Apple Picking and Warm Apple Cobbler

We went apple picking recently with some friends at Stribling Orchard.  It was a beautiful fall day to spend with friends and my little family:

We only picked one bag full of apples but I'm still trying to use them all up!

I've already made an apple pie (I used this same recipe that I blogged about a while ago) so today I tried my hand at a cobbler.  Warm apple cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream?  Yes, please! 

Original recipe from All Recipes here.

What You Need:

Apple Filling

• 5 cups tart apples, such as Granny Smith, peeled and sliced
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces

 

Topping (I doubled the following to have a more cakey cobbler - up to you!)

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 egg, beaten
• cinnamon sugar for topping, optional

What You Do:

 

Heat the oven to 375°. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan.

Combine the sliced apples, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon salt, vanilla and water. Turn into the prepared baking pan. Dot apples with the pieces of butter.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the (or more if you doubled like I did) 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the beaten egg and softened butter and beat until blended. Using a tablespoon, drop batter evenly over the apple mixture. If desired, sprinkle the batter with a cinnamon sugar mixture.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Serve warm with cream or a scoop of ice cream.
Serves 6 to 8.

Autumn Roast Chicken and Veggies

Fall is finally in the air!  I need to get on the ball and get out my Halloween decorations but for now the front of the house is sporting this adorable little pumpkin that my sister in law's mother (did you follow that?) gave us.  She got the little pumpkin at the Farmer's Market and decorated it - such a cute idea.  I'm hoping the marker may throw the squirrels off for a little while longer...

In honor of the cooler weather, and the fact that I slept more than five minutes last night, I decided to cook dinner and make a perfect fall dish - roast chicken and veggies.  I used veggies that reminded me of the colors of fall - carrots, sweet potatoes and butternut squash.

I have been spending more time than normal in front of the tv while I've been feeding the baby and I mostly torture myself by watching the Food Network.  Ina Garten is my favorite and she constantly talks about two things that I employed when concocting this dish - keep it simplistic and chicken is always better tasting and more moist when you cook it with the skin on and on the bone.  Yes, Ina.  Yes, it is.

 So, in the spirit of Ina, everything was just seasoned with salt, pepper, and a little zesty herb mix and drizzled with olive oil.  Oh, and a few pats of butter for good measure. 

The chicken was delish and the skin was seasoned so well and got nice and crispy.  The trick to this is to make sure to pat the chicken dry before roasting it and adding the oil, butter and seasoning.

The perfect fall dish...I could eat it every day!

Make Your Own Mulling Spices

I adore hot apple cider in the fall and winter time.  I much prefer it savory than with caramel and whipped cream added to it like they do at a lot of coffee shops.  It is simple to do at home.  You can just apple cider from the store and then you can either purchase your own mulling spices or - - since here we are on Thanksgiving Day without any of the store bought kind - - you can easily put together your own.

What You'll Need:

6-8 cups apple cider

3 cinnamon sticks

zest of one orange

1 Tbsp cloves

Allspice 

tea ball

What You'll Do:

Heat cider in a large pot over the stove.  Add cloves and orange zest and halved cinnamon sticks to the tea ball.

Submerge in the cider.  Add a couple of extra cinnamon sticks and a little ground Allspice for good measure.

Serve piping hot!

Easy and Festive Fall Centerpiece

My neighbor John is getting married.  In order to celebrate the big event, my other neighbors and I are threw him a party.  I was in charge of centerpieces.  I did a similar centerpiece for my own rehearsal dinner almost four years ago!  It couldn't be simpler and I think they are perfect for fall.  Plus, I can send John home with something pretty for his front porch.

All you do is cut the top and stems off of a pumpkin, clean out the insides, and stick a mum inside.  I used 8 inch mums with the plastic pot removed because I wanted the flowers to sit snugly inside without sticking up too much.  I also like to get mums that have some flowers but aren't completely bloomed so that the recipient gets to enjoy them for longer.  Just don't forget to water them!

