For my fellow pumpkin-lovers

I had originally planned to post this delicious recipe before the Thanksgiving holiday. Suddenly, however, I became sidetracked by dinner preparations and the Black Friday ad frenzy on our dinner table. Before I knew it, Monday had rolled around and I still hadn't shared this bread recipe with you (or cleaned up our table).

Alas, due to my tardiness, you'll have to enjoy this bread for Christmas rather than Thanksgiving. I think you'll forgive me though, once you taste the most delicious pumpkin bread (ever) for yourself.

Here's what you'll need:

5 eggs

1 ¼ cups oil

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 packages (3 oz each) cook-and-serve vanilla pudding

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs together.

Add the oil and pumpkin to the eggs and beat until smooth.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl.

Once the dry ingredients are combined, add them gradually to the pumpkin mixture. Beat the mixture until smooth.

Pour the batter into greased loaf pans. This recipe will work in any loaf pan size, but baking time will need to be adjusted accordingly.

As you can see, I used two different sizes. The smaller pans take considerably less time to bake. You will know your bread is ready when a toothpick or cake tester can be cleanly removed from the center of the loaf.

*Note: If your bread starts to get brown around the edges but is not done in the middle, try covering the loaf with foil until the center has baked completely.

When possible, using a larger loaf pan is the most convenient. However, I have used small pans to make mini loaves to use as gifts! They were very cute, just a bit more time consuming.

There you have it! A delicious, moist pumpkin bread recipe. Enjoy!

A big thanks to my mother-in-law who originally shared this recipe with me!

A celebration of fall

One thing that I managed to take for granted as I grew up in southern Missouri was the beauty of the changing seasons. As with any child, I appreciated the annual snowfall that allowed for snow angels and school cancellations as well as the hot months that signaled summer vacation with trips to the lake. For many years, though, the stunning colors painted on fall leaves by the Master Artist eluded me.

Over the past few years we have lived in states that, though beautiful in their unique ways, only see brief glimpses of a transition into fall. Because of this, I have come to appreciate this season even more and felt it should be celebrated this week. So, I made my own colorful fall leaf cake!

First, I made the leaves (so fun!). I started by dying my fondant burgundy and light brown, then rolling it thinly onto a greased surface. I used cookie cutters to create the shapes.

Each leaf needed to have details added to create a natural feel and shape. These details can be created in numerous ways since all leaves are different. The veining tool made by Wilton was very handy for this task.

Once the leaves are cut and detailed, I arranged them to dry. I used little plastic molds that are meant to give petals, leaves and flowers a curved shape. Empty egg cartons are also great containers to use for this if you don't have anything else.

You will notice that I tried to place each leaf differently so it would dry in its own unique way.

Normally, at this point I would suggest allowing your fondant or gum paste to dry for several hours before moving on to the next step. However, this time I was too anxious to wait an appropriate amount before completing the next step.

Because. . . what is even better than beautifully colored fall leaves?

Beautifully colored fall leaves that sparkle! Okay, okay. . . I know this doesn't occur in nature, but trust me, you will be glad you added it to your celebration leaves!

See? I told you. I used luster dust on mine, which worked fabulously. You can find this little gem at your local craft store in a lot of different colors.

Once your leaves are dry, you can begin putting your cake together! I chose to cover mine with fondant for practice, but you could easily do this same project by covering your cake with your favorite icing.

Next, I covered the top of my cake with sprinkles. This is an optional step, but I had these lovely golden sprinkles that were begging to be used.

Then I arranged the leaves around the base of the cake. Using a bit of buttercream icing will make your leaves stick wherever you place them.

Voila! The celebration cake is complete. I chose to proudly display mine on a cake plate that my dad made for me. Isn't it lovely?

Happy fall everyone! And to those of you in those charming Midwestern states, please enjoy the leaves a little extra for me this year!

Little cookies, big announcement

As far back as I can remember, I have essentially been a wanna-be mommy at heart.

At four years old, I couldn't wait for my little brother to be born so I could hold, kiss, and play with him. I would generously offer name suggestions (which undoubtedly resembled popular Disney and storybook characters) and watch as my parents set up the nursery.

When he finally made his appearance, my curiosity and excitement only grew. I would eagerly stand alongside my mom, doll in hand, learning to test water temperatures at bath time.

Now, over 21 years later, my sweet husband and I have our own exciting announcement. . .

That's right! We feel so blessed to announce that we are expecting our own precious little bundle of joy in less than six months. We have had so much fun sharing the news with our family and close friends over the past few weeks. However, because many of our loved ones live in different towns, a lot of sharing had to be done over the phone.

