a [warm] touch of fall:: Creamy Pumpkin Pasta (&&a playlist for rainy days)

Fall is without a doubt my favorite time of year. I love the weather, the food, the music, the clothing, the movies, and the fellowships that goes along with it. I love that we already have had a dose of rain here in Los Angeles, and i hope that it stays crisp and cool.
Below the recipe I listed my [rainyday] playlist. I love driving in the rain listening to good music :)

There was no better way to welcome in the first day of fall than by making a dish with pumpkin.
I love pumpkin in desserts, but this is the first time I ever cooked it in a main course dish, and it was fantastic. All the flavors melded together perfectly, and it looks and tastes like fall. I don't have a picture of the completed dish, because I was too hungry to stop and snap a photo of the final product. You'll just have to make it an see for yourself ;)

CREAMY PUMPKIN PASTA:: 

Recipe amended from www.momadvice,com

+ 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

+ 2 T olive oil

+ 1 pound chicken breasts; cut into long, thin strips

+ 2/3 C pumpkin

+ 2 C organic, no sodium chicken broth

+ 1/4 C half and half

+ 1/2 C sour cream

+ 1/4 t nutmeg

+ 1 t kosher salt

+ 1/4 t white pepper 

+1 t ground sage

+ 2 t fresh, flat-leaf Italian parsley

+ 1/4 C shredded Romano cheese
+ 1 Pound Penne Pasta 

I.Saute the garlic and olive oil in a large iron skillet over medium heat. Add in the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through; about 6 minutes. Remove garlic and chicken from the skillet, place in a bowl, and set aside.
II. Pour the chicken broth into the pan and deglaze the pan, using the wire whisk, until all the flavors have been brought up.
III. Whisk in the half and half, sour cream, pumpkin, and seasonings until all the elements are blended. Simmer for 10 minutes. 

IV. While the pumpkin mixture is simmering, cook the penne pasta until it is the texture you prefer. Drain the pasta and stir it into the skillet with the pumpkin mixture. After the pasta is evenly coated, stir in chicken and garlic. Allow the pasta to continue to cook until the sauce has thickened. Stir in the parsley.

V. Plate the pasta and grate the cheese over the pasta.

tips&&tricks:

     :: don't even think for a second about substituting black pepper for white pepper. They may have the same name, however they are not related. The white pepper adds a great hotness, that adds to the flavor, but doesn't overwhelm the dish. perfection.

       :: you don't have to use chicken, you can completely leave it out, making it a vegetarian dish, or use any sort of meat of your choice. I wouldn't recommend using a red meat or any type of seafood, however. Stick with white meats like chicken, turkey or even pork, or a type of sausage.

P.S.

[rainy+day] playlist::

Artist | song [s]
Jamestown Story | Ashamed
Barcelona | Pease Don't Go

Owl City | Plant Life / How I Became the Sea

The Band Perry | If I Die Young
John Mayer | Dreaming With A Broken Heart / Half of My Heart / No Such Thing / My Stupid Mouth / Heartbreak Warfare
Mark Ballas | Light On (HurtLoveBox version)

Maroon 5 | Just A Feeling / Won't Go Home Without You / Sunday Morning 

Keane | Somewhere Only We Know

Katy Perry | Not Like the Movies
Kill Paradise | Beautiful Color

Lady Antebellum | Just a Kiss / American Honey
Lifehouse | Beautiful
Lykke Li | Possibility
Bobby Darin | Beyond The Sea
Michael Buble | Save the Last Dance For Me / Feeling Good / Home / L O V E / Everything
Mumford and Sons | Awake My Soul / The Cave / Little Lion Man
Nat King Cole | L-O-V-E

OneRepublic | Apologize
Panic! At The Disco | Sarah Smiles
The Pussycat Dolls | I Hate This Part
Rob Thomas | Ever The Same
The Rocket Summer | Save
The Script | Talk You Down / Before The Worst
Taylor Swift | Enchanted
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross | Hand Covers Bruise / In Motion
Adele | Set Fire To The Rain
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zero | Home
Greg Laswell | Girls Just Want To Have Fun
Goo Goo Dolls | Better Days / Iris
Ellie Goulding | Lights
Frank Sinatra | Fly Me To The Moon
The Lion King | Can You Feel The Love Tonight? / The Circle of Life
Death Cab For Cutie | Summer Skin
Muse | Guiding Light

{Pumpkin Pie} Milkshakes

I love pumpkin pie. Frankly, Thanksgiving wouldn't be the same without it! A few weeks ago a friend of mine told me about this cute little blog, that had a pumpkin pie milkshake recipe. It seemed simple enough, so today I decided to make them!!! They turned out delicious, and they were definitely better than any store bought pumpkin shake. If you're in need of a last minute, simple dessert for Thanksgiving, this will work just fine, its yummy and comes together in about 15 minutes :)

enjoy!!!

INGREDIENTS:

~ 1/3 cup canned pumpkin

~ 1/4-1/2 cup milk

~ 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

~ 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

~ 1/16 teaspoon cloves

~ 1/6 teaspoon nutmeg

~ 2 tablespoons brown sugar

~ 2 cups vanilla ice cream

~ 1-2 graham crackers 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Put everything in the blender except ice cream and graham crackers; blend well

2. pour mixture into a large bowl, and mash together with ice cream

3. pour evenly into glasses.

4. Crumble graham crackers and top each shake with about a tablespoon.

tips&&tricks:

     ~start with 1/4 cup milk and add more if your blender needs it to process everything.

     ~leave ice cream in freezer until you're ready to add it to the pumpkin mixture. The colder it is, the thicker the milkshake. Also when mashing it into mixture, add ice cream as needed in order to make the mix a thick creamy consistency.

