Doodling With Pumpkins at the Fayetteville Farmers Market {Foodie Friday}

By Ceri Wilkin of Recipe Doodle

We have visited many Farmers Markets in cities around the world – Lisbon in Portugal, Napa Valley, Hamilton in New Zealand, Reykjavik in Iceland, Cincinnati, and all over North India. When we travel, we are always fascinated to explore the produce and products offered locally.

However, The Fayetteville Farmers Market in the fall remains a steadfast favorite and a must see. On a recent stroll around the downtown square, where the market is held, I was surprised at the wide range of produce still available. Late summer peaches and salad greens, as well as the more typical fall harvest such as pumpkins and winter squash.

The first time I saw a pumpkin I recognized from home was at the Fayetteville Farmers Market, and I was absolutely thrilled! We don’t so much decorate with fresh pumpkins in New Zealand as eat them, and usually in more of a savory dish than sweet, but the orange skinned specimens were unfamiliar to me. Seeing the familiar grey fruit, I could not contain my excitement, and the following recipes reflect my love.

Savory Goat Cheese and Pumpkin Tart

1/2 cup navy beans
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3 ounces of goat cheese
2 ounces of cream cheese
1 tablespoon of fresh sage, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
a pinch of cayenne pepper
1 17.3 ounce package of puff pastry
1 egg
1 tablespoon of water

Heat the oven to 400F.

In a food processor, puree the navy beans, pumpkin, goat cheese, cream cheese and sage. Season with the salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Roll out the puff pastry, one sheet at a time. Using a 3 inch cookie cutter, cut out 18 to 20 circles of dough from each sheet.

Whisk together the egg and water, to make an egg wash. Brush the egg mixture around the edges of each circle of dough. Place 1 tablespoon of filling in the middle of each round, and pinch the edges shut around the filling. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the dough is puffed and golden brown.

Pumpkin Soup

4 cups pumpkin, peeled, seeded and diced
2 potatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
4 cups of chicken stock (I like my soup thick, so you may want to add more stock)
1 onion, peeled and diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of fresh ginger, minced
salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large pot, add all of the ingredients, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Cool, then puree with an immersion blender. Reheat, adding more chicken stock if a thinner consistency is desired.

Pumpkin White Chocolate Pots de Crème

4 eggs, separated
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups of cream
1 vanilla bean
200 grams of white chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup pumpkin puree

Heat oven to 350F. Beat the egg yolks and sugar with an electric mixer until thick.

Split the vanilla bean in half, and bring the cream and vanilla bean to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat, add the white chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes. Add the pumpkin and whisk together until smooth.

Pour the mixture into ramekins and place in a roasting pan. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it reaches half way up the sides of the ramekins. Place roasting pan into oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, and when cool enough to handle, remove the ramekins from the water. Cover and place into refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving.

Enjoy!

Ceri Wilkin of Recipe Doodle is wife, mother and recipe follower. For years she has tackled one new recipe a day – some are fabulous, some are not. In a past life she was an ccupational therapist, a rugby and a n etball player, a belly dancer, and a lesson taker of golf, tennis and wine appreciation. Her husband owns izzerias, her father was a butcher and her mother a caterer. Her older brother, a butcher by trade, makes the absolute best birthday cakes and desserts you will ever taste, and her younger brother owns restaurants in New Zealand. Her kids love to eat. She is thrilled to share Her recipes with you.

October 14, 2013

#BLOGPHOBIA 2 {Blogger of the Month}

#BLOGPHOBIA 2
Written by Delta Moxie, ARWB Blogger of the Month October 2013

It’s Kelly Jo, ARWB Miss October, from Delta Moxie and I’m sharing my thoughts in a series of posts I’ve titled #BLOGPHOBIA as I serve out my term as Arkansas Women Blogger’s Miss October. Part of my goal is to provide information about fears and phobias and at the same time share my perspective.

In my twenties, I had a job where I spoke frequently on the radio, on television and in front of live audiences. I was more nervous in front of live audiences and it was obvious. My palms and feet would be wet with sweat, my hands, eyelids and lips trembled, my mind wondered, and above all, my voice would shake and crack.

