own food tonight!  Ever tried grilled pizza? It is deliciousness defined, I have to say.  It's so easy too!

Grilled Pizza

One package of premade dough cut into fours (or make your own, either way)
Sauce and any other toppings (cheese, onion, peppers, pepperoni etc.)
Olive oil
Extra flour
Cookie sheet

Cut the dough into fours for four personal size pizzas.
Flour dough balls and start to stretch them in small, pizza style circles.  This might take a few cycles, especially if the dough was refrigerated and really cold. 
After the dough is stretched, put a little more flour on so they don't stick and place them on the cookie sheet.
Coat one side with olive oil and place oil side down on a preheated grill on High. Now coat the other side with oil.
Wait until it starts to bubble up a bit and get puffy (about 2-3 mins)and flip it over with tongs.
Add your toppings to the already cooked side and close the top of the grill.  You can turn the heat down to medium/low so the crust doesn't burn.
Give it about 2-3 minutes or however long it takes the cheese to melt. 
Pull it off the grill, cut it up and enjoy!

Awesome Apple Pie Muffins

Fall is, by far, my favorite season all year.  Everything about it makes me happy.  Being a sophomore in college in an exceptionally pretty area of New Hampshire is one of the best ways to enjoy the changing weather.  Leaves are beinging to change and though it's raining, it cannot dampen my spirits about the beauty of fall.  One of my favorite activities in all of life is apple picking.  There is simply nothing I can complain about when it comes to the sweet smell of apples in the orchard or the juicy crunch of the first bite! And apple cider; liquid happiness. No contest! It has always been a family tradition and am I happy with just one apple picking weekend? Of course not! At least two or three weekends every fall have to be somehow related to apple activities; preferably more :)

A local apple orchard in full swing as you can see! Just the perfect image of fall!

So the first thing I made with some of these delicious apples were muffins to take back to school with me!  Delicious and warm way to start off a day!

Apple Pie Muffins

Topping

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Muffin Batter

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1 egg
1/3 cup oats (optional)
1/3 cup golden raisins (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or half whole wheat and half regular)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups diced firm tart apples

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners or spray with Pam, either way works (but liners are more colorful). 

Mix topping ingredients together and set aside.

In a large bowl mix together the brown sugar, vegetable oil, applesauce, egg, and vanilla. In another bowl, mix oats, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Alternate mixing in buttermilk and the dry ingredients to the wet.

After combined, fold in diced apples and raisins.

Scoop batter and fill to the top of the muffin liners.

Sprinkle the yummy topping over all muffins evenly.  Be generous :)

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.

Let cool for 5-10 minutes and enjoy!

Just a note:  The origional recipe did not call for oats or raisins so they are completely optional but delicious! You could also add any nuts you may like as well!

Recipe was based off a recipe by another blogger, a personal favorite of mine and I highly recommend her!
The Hazel Bloom

Rainy Day

Today is a rather rainy and cloudy day up in the Northeast, so what am I to do?  I guess I'll start a blog!  My love of crafting, cooking, baking, and just generally living is something I think I want to share.  Thanks to my mother, I seem to have inherited some skill when it comes to working with my hands (yay!), so I'm planning on posting different artworks, food and other crafts whatever they may be.  It may be a bit of a random selection but it all fits... sort of :)