XO

B

{Thankfulness}

You know that saying "count your blessings?" Well, honestly I don't think I can count that high!!! The past few weeks I have come to realize so much more, just how incredibly blessed I am, and how much I have to be thankful for!! Before this summer when I got saved, Thanksgiving was just a day to look at all the things I had that helped me, and eat lots of food. But this year the true meaning of Thanksgiving has been made clear to me!!! It shouldn't just be the one day of the year we say 'thank you,' but should really be a picture of our attitude and lifestyle; one of gratitude and thankfulness. Grace and blessings definitely do abound in my life, and here are just a few of the things I and especially thankful for :)

I. My Family:

I am so glad to have a family who loves me and cares for me. I definitely don't deserve them, and no matter how hard things get, the Lord provided them for me, because he cares for me!!! WOW.

II. My Friends

I am SO overly thankful for these girls in my life. The Lord has graciously places many other brothers and sisters in Christ into my life that are a blessing to me. They love the Lord and pursue him, AND encourage me to do so as well. Again, I don't deserve them at all, but still grace abounds. 

III. My Salvation

Last, but definitely the most important thing on this list is Jesus Christ, and our relationship! He looked upon my sinful, sad condition and extended his great love to ME. Because he sent his Son to die on the cross, and bear the punishment for my sin, I can be made alive in Christ, and am no longer enslaved to sin. I can not begin to explain how thankful I am for this. No words can describe. I love my Savior, and his blood has washed me clean. Thats all that matters. 

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." ~ Ephesians 2: 4-10

This year for Thanksgiving my family and I are going to Arizona for 5 days. I am very excited to get out of California, give thanks to the Lord, see my uncle, visit with friends, and eat TURKEY! I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family or friends!! See you when i get back :)

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." 

Psalm 100:4

xo

B

Homemade {Caramel Apples}

My mom and I have always loved caramel apples from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. They are in one word: divine.  A couple weeks ago with Thanksgiving and Christmas fast approaching I wanted to try to make my own, so i wouldn't have to shell out $8 if i had a caramel apple craving. Making them seemed simple enough, so i decided to do some research. All the recipes I found online involved melting pre made caramels.  I turned to a friend's mother, Mrs. Harasick (who's blog you can find here, she is a cooking genius), who led me in the direction of a recipe involving heavy cream and sugar.  

After four batches of caramel, 2 pints of heavy cream, and 9 cups of sugar, I got it right! The first recipe was bitter and more of a sauce than something to dip apples in. I didn't heat the second recipe hot enough. I got the third one the right temp. and color, but it was bitter again. Finally on the last batch I added vanilla to the final product, and ta da! The sharp edge was replaced by  creamy, gooey, caramel perfection. This recipe is definitely easy to make, and only costs about $8 for 6 apples. Not bad for a gourmet desert :)

INGREDIENTS:

6 granny smith apples

1/2 cup water

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

6 popsicle sticks

DIRECTIONS:

~ Wash and dry apples. Insert popsicle sticks 1-inch in the top of each apple.

~ Pour water into a medium saucepan. Then carefully pour sugar into pan, and without touching the side of the pot, press the sugar under the water.

~ Place saucepan over high heat and bring sugar to a complete boil.

~ Reduce heat to medium-high heat and let sugar simmer, undisturbed until golden brown (8 minutes, and mixture will be between 300-350 degrees)

~ Remove from heat and add cream. Mixture will sputter. Add vanilla and stir.

~ Pour mixture from saucepan into a small ceramic bowl, and cool 5 minutes.

~ Dip and swirl apples until mostly covered. Place apples on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. 

~ Place cookie sheet in fridge for 10 minutes. Remove and let apples sit at room temp. until set. 

~ Remove from cookie sheet and store in an air tight container.

I dipped my set caramel apples in dark, semi sweet chocolate and then rolled them in pecans.

Or you can just do plain chocolate!

tips&&tricks;

    -Be very very very VERY careful when working with caramel. Its about 3x's hotter than boiling water.

    - When you pour the caramel from the saucepan to the ceramic bowl, IMMEDIATELY wash the bowl with hot water. Caramel turns into super glue, and you might have to toss the pan if your'e not careful!   

enjoy.

xo

B

{Serendipity} Frozen Hot Chocolate

If I had to pick my favorite thing about fall&&winter time, I would definitely choose the food. Something about the the weather, music, and just overall "cuddle" feeling, makes food taste so much richer around this time of year. I absolutely adore it. Well, the past few winters many of my friends would talk about "frozen hot chocolate" and what a wonderful concoction it is. So last night I looked up the original recipe from Serendipity in New York. It was simple, and turned out really yummy. 

INGREDIENTS:

~ 6 pieces (1/2 oz) chocolate, a variety of your favorites

~ 2 teaspoons store-bought hot chocolate mix

~ 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

~ 3 cups ice

~ Whipped cream

~ Chocolate Shavings

DIRECTIONS:

Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Place it in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted. Add the hot chocolate mix and sugar. Stir until completely melted. Remove from heat and slowly add ½ cup of milk until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

In a blender, place the remaining cup of milk, the room-temperature chocolate mixture and the ice. Blend on high speed until smooth and the consistency of a frozen daiquiri. Pour into a giant goblet and top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

tips&&tricks:

     ~for the chocolate shavings, simply take a chocolate bar, zap it in the microwave for 5-10 seconds, and use a vegetable peeler to create shavings.

     ~ in addition to chocolate shavings to top the whipped cream, you can also crush peppermint on top for an extra treat. Or add a tablespoon of Starbucks peppermint syrup to the frozen mix to make frozen peppermint hot chocolate. 

Enjoy!

XO.

B