The fear of public speaking is called glossophobia.

I recognized I had a fear and it was affecting my performance. I would have speeches perfectly typed all in upper case, be prepared and still would find myself skipping parts of my prepared presentation so I could escape the podium pronto. I wouldn’t volunteer for speaking engagements, but the opportunities were part of my job description. Specifically, I didn’t want to avoid public speaking because I believed I had something important to say.

I’ve never told anyone what I’m about to share but I’m sharing it because it may help someone. During my anxiety driven glossophobia, I scheduled an appointment with a psychiatrist. He listened to my experiences and prescribed behavioral strategies as well as a beta blocker (it’s a blood pressure medication that has been shown off-label to help people with stage fright) to help with the symptoms I described. I was instructed to take the pill 30 minutes before I had to address an audience. The medication worked to keep my autonomic responses in better control and I used it several times as a tool to train my body and emotions to react differently. Preparation, affirmations, and breathing exercises were also tools I used.

My current job doesn’t require me to speak to large groups (small groups are no problem) as often, but there are times when I speak up in a large group and I recognize a glimpse of those old feelings. However, as I’ve aged and gained more experience, my confidence has increased.

I can’t recall who it was that spoke at Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged recently, but she came off stage and told me “I imagined you and this whole group naked.” She made me laugh. I would have never imagined her having a fear of public speaking, she was flawless and provided inspiring words and wisdom. It’s a sense of comfort to know I’m not alone.

As we named and discussed real fears and phobias in the first #BLOGPHOBIA installment, let’s delve into the next step of what’s next once a phobia is recognized.

According to NAMI, ask yourself these questions when you recognize a fear:

• Is this fear disabling?
• Do you recognize that your fear is excessive and unreasonable?
• Do you avoid particular situations and places because of your phobia?
• Does it interfere with your normal routine or cause distress?
• Have you experienced this phobia or fear for six months?

Do you already have a checklist of questions you ask yourself when a fear appears? How do you approach a fear?

Share your #BLOGPHOBIA either in the comments or submit a post to Julie for Arkansas Women Bloggers.

Who was that speaker that said they pictured us naked? Too funny. Was it Heather or Jacqueline?

October 12, 2013

Fall Leaves

by Inés McBryde

I recently opened a letter that I mailed to myself last fall. Inside was a dried up leaf that I saved to remind myself of powerful lessons that I didn’t want to forget. But to understand the story behind this leaf, you have to know that growing up in Nicaragua the first 18 years of my life, I never saw a pumpkin outside of an American storybook. I thought trees of different colored leaves were only found in fairy-tales. We have many tropical trees in Nicaragua, but their leaves don’t turn fiery red, burnt orange, or lightning yellow nor do they fall in autumn! We seemed to only have 2 seasons… rainy and non-rainy, and either one is always hot! When I moved to Fort Worth, Texas to attend TCU, I eagerly anticipated snowy winters and those orange leaves that captured my imagination…but the Texans said, “In Texas, if you blink, you miss the Fall.” They also said crazy things like, “If you don’t like the weather here, just wait 15 minutes…” “TRUE.THAT!” I later thought as I shoved the gas pedal all the way down trying to drive away from a tornado hitting downtown Ft.Worth!

Many autumns have passed since that first Texas one. A couple of years ago, I was preparing a talk for a women’s silent prayer retreat. I found myself nestled in the beautiful woods of Chenal Valley inside the inter-faith Arkansas House of Prayer. Alone. Quiet. Searching. I found more than I was looking for. What I learned was a profound lesson, a lesson in the leaves of the trees, a lesson available to all, regardless of our spiritual status, a lesson of hope and growth. The lesson is in the leaves of the trees & available to all.

My heart waited in expectation inside a monastic, silent room at the AHOP on October of 2011. Shoes off. Socks off. Cell phone off & left outside. I started slow, tapering down my breathing, getting quiet enough to hear my heart beating, beating for a word from God, a revelation that there’s still hope for this struggling heart. I thumb through my Bible, slowly, not wanting the pages to turn too loud lest I miss a still small voice. A curiously random question arises in my mind…

Why do leaves fall?

