Our new favorite fall recipe

I found this idea on Bakerella's site, and changed the filling recipe and the size, but it was definitely from her idea.  On her site, she used mini muffin pans, but I used a regular muffin pan, thinking that that more closely matched the size of a slice of pie.  These are so delicious, and they can be customized with whatever design you like.  Will actually asked for these for his birthday, and I made an extra batch for him to take to work.  He likes to bring sweets, but doesn't really bake at all so that means I get to make new stuff and don't have to eat much of it (my butt likes that arrangement) although I would like to consume it all.  The recipe as I have made it is as follows:

1 can pumpkin  (not pumpkin pie filling)

3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

half teaspoon salt

1.5 Tablespoons melted butter

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup skim milk

one half cup half and half or cream

1 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons molasses

2 eggs beaten

2 crust pie crust, either from scratch or the roll out kind found by the refrigerated cookie dough.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Mix together all dry ingredients, and whisk around to break up any chunks.  You could also sift, but I never take the time to do that and it comes out just fine.  Add in each of the wet ingredients, starting with the pumpkin.  Mix well, and scrape the sides of the bowl several times.  Using a large cup ( the one I used was 4 inches across), or cookie cutter cut out 12 circles, one at a time.  You will need to stretch it out a tiny bit, and then put it in the muffin cup, being sure it reached the top of each cup. Push together the extra dough and squeeze it into a stem shape.  (They shrink up a bit, so make them a little bigger than you think they should be)  Pour the pie mixture into each muffin cup, filling slightly shy of the top.  They will puff up in the oven, so be sure to leave enough room at the top when pouring, or the filling will spill over making it very hard to remove the finished product.  Carefully place the muffin tin in the oven.  Cook at 450 for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 for approximately 20 more minutes, or until the tops look set.  Allow to cool completely.  If you want to add the cute faces, all you need is some semi sweet or any other kind you like and a bit of vegetable oil.  Melt the chips in the microwave in 20 second increments.  When completely melted, add a few drops of the oil and mix until smooth.  Pour into a zip loc bag and snip a tiny tip off, and decorate as you wish.  These are delicious.  This recipe will make 12 - 14 muffin size, or 24-28 mini muffin size treats!

Where's Waldo?

A weekend away

Will and I went to a the wedding of two of our very good friends, Melissa and Jamie this weekend.  The wedding was in North Conway, New Hampshire so shopping was plentiful!  We actually stayed overnight, thanks to my Mom and Dad offering to keep the girls.  Now, I have to admit, we have not been away overnight since before Maya was born. Pitiful.  We have decided that we are going to do the night away thing much more often.  We missed the kids, but knew they were having a blast with Nana and Grandpa.  We had such a great time.  The wedding was great.  Melissa looked gorgeous, and Jamie looked like he was going to burst when he saw her walk in.  The reception was a blast and the centerpieces were really cool.  There was a fifties-ish candy shop table with wedding color candy, such a cool idea.  So, we are so happy for our friends, and will definitely go away again soon.

From her first word to speaking like a grown up

My Lilly is growing up faster than I care to admit. Her spelling words at school are things like agriculture and cultivated, she has the inflection and intonation of a kid twice her age(though thankfully not the attitude) and today used the word devious properly in a sentence. As in, "mommy, now Elowen has another devious plan. She decided it would be a good idea to draw on the horses to decorate them." Elowen is a friend from Allie'sclass who makes some interesting choices. She was scheduled to come over yesterday, but took it upon herself to cut bangs in her own hair at school, therefore forefiting her right to a playdate. Her Mom doesn't fool around, which I like, but it truly broke poor Allie's heart, which in turn broke mine. We are over it now, but yesterday was rough. Elowen and Allie have been playing all afternoon. They have done play doh, painting, necklace making, snacking, sidewalk chalk drawing, horse decorating (deviously), dressing up, and dancing. I think they are trying to make up for yesterday. I have a feeling they are going to be very good friends for a long time, as Allie has her fair share of sneaky shady plans, too. So to recap, Lilly is growing at breakneck speed, Yesterday sucked, and everything is fine now. I am sure things are going to get more interesting as time goes on.

My Dad the Marathon Runner

My Dad is amazing for more reasons than I can list. He is the best Grandpa to the girls, a wonderful father to me, a super husband to my Mom, and a fierce lobbyist, fighting for the rights and issues that effect older Americans. He is definitely a person you want on your side. There are not enough good things to say about this man. He started running for health as an adult, and it has become somewhat of a passion for him. Every year he runs the Chicago marathon. This past weekend was his tenth race, and as it turns out, he beat his best time by over twenty minutes! I am so proud of him for his dedication to a very difficult sport while doing such an admirable job at everything else in his life. Congratulations, Dad on a great race, and thanks for everything you have taught me. I love you.

Allie the pack mule

Upon hearing that she needed to pick up all of the clothes from the floor of the room she shares with her two sisters, Allie proceeded to bend her body at a Ninety degree angle, so her back was parallel to the floor, and load all of the dirty clothes onto her back, making her way across the room and adding more clothes as she came across them. I very nearly peed my pants watching the whole thing transpire. You gotta give the girl props for her creativity!

Funny

We went to see cloudy with a chance of meatballs in IMAX 3d today. We all sat there wearing these giant blublocker type glasses, flinching as things came whirling toward us. Maya and Allie couldn't help reaching out to try and catch things that appeared to be coming our way. Maya kept saying,"momma, they are out of the screen now?" and I would lift her glasses so she could see that everyone was still on the screen where they belonged. It was a great time, I can't wait to see Harry potter that way!

Strangeness

This week finds me saying an abnormal number of strange things such as,"please don't run with salami" and "no, you may not ride the dog." sometimes it feels more cartoony than human around here, especially with all of the dressing up and crazy talk, but I wouldn't have it any other way.