Flavor of the Month - Pumpkin

As part of my Birthday Goals (#22 to be exact), I decided to participate in "Flavor of the Month" from a blog I read regularly. Every month, Bridget, from Bake at 350, lists a "flavor" and then participants make something that fits in with that flavor. The Flavor of the Month for October is pumpkin.

I love pumpkin and pumpkin pie is my very favorite (its even been my birthday "cake" request on several occasions). I enjoy making pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread - but that's been the extent of my cooking with pumpkin. For my first Flavor of the Month attempt, I wanted to try something different. Actually, I thought of making something with pumpkin that isn't a dessert. I knew I could make a pumpkin soup, but that didn't seem very exciting. As I flipped through my "Taste of Home" Thanksgiving Edition recipe magazine, I found what I wanted to make: Pumpkin Patch Biscuits.

Biscuits are tasty - but they aren't technically a dessert, so I was happy with my choice. This afternoon, I whipped up some Pumpkin Patch Biscuits. They were very easy to make and they smelled wonderful. As soon as they came out of the oven, we sat down and ate them! Nothing compares to fresh, warm biscuits. They were delicious! They would have been good as a side dish or served with a soup, but we ate them all alone! I also decided that I wanted a hint of the regular spices you taste with pumpkin pie, so I made a spiced butter. We devoured the warm biscuits with spiced butter...nothing too sweet, just delicious! I will probably make these biscuits again in the near future.

I think my Flavor of the Month came out great! I look forward to participating next month too!

Recipe #2

Last night I made my second Comfort Food recipe. Mushroom & Cauliflower Cheese Bake. It didn't turn out as good as the first recipe and it didn't quite look like the picture in the book, but it tasted fine and we ate it all. (It seemed to be healthy so we told ourselves it was OK to eat the whole thing!) Bill's verdict for this recipe was "good". Not the resounding success that we had the first time, but I'll take it. Especially since I know there will be worse recipes ahead! Enjoy the pictures.

The First Recipe

Last night, I started another item on my list (my birthday list, in case you don't know). #9 on my list of Birthday Goals is to cook thru an entire cookbook. When I made this goal, I knew exactly which cookbook I would use. Its called Comfort Food - I received it last year and have used it once or twice. It is a great cookbook with some really good recipes in it. It also has a lot of variety and it isn't huge (both of which are important for cooking all the recipes in one year!). I sat down this week to figure out exactly how many recipes there were and how often I would have to cook to get thru it. There are a total of 67 recipes...not too bad. Of course, with any cookbook and my individual tastes, there are bound to be a few recipes that I just don't like - at all! I'm sure they are great recipes and other people would probably love them, but I just can't do it. I also think I should be entitled to a few "skips" if I'm cooking thru an entire cookbook. So, I settled on the arbitrary number of 5...I am authorized to skip a total of 5 recipes in the book. That leaves me with 62 recipes in 1 year...I'm going to be busy.

The recipe I started with was chosen mostly because I already had the ingredients. I didn't want to make any special trips to the grocery store last night, so I started out with Salisbury Steak.

I've never made salisbury steak before but it turned out ok. I followed the recipe exactly, even though it was a little different than the few times I've eaten salisbury steak. Bill really seemed to enjoy it and said he is looking forward to the coming year and all the tasty meals. I asked him to describe the first recipe in this venture to cook thru the cookbook and he said: "Success". So, I guess that's it...1 down, 61 to go.

before

after

Happy Birthday #30

Today is my 30th birthday. I don't feel 30, but I guess I don't really know what its supposed to feel like. I wanted my birthday to be super special, to do something historic, something worthy of the big 3-0, but I couldn't think of much. I finally settled on making a list - yes, I love lists! I decided to make a list of things to do in the next year...30 things to do. (I wanted to be cute and say it was "30 things to do in my 30th year of life", but I guess I'm starting my 31st year so its too late for that.) Instead, I just made a list of 30 things I want to do this year. I'm 30 years old now so I should be able to handle 30 goals.

It was harder to make the list than I thought it would be. I wanted to include things that were realistic...that I could actually accomplish. But, I also wanted to include things that were not ordinary...things I would have to work a little harder for or that held extra importance. I also wanted to be sure the goals were fairly specific so I would know when to cross them off the list! Not everything on the list is new - some of these things I've done before and want to do again. Other things are first timers and probably won't be done ever again!

I hope to accomplish everything on my list in the next 365 days. I'm even going to laminate the list and post it above my desk so I can be reminded to work on my "Birthday Goals" throughout the year. As I accomplish the things on this list, I will try to write about them on my blog so you, my faithful reader, can follow my progress. (I'm sure you will be on the edge of your seat all year!) I noticed that quite a few items on the list have to do with either food or travel, so it should fit in nicely with my blog title. Also, I noticed that nothing on the list had anything to do my job or work....hmmm, interesting! So, without further ado, here is my list:

30 Things
1. Go on a cruise
2. Make donuts
3. Start an herb garden (and keep it alive!)
4. Send homemade Christmas cards
5. Learn all the U.S. Presidents, in order
6. Go to the dentist
7. Read the entire Bible (chronologically)
8. Watch all the Lord of the Rings movies in one day
9. Cook thru an entire cookbook
10. Buy an exercise bike (and use it!)
11. Go whitewater rafting
12. Read “The Path Between the Seas” by David McCullough
13. Go to Costa Rica
14. Volunteer for something at church
15. Get a second pet
16. Watch the entire Gilmore Girls series with my husband
17. Cross-stitch something
18. Write a letter once a month
19. Learn how to make pesto
20. Paint a picture (paint-by-numbers is good enough!)
21. Make a will
22. Participate in “Flavor of the Month” on my blog
23. Exercise twice a week (at least)
24. Go camping on Anderson Island
25. Save enough for a down-payment to buy a house
26. Make shrimp or scallops for my husband
27. Go snorkeling in the Atlantic Ocean
28. Go snorkeling in the Pacific Ocean
29. Host a Murder Mystery Dinner
30. Make an address list in Access (a really good one)

I have had a wonderful 30th birthday! My amazing husband bought me donuts for breakfast, Peruvian food for lunch, and brownies for dinner. It doesn't get any better than that. I look forward to having an equally good year and getting at least 30 things done!