Huh? Wait. What does that have to do with anything? I’m trying to center myself around the holy written words but missing some words hanging on a branch. Again…

Look up, why do leaves fall?

I look out the giant window at the turning leaves. “Well DUH. Leaves fall because… they fall! That’s why it’s called Fall, right?”

Go home & do a search on why leaves fall.

Fast forward to a search at a website called “Science Made Simple.” Because Lord knows I need simple. And the revelation came alright. It came after digging through some scientific mumbo jumbo about the intricate processes between summer & winter, between the tree, the sun, water, roots, food, and leaves. Simple. Yet hard. And I had never paid attention. I was looking down & not looking up at the trees. Not listening to their message. Over and over. Thousands of leaves singing a message.

During the winter there’s not enough light or water to produce food for the trees, so the trees enter a winter rest and live off of the food they have stored up in the summer. The brown color in the leaves that fall is made up from wastes left in the leaves. Leaves fall and when they do… they let go of this unnecessary waste. If they don’t fall, they weigh down the tree inside and out. They stunt the tree’s growth. Therefore there’s no room for new growth come spring around the corner. I sat and looked at this explanation, flabbergasted…all these years living in the USA and nobody told me that:

Trees poop through their leaves when they fall?! *GASP*

Deep sigh. Maybe I’m entering a winter in my soul—a time to rely on my reserves and let go of things weighing me down. Don’t we all go through these times? Don’t we all need to throw off unnecessary weight that keeps us down? Waste that doesn’t belong in our hearts? I make a list in my head of toxic emotions, worry that paralyzes me, fears that consume me, shame that tags along. Haven’t we all had to cut-off co-dependent relationships that spiral us down? (Please tell me it wasn’t just me)

So next time you get a chance this Fall as it falls upon us, step outside & under a tree that’s losing its leaves. Look up. Breathe slowly. Slow down. Search inside you. Behold the fallen leaves. Behold those soft gusts of wind that clip the brown leaves from the branch. Watch that leaf tumble around and fall. My toddler son loves watching this. The process is beautiful. Some things…some people…just have GOT to go if we are going to move forward in life. In the wise words of one unnamed brotha’ “I think I’ve been *constipated* for a long time”. Sister-friend: release those leaves in your life! Release and make room for things & people that build you up. We are all designed to grow & bloom.

I mailed myself a letter last year to arrive this Fall, with that wrinkled up fall leaf that fell onto my lap when I opened it. Today, I’m living off of last year’s truth that was stored up in the mail.

Con amor (with love),
Inés

P.S. Sorry to all who thought this was going to be a post about Pumpkin recipes. I’ve never done that in my life, but I have a pretty good Black Bean soup that’ll make you wanna slap your mama.

Don’t let the Irish-married-last name fool you. I was born in Spain, but grew up in Nicaragua eating beans & rice. I married a pale-white blonde guy from El Doray-do. We have a toddler who keeps us laughing in stitches. I work with immigrants at the local children’s hospital. I dance to salsa music. I travel. I hate injustice. I dream in Spanish.

Check out her blog, InesMcBryde.com

October 11, 2013

Rhonda Bramell Halloween Trick or Treat? {Foodie Friday}

By Rhonda Bramell at Bramell, Party of Five

I spent some quality time in the kitchen with my kids last Saturday, on the first day we’ve had some genuine fall temperatures, working on our first Halloween themed treats. Doing so taught me a couple of things. For one, I realize why I’m not a food blogger or photographer. And two, doing anything in the kitchen with three helpers takes twice as long as it should.

With so many eager helpers, I had to choose our recipe wisely. It had to be something fairly easy and with enough steps that everyone could pitch in. After searching my pins on Pinterest, we decided on the Pumpkin Rice Krispies.

The ingredients are mainly those for making traditional Rice Krispies Treats, with a little Halloween flair. (Recipe originally appeared on With Sprinkles On Top.)