So when I realized that my husband would eventually need to make the announcement at work, I took the opportunity to do something fun. I made baby announcement cookies!

I decided to make basic sugar cookies and decorate them with royal icing. These are some of my favorite projects, because the decorating options are endless. After digging through my cookie cutters for about an hour, I was able to determine a design and get started!

I made my sugar cookie dough a day ahead and allowed it to chill overnight in the refrigerator. I have learned that performing this step early allows for a lot more time and energy on decorating day. After chilling, the dough was ready to be cut and baked!

While the cookies were baking and cooling, I mixed and colored my icing. This step can be time-consuming depending on how many colors and consistencies need to be mixed. Just remember that if you're using royal icing, the portions not being used need to be covered with plastic wrap to avoid drying.

I mixed five different "gender neutral" icing colors with various consistencies. This was enough variety to give me plenty of options for the cookies I had designed.

Icing consistency is really important when you begin piping. The wrong consistency can make decorating more difficult and possibly ruin the final look of your cookies. Learning the correct amount of water to add to the icing takes practice! I had to adjust several of my mixtures before I found the appropriate consistency.

When I finished, our baby announcement plate looked like this:

Well... it might be missing a cookie or two. Let's face it, the pregnant lady had to do a taste test!

Halloween Icebox Cookies

I love Halloween. Not the terror-seeking, horror movie-watching, lose-sleep-at-night type of Halloween, but the kid-friendly kind. Some of my best Halloweens over the years involved dressing up as Tinker Bell at our elementary school parade, running through corn mazes, and spending evenings splurging on chips and cheese dip while watching Halloween-themed movies with a best friend.

This year, I used the holiday as an opportunity to experiment with icebox cookie dough. This buttery dough is a great alternative to the standard sugar cookie and involves less "active" baking/decorating time! Plus, the shaping and pattern methods are endless, and you can transform these cookies into a festive treat for any season.

And... they are delish!

So let me show you!

There are a ton of icebox cookie dough recipes out there. I used the classic recipe from a great cookie book called Cookie Swap. This book has lots of great ideas for all seasons!

First, you'll want to get all your yummy ingredients out. Here's what you'll need:

2.5 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. granulated sugar

1 large egg

3/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract (or add your own flavorings!)

Mix the first 3 ingredients together in a small bowl.

Next, use your electric mixer (if you have one) and mix together the butter, powdered sugar, and granulated sugar. Start the mixer on a low speed to avoid fluffing powdered sugar all over your kitchen. This happens all the time - I know from experience!

Once mixed, gradually add your flour mixture just until the ingredients are incorporated. It should look similar to this:

Now that your dough is mixed, divide it into two equal portions. Decide which color you would like to incorporate, and use it to color one portion of the dough. I used orange, but I think any color would be great. This is where you can really start to personalize your cookies!

Flatten each ball of dough into a disk. Wrap each of them separately in plastic wrap, and place them in the refrigerator to chill for approximately two hours. (This is the part where you pop Harry Potter into the dvd player and relax!)

Right before you take your dough out of the fridge, you'll need to make some egg wash. To do this, you'll need one large egg white and two teaspoons of water. Simply beat the two ingredients together in a small bowl.

Now, place your chilled dough on a lightly floured surface to be shaped. There are numerous ways to shape your dough, but I'll show you how I did mine.

Start by taking part of your dyed dough and form it into a log. Mine was approximately 8" long. Make it as even as possible, because this will help develop the pattern more successfully. Brush your log with the egg wash, so that the next layer of dough will adhere.

Next, use the white portion of the dough to roll out a rectangle long enough to wrap the first log in. This will create the second ring of your cookies.

(This is also where you begin to witness what a messy baker I am!)

Continue this process until you have approximately 4 layers, or until you run out of dough. Make sure you use your egg wash every time you add a new layer.

Once the log is complete, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place it back into the refrigerator for two more hours. (Another Potter, anyone?)

Now that your dough has chilled for the second time, it is ready to be sliced. I chose a sharper knife for this task to make a cleaner cut.

Finally... sprinkles! Use your egg wash on the edges of each cookie slice as "glue" for the sprinkles. I chose a variety of sprinkles and all worked well!

Place your cookies on a cookie sheet. Preferably, cover your cookie sheet with parchment paper to avoid sticking.

Bake at 375 degrees for 7-10 minutes. The thicker your slices, the longer the baking time. When the cookies begin to brown on the bottom, they are finished!

Happy Halloween, everyone!