My friend Kristin of My Life As A Teacup asked me to help blog-sit while she and her Boy take some time to relax in Gettysburg! As some of you long-time readers know, I used to be a food blogger, before I sort of lost that thread and then started blogging about our wedding. Kristin asked all of her guest posters to share their fall favorites, so I decided to dip my toes back into the food world and share some of my favorite fall recipes. I shared my crock pot vegetarian chili, cheddar-chive buttermilk biscuits, and pear bread. Head on over and take a look! Here’s a little preview of what you might find:

{Personal photos}

Head on over to Kristin’s blog to check it out! Thanks again for having me, Kristin!

I have been trolling Pinterest for a while now for some new recipes to try this summer and this is the first one we had. I mentioned yesterday that I’ve started drawing up weekly meal plans in an effort to get us to eat healthier and have some dedicated time every day to spend together, and I think most of the recipes on this week’s (our weeks go Thursday – Wednesday because we get our farm boxes on Thursdays) menu came from Pinterest. (P.S. You can find my Pinterest boards here.)

Yesterday was the first really hot day of the year, so this cold pasta salad was the perfect antidote to that. Cool, creamy, with a slight tang from the lemon and pepper, this is the perfect summer dish. And the sauce takes all of three minutes and a spoon, knife, fork, and bowl to make — what could be easier? Double or triple the recipe and take it to a cookout, or serve it on your deck with some chilled wine and a spinach salad. Either way you’ll get a good boost in healthy fats from the avocado and some good grains from the pasta. Perfect.

Avocado-Lemon Pesto Pasta Salad
Adapted from this recipe
Serves 2-4 depending on serving size.

INGREDIENTS
- 1.5-2 cups dry pasta of choice (short noodles such as penne, shells, elbows, etc. work best)
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1.5T lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon), seeds and pulp strained out
- 3T sour cream
- Garlic pepper to taste

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. In a small bowl with a fork, mash together avocado, lemon juice, sour cream, and garlic pepper until relatively smooth. Don’t worry about small lumps.
3. Drain and rinse pasta in cold water. Transfer to serving bowl. Coat pasta with avocado mixture.
4. Cover and let chill in fridge until cold.

It’s really that easy. And it’s really so good, you won’t believe how easy it was. Try it. You’ll see.

I don’t know how long it’s been since I shared a recipe on here! I made these muffins for Easter with Jason’s family. Oddly enough no one ate them because we ate a huge dinner, but I had some for breakfast that day and the next and they are goooooooood.

I made a small batch first because I wasn’t sure of the recipe. I ended up liking them so much that I made a second batch right after, but I realized I was out of honey halfway through the recipe, so I had to improvise. I subbed sugar for the honey and added extra lemon juice, and OJ as needed to moisten it up. Both types were delicious.

The lemon in these is strong. Almost enough to make you pucker a little. If you aren’t a fan of that, cut down on the lemon zest. I also bet these would be good with fresh ginger added in… Mmm.

Honey-Lemon Muffins
Adapted from this recipe.
Makes about 10 muffins per batch.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup + 1T honey
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup butter, melted
Zest from 1/2 lemon

1. In large bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In separate bowl, combine egg, honey, lemon juice, butter, and lemon peel. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
2. Fill muffin tins 1/2-2/3 full with batter.
3. Bake at 375° for 13-18 minutes or until cake tester in center muffin comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan before moving to wire rack.

I’m back!

So, finals are over, and to blow of some steam after finishing my huge stressful project Thursday afternoon with more than five hours to spare until the time came to turn it in, I decided to bake. A new recipe.

Apple upside-down cake.

See, I kinda hate raw apples. I hate the sandy texture of the flesh and I hate how chewy the skin is — I feel like I’m chewing forever when I eat an apple. But I love apple flavored baked goods, and I also love the fact that it is mid-September and it is officially apple season, and almost, almost officially fall (next week!).

So to celebrate the end of hell month, and to use up the apples that I bought but didn’t quite know what to do with, I made apple upside-down cake.

Let me tell you, the smell that this cake makes while it’s baking is absolutely divine. It smells as perfect as a Yankee candle, except it’s way cheaper and you get to eat it at the end. So…it’s much better than a candle. (‘Cause seriously, who the heck pays $24 for a candle??)

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The heat wave seems to have finally broken, and I’m back in my usual spirits (mostly, anyway). Please, summer, don’t ever get that hot again!

Jason and I were doing our weekly shopping yesterday when we found that blueberries were on sale, buy one get one free. I thought it would be the usual little 4″x4″ square things that you usually see, the ones that you can finish up entirely in one sitting just by eating them raw — but no, it was the 2lb tubs that were on sale. I looked at him and said “You wanna make pie?”

He said, “Yes.”

That’s why I love him.

So we cheated and bought frozen pie crust (hey, I don’t have a pastry cutter or a food processor, alright?) and at the checkout the girl said, “Making a pie, I take it?”

Yes. We were. I was excited. Jason was probably excited. We decided to make it the next morning because it was too dark that evening when we got back to take photos (you see, I plan my meals around this blog).

The reason I was so excited about this pie was because I was determined for it not to fail like my first, and only other, pie attempt (rhubarb pie back in May — it tasted alright but was the most hideous thing you’ve ever seen, and went bad rather quickly). I figured, this time I know the theory, I know generally how pies work, and I’m not attempting this with graham cracker crust — it’s gotta go right.

And it did. Mostly. It tastes divine and looks pretty dang cute and all but the problem arises when you try to cut it. The insides didn’t really thicken much — so they just sorta pour out like (delicious, albeit messy) blueberry soup. This is my fault, I think. You see, when I was reading up on pies back when I made my rhubarb pie, I discovered that there are two schools of thought in piemaking: the Mixers and the Sprinklers. The Mixers say that you should always mix the fruit and the flour/sugar before filling the pie crust, and the Sprinklers say that you should put the fruit into the crust first and then sprinkle the flour/sugar over top of the fruit — the juices from the fruit and the humidity inside the pie will cause the flour and sugar to dissolve and cook down into the pie. From my highly scientific research (reading eHow and the comments on AllRecipes), it seemed that Mixers were novices and Sprinklers were the professionals, so I decided to be a Sprinkler. This worked reasonably well with that rhubarb pie: the whole thing gelled very nicely and was evenly sweetened. But I don’t think it worked quite as well with this blueberry pie, because, while the top layer of berries is nice and gelatinous, the bottom half of it generally turns to soup and falls apart, and is less sweet than I’d like. So, if you decide to follow this recipe, be a Mixer. Even if you’re a Sprinkler at heart.

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