3 Tablespoons butter
1 pkg mini marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
Orange food coloring (I mixed red and yellow)
Black Icing
Mini Tootsie Rolls

Over medium heat, melt the butter in a large saucepan. Then add in the marshmallows and melt together. Once smooth, remove the pan from heat. Add in the food coloring to tint marshmallow mixture orange. Immediately stir in the cereal and mix thoroughly.

When it’s cooled enough to touch, form the cereal mixture into 3” balls. Here’s the tricky part: it works best to wet your hands before shaping into the pumpkins; otherwise, the cereal will stick to your hands. Thanks, mom, for teaching me this trick many years ago.

We cut the Tootsie rolls in half, and inserted one half into the top of each treat to look like a stem. I placed the formed treats onto waxed paper to cool. Once completely cooled, I decorated the faces with black gel icing. Then I turned into a wicked witch because I made my kids wait until after dinner to eat them!

Rhonda Bramell lives in Springdale with her family and middle-aged, spoiled dog. In the daytime, she works as the Marketing Manager at the Northwest Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville. At night, she spends a lot of time doing laundry, cooking dinner and doing first grade homework. You can find her blogging at www.bramell.blogspot.com to see how being OK at something is good enough.

October 10, 2013

Overcoming Mysophobia, Better Known as Germaphobia {Phobias}

by MamaBuzz Mel Lockcuff

When did this overwhelming fear of germs begin? And why am I choosing now to speak out about it? These are the questions I ask as I write this, and I think the reason that I want to write about it now is because this fear no longer cripples me. My hope is that I can help give encouragement to someone else who may be battling the same fear. While I still battle, though to a much lesser extent most days, it’s something that has taken a LOT of work to overcome. It’s taken an “immersion therapy” of sorts and a determination to live my life to the fullest, no matter the risks.

It all began when I was in nursing school. I went through a tortuous 1-year nursing program with extremely strict rules and regulations. If we missed one too many days, we risked getting kicked out of school, for real; I actually had a friend get kicked out because she’d developed cat scratch fever and missed too many days. (Yes, that’s a real disease.) The things I saw and handled while in clinicals made me want to strip down and get in the shower right away when I got home. Nursing homes were the devil’s lair for the inner germaphobe that was quickly and silently taking over my mind, body, and spirit.

When I finally graduated, I breathed a sigh of relief but went right to work in a clinic that specialized in cardiology/cardiovascular surgery. My fears continued to grow, despite my best efforts to curb them, including attending a couple of therapy sessions. Others noticed too, friends I worked with, family members, and especially my husband and son (we just had our oldest at the time). This fear was all too quickly crippling my mind, body, and spirit; and my family was paying the price for it. While I did well at my job and loved working as a nurse, I couldn’t help but constantly fear sickness and germs of any kind. I would continuously wash my hands, wipe everything down, etc. I can’t even tell you how many things I missed out on during this time, precious things missed out on…. and all because of this rotting fear. Kinda ironic that I was a nurse battling a fear of germs and sickness, huh?

While expecting our youngest, I decided to quit my job as a nurse and be home with our kids more. I really tend to give my youngest most of the credit for bringing my fears to a screeching halt. I also worked for a short time as a supervisor in a school. Kids are ever so germy, and my youngest is definitely a germy little sweetheart. In fact, his nickname happens to be Pigpen. He just has a knack for being filthy, no matter what he does. He can’t help it, and we love him for it. I think God gave him to us because He knew we needed him. He knew I needed him; he’s truly a gift.

Realizing what this crippling fear was doing not only to me but also to my family was my turning point; our oldest was at such a tender age through all of this, that he began to pick up many of my germaphobic habits and rituals. Also realizing that I can’t control everything…. well, that was a huge realization in and of itself. I’m not saying the battle is the same for everyone, so please don’t misunderstand. But for me, the battle took courage, determination, and sometimes, a willingness to face what must be faced. Whether it’s something as simple as cutting up raw chicken (that might contain bacteria), walking into a doctor’s office, visiting my grandmother in the nursing home before she passed away, or even just going out to the movies, it’s taken babysteps. Daily babysteps, prayer, and determination, not to mention a bit of perseverance sprinkled in for good measure.

