Pumpkin & Penelope

What could make a girls night?
Pumpkin Swirl Brownies.......
and the movie Penelope.

Step one: bake the brownies.

Step two: clean up the brownie mess.

Step three: eat the brownies
(you can get the recipe from this website)




Step four: watch the movie.


Step five: enjoy this song at the end of the movie.
(You can here the song and watch the video below)

Soup Swap

I just got back from a Soup Swap.
What is a "Soup Swap" you might ask? Well...

1. It is so fun.
2. It is so delicious.
3. You should host one very soon (because the fall is the best time for soup, don't you think).

A Soup Swap is where there are a dozen or so ladies who get together for dinner, each lady bringing a pot of her favorite soup that has been freshly made.
Everyone then has a chance to go around tasting each kind of soup to there desire.

This is what I brought...and it was a hit! So I shall share it with you.















Chicken-Apple Chili

Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds chicken tenders, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
4 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
Salt and pepper
2 apples, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 onion, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup milk
Two 15-ounce cans pinto or white beans, rinsed
Toasted tortillas, for serving
Chopped scallions, for serving


1. In a large Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, chili powder and cumin. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes; transfer to a bowl.
2. In the same pot, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the apples and onion and cook, stirring, until softened, 6 minutes; add to the chicken.
3. In the same pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour for 1 minute; whisk in the chicken broth and milk until thickened, 3 minutes. Stir in the chicken-apple mixture and beans, bring to a simmer. Serve with the tortillas and scallions.

**Much thanks to this chef.

memo

memo to self:
next decorating project = wallpaper made from old books

*taken from this blog: I ett litet hus

Second half

Here are some more photos from my

"Picture Day" with Katherine.




The picture above was taken by Katherine.

Ode to Disney

If you know me, then you know of my complete
love and faithfulness to Disney.
So, in light of that, I will give you these photos
taken by Annie Leibovitz.

Rachel Weisz as Snow White.

David Beckham as Prince Phillip (from Sleeping Beauty).

Jessica Biel as Pocahontas.

Giselle Bundchen as Wendy, Tina Fey as Tinkerbell,
and Mikhail Barishnykov as Peter Pan.

Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella.

And if you are a fan like me, then you can go to this website
to see other photos like these.

A walk in the park(s)

Today my friend Katherine and I spend the morning being creative. We visited the many state and city parks around where we live to take some fall pictures. And regardless of the drizzly weather we had a wonderful time.

I think that Bearch Trees are one of my favorite trees.
As a kid they served as a toy, wasting away many hours with friends playing "Rainbow Brite" with it's provision of "starsprinkles".
(Only a few will know what I really mean).

Walking the leaf scattered paths.

Catching the fallen leafs float by on the river.

Here is a picture of my friend Katherine.

This is the film from one of the cameras that we used.
I will display more from our second camera later.

Cranberry Bliss

My sister and I started a recipe exchange about 6 months ago.
I would email her with a recipe that I liked or that I recently tried
and she would reply with a recipe from her stock.

Two days ago she emailed me with the recipe
for these little bits of bliss.
If you are a fan of the Starbucks version,
then you will definitely like these.

Cranberry Bliss Bar

For Cake Base:

• 2 sticks of butter -- softened
• 1 and 1/4 cups brown sugar-- packed
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 and 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup minced dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup Lindt or Perugina or other quality white chocolate -- coarsely chopped

For Frosting:

• 4 ounce cream cheese -- softened
• 1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 Tablespoons butter -- softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
  
  

For Garnish:

• 2 Tablespoons minced dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup white chocolate chips
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9x13 pan.

Beat butter and sugar together for the cake base, and add eggs/vanilla beating until fluffy. Sift together flour, ginger, and salt and then add to the butter/sugar mixture beating well. Fold in the cranberries and chocolate. Spread thick batter in pan and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden.

When cake is cooled, mix all frosting ingredients together and spread a thin layer over the cake. Immediately sprinkle with the minced cranberries. Then use a cake decorating bag of melted white chocolate with a tiny decorating tip (like the size used for writing on cakes) and drizzle the chocolate over the cake.

Cut this into bars immediately because the white chocolate hardens pretty fast and makes cake cutting messy.

**Thanks you Jillian for this recipe.

My choice

If you are a fan of Project Runway like I am, then you most likely watched the season finale last night. And I am so happy that my choice from the beginning (Leanne) won!

Here are some of the finale outfits that she designed....my favorites.

Heaven

If you have not already checked out this blog:
a picture is worth a thousand words
then you must go view it right now.
This was one of their latest posts
and it took my breath away when I saw it.
This is heaven to me.

Stewart + Brown

I found this new collection while browsing today.

Present...for me?

Pictures will soon follow.
But you can go here
to get an idea of what is
hiding beneath this artsy
envelope from Sweden.

The end.....

of my summer flowers....
has just occurred to me today.

My poor fading plant.












But my day got better...
once I saw this movie.

Lavender Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup oats
1/3 cup chopped almonds
½ tsp edible lavender buds
1 egg
1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp pure vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl combine the flour, oats, almonds and lavender and set aside.

In a smaller bowl whisk together the egg, yogurt, honey and vanilla extract. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir together with a large spoon or your hands until the dough comes together.

Pat the dough into a squares directly on the parchment paper, cut through with a sharp knife into 9 pieces and bake for 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake or you will end up with rocks under your teeth. Let cool and break the squares apart. Feel free to use a scoop and make drop cookies instead.

Serve with fresh whipped cream. If you serve plain then the breakfast bars tend to be a bit bland. But with the fresh cream (or even vanilla yogurt and some dried fruit of your choice), it adds some sweetness.


I woke up this morning and was itching to try this recipe.
I am glad that I did....It's a keeper!

And finaly it's the weekend

I haven't had much to talk about this week.
I haven't taken any photographs.
Haven't cooked anything new.
So I will leave you with a few....

photos from my last October walk.....

.....apple pie that was baked yesterday.....

.....booked that was finished last week.....


(I am now reading "Love in the time of Cholera")

.....play that may good friend Katherine and I
went to see 8 days ago.....


.....and my hopes of a fun filled weekend.

October Walks

One thing that many don't know about me
is that I love taking walks. Especially in the fall.

Here are a few photos of the walk Micah and I went on today.

Iceland?

Do you remember 5 years ago, when New Zealand was the destination in which everyone wanted to go. You know, right after the move Lord of the Rings had been released. Well, I am beginning to think that Iceland is the new New Zealand. Everywhere I turn I am seeing pictures of Iceland, hearing music from Iceland. And I can see why everyone is infatuated by it. Here are a few of the amazing things that I have found that have come from that Northern Country.

I just got the new October issue of Antropologie.
The whole issue was photoed in Iceland and has a very magical feel.

This is an album I recently found.
Their name is Parachutes.
They are from Iceland.
They sound amazing.
And they are touring with Sigur Ros.
You can check out their song "Your Stories" here,
and even download it for free.


Speaking of Sigur Ros, if you have not heard their song Fljótavík,
you must listen to it.
They are Icelandic too.

Breakfast at dawn

Micah and I woke up yesterday and had breakfast together, something that we are trying to do more and more. There is just something so calming about watching the sun rise while quietly eating breakfast.



Banana Crunch Muffins

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 extra-large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 bananas)
1 cup medium-diced ripe bananas (1 banana)
1 cup small-diced walnuts
1 cup granola
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well. Don't overmix.

Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper liners, filling each 1 to the top. Top each muffin with dried banana chips, granola, or coconut, if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan, and serve.