An added bonus?  Roasted pumpkin seeds!  Truly one of my most favorite things of all time.  All you need is a little patience to get rid of the pumpkin pulp, some salt and olive oil and a warm oven.  Divine!

Halloween Idea Round Up

I. LOVE. FALL.

It is far and away my favorite season (even though Christmas, my favorite holiday is technically in the winter), Fall is when I get to anticipate the coming of my favorite holiday.  I love the weather.  I love the crispness in the air, the change of the colors of leaves, fires in the evening, candles lit, hot cider, comfort foods, pumpkins...you name it, I love it.

Second to Christmas, I think Halloween is my next favorite holiday.  It is mostly because I love decorating for Halloween.  Every year I try to do a little more so that I am building up my Halloween decoration collection over time.  Pinterest has some awesome ideas for Halloween that I am going to have to try.  I thought I'd share a few of my favorites with you:

First, DIY Halloween Garland.  How adorable would this be on a mantle?

Chalk paint pumpkins.  Love the mix of matte with metallic.

Loving this funky skeleton Halloween wreath.  I made a wreath last year but I think I'm going to have to up the ante.

I work at a medical school...we've got plenty of surgical gloves around.  Love this idea for a punch bowl. Easy and affordable!

Ombre pumpkin.  How cool.  Definitely not over ombre yet...

Simple, low cost idea with a high impact.  Love these black lace votives.  I want them on my mantle as well.

Okay, avert your eyes because this one is not for the faint of heart.  I don't know who thought of this or how anyone could eat these but they were too amazing not to share - finger sugar cookies!  How could anyone eat that??!!

Pumpkin bats. Adorbs.

My grandmother left me her milk glass collection.  My house is so tiny that I can't display all that I want but this gives me a great idea to try!  Love the colors together.

Do you have any cool Halloween ideas to share?

Links to all of these ideas can be found via my Halloween Pinterest Page.

It's Fall, Ya'll!

And it is official today!  Happy start-of-my-favorite-season-of-the-year day!

Images from Pinterest and from Jill Sauer art on UGallery.

Happy Halloween from Adorned Abode!

from our home to yours...

Lite Brite Pumpkins

Do you remember playing with Lite Brite when we were younger?  Well, I made my own version of it with my pumpkins.  After I harvested and roasted the pumpkin seeds, I borrowed my husband's drill to poke holes randomly in each of the pumpkins. 

Notes:
a.  Make sure you have your husband's permission to borrow the drill.  It gets all pumpkin-y.
b. Do this on newspaper or something easier to clean up.  My porch is a mess.

Then I put a Halloween-y orange light in each of the holes.  It was totally worth the mess in the end when I saw the end result! 

Now the back deck can feel as festive as the front of the house!

My Absolute Favorite Thing about Fall: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Roasted pumpkin seeds are one of my all time favorite things.  And I think it makes them even more tasty since I only get them once a year.  It is something my mom always used to do for us after my dad helped us carve the pumpkins.  It is a tradition I want to keep with my kids one day.

I'm not going to lie and say it isn't a lot of work - not difficult, just a lot of work.  But I look at it kind of like eating crabs - it is a ton of work but so worth it in the end!

Here's what you do for delicious roasted pumpkin seeds.

1. Get yourself a good assistant.

2.  Harvest the seeds.  I am going to attempt something new with my pumpkins this year so I emptied them from the bottom but you can do it from the top as well. 

I like to use two different containers so that you separate the seeds from the pulp.  If I were a better person I would've made a pie or something with the pulp but I didn't have it in me this weekend.

3. Soak the pumpkin seeds in water.  The pumpkin seeds will rise to the top and most of the remaining pulp attached to them will sink to the bottom.

4.  Spread your pumpkin seeds on paper towels to dry.  Pick out any other big pieces of pulp. 

5. Lay out pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet in a thin layer. 

6.  Sprinkle liberally with salt and olive oil. 

7. Roast in a 375 degree oven until nice and browned and crispy.  Your house will smell divine!

8.  Enjoy!  These will keep for about a week in an airtight container and make a wonderful snack.