So, while I do still practice good hand washing, I’m also not afraid to get my hands dirty. I’m not afraid to hold my babies when they’re sick…. not afraid to get in the kitchen and tackle what needs to be done…. not letting this fear stop me from traveling, from visiting, from living life. Yes, the fears still make an occasional appearance, but they come around less often these days. And when they do come around, I’m ready to fight.

Are you battling a similar fear? You too can fight and overcome. I know it can be a lonely battle, but it doesn’t have to be. Nothing is impossible.

Mel Lockcuff is a wife, homeschool mom to two rambunctious boys, a lifestyle blogger, social media strategist, and founder of MamaBuzz Media. You’ll find recipes, crafts, DIY projects, travel adventures, awareness, and more on MamaBuzz. You can follow Mel on Twitter @MamaBuzz or contact her at info@mamabzz.com.

October 9, 2013

Acrophobia {Wordless Wednesday}

Angie Albright atop the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France

I’m smiling and happy to be in Paris, but my palms are sweating and I’m trying to hide the fact that I’m terrified that there are only those thin spikes to keep me from falling into Paris traffic below.
Window of Death

Sure, this looks like a beautiful floor-to-ceiling window in a stunning lodge in the Ozarks. But it might also be the Ledge of Death if you get too close to it and the glass breaks. You’d fall a couple of stories into rocks, trees, and bushes.

@AngieAlbright @AGrowingSeason

October 8, 2013

Want a Super Power? Learn to Code {Tech Tuesday}

by the Incredible Tech Goddess Sarah Daigle Scott. Check out her cool Tech Adventure Club.

For the third year, I met all these super women. Not a single one admitted it …typical super hero behavior…denying her excellence, intuition and desire to save the world. Now, time to get her one more killer skill.

Women in programming, engineering and mathematics are still highly outnumbered for many reasons, that isn’t likely to be solved with this 100 strong audience of Arkansas based bloggers. However, all these women are creative writers, photographers, parents, and businesswomen who are all keeping or supporting blogs. Blogger ladies want to fix their own sites, add their own widget, gadgets and dilliwops [my own word].

Guess what powers the engine of a blog, oh and nearly everything? Code!

So…. My mission is to create a special breed of coders… I hack the women!

1. Get started with the foundational structure of the page and how to style it:/ {CSS} W3 Schools comes out of the World Wide Web Consortium that polices the standards.

2. Excellent video lessons from Lynda.com (not free, but worth every penny for a few months of focused learning)

Next week…

Guiding the Whiz Kids through the Minecraft…

October 7, 2013

#BLOGPHOBIA {Blogger of the Month}

by Miss October Kellee Mayfield, Delta Moxie

October is the month of all things scary, spooky and phobic. Arkansas Women Bloggers’ theme this month is Phobias.

Ask my husband or my daughter and they’ll tell you I have some fears. Report a spider is creeping on me and I will immediately go into a high-stepping, arm-flailing, full-glass-of-iced-tea throwing fool as I hyper focus on removing that eight-legged creature from my personal space.

Spiders are scary to me. Heck, social media and blogging were (and are) scary to me.

I didn’t throw ice tea on anyone in my social media circles…yet, but I was scared of strangers following me on twitter and Instagram. Was it a form of social phobia? Whatever my hesitation was…it was real to me. I’m over that now.

According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), phobias are “a specific fear with an irrational anxiety” and “15 – 20 percent of people experience symptoms of specific phobias over the course of their life.”

If you suffer from a phobia, the DSM-V categorizes it in the five following subtypes:

Fear of animals
Fear of natural environment
Fear of blood/injection/injury
Fear of situations
Other fears

Those five categories are quite encompassing. If we were to experience phobias as bloggers, our subtype would more than likely be the fear of situations or other fears.

When I began blogging I had a desire to be anonymous. I had a fear of what people would think. What fun is that?

