It's here!

Fall has finally arrived!

The weather is crisp and cool.

The apples are abundant and the sweet potatoes ready to be enjoyed. 

So what else should we do but make Sweet Potato, Chipotle & Apple Soup?

HAPPY FALL!

Dear Chick-fil-A,

Please don't put the crushed up peppermints in my milkshake anymore.  As much as I love peppermint and chocolate together, I have a great dislike for things that stick to my teeth.

Sincerely,
Modern Day Scribe

A Thanksgiving Feast - Kid Style.

It has been years (at least 15) since I attended a Thanksgiving banquet.  But this year, I was fortunate enough to snag an invite to my niece MooMaLa's class celebration.  Yesterday, the Pilgrims (aka K-5) invited the Indians (aka K-4) across the hall for a Thanksgiving Feast. The Pilgrims provided the meal, of course. 

The menu consisted of turkey, mac and cheese, cranberry sauce, warm pasta salad and some other things that were long gone by the time I made it to the table.  But the highlight was the Cinnamon Coffee Cake! YUM. I thought this was dressing when I put it on my plate. (Don't laugh. It looked like dressing.) But when I put it in mouth, the flavor, the consistency... oh, the bliss!

I'm suprised I didn't dream about this last night.  We will definitely be seeing it again over the holidays. 

Happy Tuesday Before Thanksgiving!

Addendum: The Recipe!
Thanks to my dear sister-in-law for sending this over.

Cinnamon Coffee Cake

1 package yellow cake mix
1 package instant vanilla pudding
1 package instant butterscoth pudding
4 eggs
1 cup of water
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

1)Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 9 by 13 pan
2) Combine cake mix, vanilla pudding,butterscoth pudding, eggs, oil and water. Mix well.
3) In another bowl combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
4) Pour half of batter in the pan. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon mixture. Cover rest with batter. Top with remaining cinnamon and sugar!!
5) Bake 20 minutes at 350°.
6) Reduce temp to 325° and bake 35-40 minutes!!

Enjoy!!!!!!!

And then there was...

...Pumpkin Cake with pecans and raisins.

Another wonder of the roasted pumpkin.

More about Frogmore...

By popular demand:

Frogmore Stew

PS - add about 6 lbs of crab legs when you add the shrimp. It's just better that way. :-)

Getting your hands dirty

Ever gotten up from a meal with dirty hands?

I'm not talking sloppy joe messy. Not fried chicken messy. I'm talking you ate with your hands, messy, greasy, sloppy all at the same time.

That was my dinner tonight.

Frogmore Stew.

A delicious meal of crab legs, shrimp, corn on the cob, potatoes and smoked sausage all boiled together in one flavor filled pot of water.

You can use a fork for the potato and sausage if you like.

Otherwise, this is a hands on meal.

With drawn butter and cocktail sauce.

Yum.

Messy? Sure.

Worth it? Absolutely!

On a budget...

"Due to the economy, I am cutting back."

That's something you haven't heard before, right?

Ah, well. This takes different forms for each of us.
For me, food expenditures needed serious time with the red pen.

Conclusion: More groceries, fewer restaurants.

Plan of Action: Coupons!

For those of you in the South, check out Southern Savers.
It's great advice stocking the pantry with the best deals.
Some coupon links are included.

Let me know how you do.

As for me, I'm headed to Publix to get:
Pop Tarts for $.75/box
instant oatmeal for $.94/box
pasta for $.32/box