Sugar and Spice

Fall is definitely my favorite time of the year! I don't know if it is the weather or the leave changes or the smells of fall, but regardless I love it! 

This recipe is the definition of fall to me. It taste wonderful and make the whole house smell delightful. I found it last week and could not wait to make it! It was the perfect addition to a lazy Saturday morning.

I hope you all enjoy! 

Pumpkin Spice Bread

3 cups sugar

1cup oil

3 eggs

2 cups pumpkin (canned works just fine!) 

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

lemon juice 

powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two bread pans. Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside.

Combine sugar, oil, and eggs, mixing well. Add the pumpkin and mix on low until combined. Mix in dry ingredients, adding to the pumpkin mixture a little at  a time. Stir in a cup of raisins or chopped nuts if you would like. Pour evenly into the bread pans and bake for 1 hour. 

While the bread is baking, mix together the glaze. Start with about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of powdered sugar and add lemon juice until it becomes a smooth glaze. You want it to slowly drip off the spoon. After taking cakes out of the oven, allow them to cool for about 5 minutes before turning them onto cooling racks. Flip them right side up. 

And this is where is gets messy! Using a spoon, drizzle the glaze over the loaves. The glaze will drip off the sides of the bread, so you may want to put paper towels under the cooling racks, or at least clean your counters before if you want to taste the icing drippings like I do! We don't waste icing in our house!

Happy Fall everyone! Hope you enjoy! 

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

I love making cupcakes. Seriously, it is one of my favorite things to do. And I am continuing to find people around me who are willing to taste them, one of the many blessings of working with college students every day.

My favorite new recipe is for Chocolate Chip Cupcakes. These are so easy, cheating really, but they are really incredible. I can't have a lot of chocolate, so I was looking for a cupcake with a white/yellow cake base. You can put whatever type of icing you would like--I choose both chocolate and vanilla.

I love chocolate chips, so I can get a bit carried away, but you can add as many chocolate chips as you would like.

So here you go!

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
(adapted from a Taste of Home)

1 box of a yellow cake mix
1 box of instant vanilla pudding (3.4oz)
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 small bag of miniature chocolate chips

In an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachement, combine the cake mix, pudding, and oil. I just used the lowest setting for this. Add the water while it is mixing to keep the pudding from clumping. Beat on low for about 30 seconds or until the ingredients are combined. Add the eggs, beating until combined after each egg is added. Then beat on medium for about 2 minutes. The batter will be much lighter and more fluffy. Stir in about 1/2 to 3/4 of the bag of chocolate chips. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way full. The batter rises a lot so be careful to not get them too full. Bake at 375 degrees for 16-18 minutes, or until the tops of the cupcakes are golden brown. Let them cool for about 10 minutes before moving to wire racks.

Enjoy! 

Courtney Leigh 

Taste and See

Well, you don't get to taste (that is coming soon) but you do get to see. We are pretty much done with the kitchen. And I have pictures! We are working on other rooms this week, so you should get to see those soon!

The first big change is the wall color.... 

 And then we added an island. It is movable and probably one of my favorite things in the house. 

We added blinds to the doors, but I love the huge windows, so for now, they are staying like they are. 

 

 Added a bit of decoration behind the sink, but still tried to leave it open into the other rooms....

 A fun little Pinterest find that I made. 

Another fun little decor thing I made that gets a lot of use in our house. 

 

One of my favorite additions, a poster print stapled onto the back of a window pane. 

 Another favorite, my very talented sister made this for my birthday! 

I hope you like the room as much as we do! More pictures to come soon, and lots of recipes that I have been testing out! 

Courtney Leigh