Here are some phobias we may experience as bloggers:

Grammarphobia = the fear of using poor grammar. (The bloggy police are going to give me a ticket for using that preposition at the end of a sentence…or are they? I can not confirm this is a true phobia but there is a very informative blog.)

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophopia = the fear of long words (that has got to be a joke)

Ideaphobia = the fear of ideas

Logizomechanophobia = fear of computers

Scriptophobia = fear of writing in public (for all the coffee-shop-blog writers as well as real-time twitter and Facebook status updaters…you’ve beat Scriptophobia!)

Verbophobia = fear of words (don’t fear words…they’ll come to you.)

Nomophobia = fear of being out of mobile phone contact (is this the same as the fear of not having wifi? If it is…this is a real fear for me.)

Atelophobia = a fear of imperfection (your imperfections are perfect)

Typophobia* = fear of posting a blog with a typo (Blogging’s a beautiful thing, because you can correct your typos any time {night or day} and then go on with your bad self!)

And for my random fear of the day that has nothing to do with blogging is Omphalophobia = the fear of navels (yes, that is the fear of belly buttons). Why in the world would someone fear this? If you have this fear, tell me about it. I realize it is a real fear. Maybe you know something I don’t know about belly buttons. Do tell because mine is with me 24/7.

Of course there is the Phobophobia. Yes, that is the fear of having a phobia of fear. Now that is scary.

I had a fear of writing this post. That’s called blogpostaphobia*.

As a blogger, do you find yourself fearing something specific? How does a fear manifest for you? Do you experience symptoms such as rapid heart rate, sweating, trembling, worry, or syncope (feeling faint)?

What other blogging/social media phobias would you create and add to the list? Tell us your #BLOGPHOBIA .

*denotes these are fake phobia names. All other phobias were gathered from NAMI or Oxford Dictionaries Blog.

October 5, 2013

Join us for a FALL FAVORITES Roundup! {Blogger Challenge}

Good morning, Arkansas! The weather people are telling me that, along with a little rain, that cool fall weather is finally supposed to start moving in today.

I don’t know about you but when the weather starts to cool I start thinking about chili and cornbread, pumpkin pie and hot apple cider. All those delicious “fall foods”!

I also start to think about all the beautiful colors of fall and I can’t wait to purchase pumpkins and gourds and start decorating up my house.

AND, I love fall fashion. I love long sleeves, scarves, long flowing skirts and cute boots.

So, we have a little fall challenge for you! We are going to do a FALL FAVORITES Roundup!

Here is how it works:

1. Choose a current or previous post on your blog from one (or all) of the following categories:

Fall Recipes
Fall Fashion
Fall Decorating and DIY

2. Email me at julie@arkansaswomenbloggers.com using the following format:

Subject:

Body of Email:
Title of Blog Post
Link to Blog Post

Attachments: ONE photo from your post (photo must be original!)

Of course we can’t have a blogger challenge without a few rules!

You may submit to all three categories.
Only ONE submission per category. (Multiple submissions will be discarded.)
You MUST be a registered member of ARWB. (You can register here.)
You must get you links to me no later than October 19th.
You must include one photo of your finished product.

Once I have collected all of the links, I will put together a special post with everyones links! I hope this will be a great way for you to share something from your blog or even inspire you to create something new and post about it!

October 4, 2013

Giving up canned pumpkin and making some great muffins to boot! {Foodie Friday}

By Shellie Morettini of Blueberry Acres, also a member of MOWomenBloggers

Giving up canned pumpkin and making some great muffins to boot!

Pumpkins! It’s the call of fall in our household. Our little Blueberry can sniff out a pumpkin patch like some kids know when you are hiding chocolate in the house. As a result, we find that we enjoy many pumpkin-centric treats at this time of year. But while we long ago gave up canned pumpkin, I have discovered that a great many home cooks still rely on canned when fresh is so much more amazing!

If you are thinking about trying to be a little more conscious with your food, finding fresh local produce from small farmers like us is a fantastic way to not only get to know your neighbors but it’s also a smart way to help your kids better connect with the food they eat.

