PUMPKIN POP TARTS

Pumpkin Pop Tarts

Pastry:
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP sugar
3/4 cup Earth Balance (or butter)
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
7 TBSP ice water

Put first five ingredients into a food processor and pulse until coarse balls form.  Add water 1 TBSP at a time.
Form dough into a disk, wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Pumpkin filling:
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Combine in a bowl and let sit while pastry dough is chilling.

Cinnamon Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt
1/4 cup almond milk (any milk)

Combine and adjust liquid until desired consistency.

Now for the fun part!  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out the pasty dough to approximately 1/4-inch and cut into desired shapes.  Put a heaping TBSP of pumpkin filling in the center.  Spread, but avoid the edges.  Lightly dip your finger into water and rub the outside edge of the shapes (this will act like glue to hold the top piece on.)  Place the top piece on the lightly press the edges together to seal.

Place on baking sheets and bake for 18-20 minutes.  Top with a drizzle of cinnamon glaze before serving.

PS - Here's a link to a different version of  I did a couple of years ago - pumpkin pop tarts with apple cider glaze.  Happy baking!

HOT DOG BAR

My aunt and uncle are visiting from Utah, so we had a family bbq - a hot dog bar, to celebrate.

On the menu:

Polynesian dog - hoisin sauce, pineapple, scallions
American dog - ketchup, mustard, relish
MacDaddy dog - mac and cheese, salsa
Thai dog - cilantro, peanut sauce, carrots
Chili dog - chili, cheese, sour cream

Everyone brought a side dish to share and their favorite drink and voila, we had a feast to go along with the laughter and chitchat.

I am one lucky gal.  I seriously have the BEST relatives and John and Ann are two of my favorite.

And for those of you wondering about the hot dog bar.  All of the dogs got rave reviews but there was a clear favorite - the Polynesian dog.

ARMPIT FUDGE

Landon learned how to make armpit fudge at scout camp and has been teaching anyone and everyone he can about his new culinary skill.

We had Elder Lightheart and Elder Adams over for dinner and now they have a new skill.

Want to make it yourself?  Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 TBSP butter
2 tsp cream cheese
2 tsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp vanilla

Put in a ziplock bag, seal well, and mix with your hands.  Once it starts getting incorporated, put in in your armpit and move it to keep mixing.

We don't have any vegan cream cheese on hand, so I haven't tasted it yet.  Larry said it tastes like chocolate icing.  It's a hit with the boys and has them laughing like crazy during the armpit mixing.

Lach is already making plans to teach his children.

ANCESTOR CAKE

Tonight we started a new family tradition that will help the family learn, in a fun way, a little bit of their family history.  Ancestor cake.
I went back six generations and wrote down all the grandmas and grandpas birthdays and did the same for Larry's family.  This month we have eight ancestors who had birthdays.
I looked to see if we had a photo of them, wrote down their vitals and if there were any interesting tidbits about their life.
We took turns reading a life snip-it of a birthday ancestor and then sang happy birthday to them.  The kiddos got to blow out the candles and then we talked about family history memories over dessert.
I hope that with us doing this every month, it will help our family realize their ancestors were real people.
Also, I hope it ignites some family history interest.  Some of our ancestors, all we know is a birth and death date.  No photos.  No personal information about their life.  Some ancestors have a few mysteries to solve.  Some have skeletons in their closet.  Some information is heartbreaking.  Some, we have loads of information about, including fun journal entries that really help bring alive their personalities.  I hope when my children are studying something in school, like the Civil War, for example, they come home and ask me, "remember that one grandpa that fought in the Civil War?  Can you tell me more about him?"
More importantly, I hope they connect with an ancestor and want to help fill in 'the dash' between their birth and death dates.
This new family tradition, besides being delicious, is enlightening, humbling and exciting.

BEACHY WONDERLAND

Saturday night my sister-in-law's mom, Ardith, turned a church gym into a beachy wonderland for a wedding reception.  It was gorgeous!

My sister-in-law, Erica, sister of the bride, made the beautiful wedding cake - photo 3b.

Ardith made all the incredible cookies.  I was so impressed with all the detail.  No doubt, she was baking for weeks.

My other sister-in-law, Sarah, and I made the cupcakes.
-Chocolate peanut butter with a chocolate ganache center and peanut butter icing
-Lemon with a lemon curd center and swiss meringue
-Red velvet with a chocolate ganache center and mascapone icing

My favorite cupcake on the table was the lemon.  They looked like dollops of sea foam.

Absolutely gorgeous reception.  It's all in the details.  We're so happy for Jackie and John!

HE'S EIGHT AND LIFE IS GOOD

We had a birthday party tonight for Landon with some of the family to celebrate his eight years of life.  Presents, balloons, cake, ice cream and lots of fun attention - what more could an eight year old want?

He seriously melts my heart.  I'm so lucky I'm his mom.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANDON!

WE LOVE YOU!!

14 DAYS OF LOVE - DAY 8

Afternoon movie, (rock-paper-scissor to see who gets to choose the flick) and Mother Goose popcorn in a delicious pink.

Mother Goose Popcorn

16 cups popped popcorn
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons coconut oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
food coloring

Pop popcorn and set aside.  In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, water and coconut oil.  Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add vanilla and food coloring.  Stir well and poor over popcorn.
Spread popcorn mixture on a few cookie sheets to cool.

14 DAYS OF LOVE - DAY 6

Tonight was a man clan favorite - we made and decorated sugar cookies.  And of course ate them.

Yummy for our tummy.

14 DAYS OF LOVE - DAY 4

I made a valentine refreshment for the man clan as part of their after school snack - fresh strawberry lemonade.

I added 1 cup of strawberries (these are the strawberries we picked this summer) to 1 cup of lemonade and let the vitamix to do all the work.  Since the strawberries were frozen, I didn't need to use any ice.  Delicious!

14 DAYS OF LOVE - DAY 2

We made scrumptious heart shaped pizzas.

We had loads of toppings...

SO good!!

My favorite was Lach's who made a hotdog pizza.

IT'S TOM SELLECK'S BIRTHDAY TODAY AND

we celebrated....

With a mustache cake!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOM!

PS - If you'd like to make your own mustache cake, it's super easy.  Make your cake in a 9-inch round.  When cooled, cut a yin and yang and flip one of them.  Put on icing and you have yourself a mustache cake.

25 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS - DAY 21

Homemade goodies for neighbor gifts.

Chocolate candy cane muddie buddies.  These yummy morsels are addicting!

25 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS - DAY 19

Chocolate chip rice krispie treats.

I grew up with this tasty tradition, which was passed on by my father's family.  One of my dad's favorite childhood Christmas memories is this simple, delicious treat that his dad would make, always with chocolate chips.  My grandfather had a bit of a sweet tooth and he's passed that along as well.

I also make the original rice krispie treats because a few of my man clan are not a fan of my vegan chocolate - too dark for them.  So the nice mama I am, I offer both to suit their fancy.

25 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS - DAY 16

We made graham cracker gingerbread houses.

Some of the houses had secret compartments.  Some caved in from the weight of candy.  And, some of us got belly aches from eating too much candy.  We love this Christmas tradition!