To start, pick out some midsize pumpkins. If you have a choice, I recommend sugar pumpkins. They are typically easy to find and available both at farmer’s markets and your local mega mart.
Slice off the tops and then scoop out the interior. Once clean, bake flesh side up in a 350 degree oven for 20-35 minutes. Some recipes will suggest oiling them or seasoning them. I like to just roast them dry.

Just keep an eye on the pumpkins after 20 minutes to ensure that they don’t burn. A little bit of carmelization is a good thing but you don’t want them to look like the crazy tanning lady.
Once they have cooked and cooled, you can scoop out the flesh and discard the skin, or if you are like me, make some happy little Berkshire piggies happy by giving them the leftover pumpkin.

I just love those piggies and will use any excuse to show pictures of them: Wilbur, Spot, White Fur, Stinky and Hubert (he’s French), our baby barrow Berkshire piggies. I love them. And yes, I will eat them too…but I digress.

From there, you can freeze the flesh or use it right away. I’m more of an instant gratification kind of gal, so I made muffins with my freshly cooled pumpkin. And when I say muffins, let’s be honest…I mean cupcakes that I call muffins so I feel a little better about myself.

Blueberry’s favorite Pumpkin Muffins
For the muffins:
1 cup room temperature butter
1 ½ cups pumpkin puree
1 to 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
2 ½ cups AP flour
½ to ¾ cup instant rolled oats
For the topping:
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons AP flour

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter, sugar and pumpkin together with an electric or stand mixture. Then add eggs and mix until thoroughly incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients.

After you have mixed your dry ingredients, slowly incorporate them into your wet mixture. The dough should be wet but not overly wet. Think cookies versus cake. From there, scoop into muffin cups-about 2/3 full. From there, mix all of your topping ingredients in a separate bowl and spoon generously on top of your muffins before baking for about 20-25 minutes.
I’ll be honest; this isn’t a great shot of the muffins. By the time I took this, I had downed several of them…in the name of research, of course! However, all of that sugar made me a little jumpy. Sigh. The things I do for blogging.

While you can absolutely buy pre-ground spices, I strongly recommend that you invest in one of these cool little things:

I cannot tell you how much I love this little grater. And if you are wondering what the heck that is in my needing to be manicured hand, its nutmeg. Once you have smelled freshly grated nutmeg, you will want it on and in everything. The little plastic jars of spices cannot hold a candle to this. In addition, this little grater can also help you discover the joy of freshly grated cinnamon

I was trying to be so cool and give you an action shot here of me grating fresh cinnamon into the mix. However, shortly after I snapped this, I managed to grate about half of my finger into the mix. You will note that I didn’t include that in the ingredient list. You are welcome.

What I really love about these muffins is that they are idiot proof, and frankly, living my life, I need more things that are idiot proof. The first time I made this recipe, I forgot the baking soda and powder but they still turned out like rock stars…or rocks, but at least tasty rocks. If you wanted to riff on this recipe, you could substitute applesauce for some or all of the butter. You could also swap out whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour. In addition, you could omit some of the sugar. Bottom line is that there are many ways to make and remake this recipe..just get in the kitchen and bake!
Shellie Morettini, a member of ARWB and MOWomenBloggers, is a Mom/Wife/Farmer/Consultant whose daily life screams “portfolio career” whether she likes it or not. Her family is sharing their journey from a hectic city life to a more bucolic life on their little farm, Blueberry Acres where they raise heritage chickens and turkeys, Berkshire pigs, Belted Galloway cows, organic produce and one 5 year old nicknamed The Blueberry. To help support her husband’s livestock obsession, Shellie maintains a virtual practice where she offers outplacement, resume writing, job search and recruitment consulting to both individuals and organizations. She rants blogs about job search and recruiting topics at Looking2Landed.
Shellie has been featured on MSNBC, Modern Homesteaders and her mother’s fridge among other places. She always welcomes an excuse not to clean chicken yards, so feel free to connect with her on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.