And so it begins!

Don't get me wrong, I'm a Halloween lover. But I can't deny that half my excitement for Halloween is knowing the next day we'll wake up to full blown fall, when I can shamelessly obsess over florescent orange leaves on the trees and bundle up in cozy scarves and bake as many loaves of banana bread as my holiday loving little heart desires! 

The hubs is not a fan of winter. He's dreading the first snow. For him, November 1st marks a steady decline into miserably cold weather and sundown at 5pm. I've been warned not to even think about putting up the Christmas tree until the day after Thanksgiving, but I've been sneaking out bits of holiday decor when he's not home and trying to draw some festive spirit out of him a few weeks early. For example, the adorable ceramic Santa cookie jar from my grandparents... How can he say no to such a thing... when it's full of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies? He simply can't, and he didn't, thusly, Santa is already prominently on display in our kitchen and should safely remain so long as he never runs empty.

HALLOWEEN

 THANKSGIVING

CHRISTMAS

 IN THE KITCHEN

Pumpkin Seeds from our carving pumpkins - Salted, spicy, cinnamon & sugar

 

 Baked stuffed apple / GF banana pancake with berry topping

 Pumpkin beer bread / GF pumpkin chocolate chip mini muffins

 Chicken & veggie quiche

Pumpkin Patch & Sonoma

Fall is my favorite season, and one of my favorite things about fall is going to the pumpkin patch! 

I was starting to worry that my insanely busy October was forcing me to miss out on the fun this year, but last weekend on a whim I wound up at a little patch along Highway 12 between Napa and Sonoma. 

I've got a not so secret obsession with ugly pumpkins - seriously, the more discolored and knobby they are the better! This particular patch had the ideal selection of both pretty, round carving pumpkins and misshapen, mantle-worthy ones. 

 

 

We finished off the afternoon tasting at Michael Mondavi and Domain Carneros. It was my first visit to Michael Mondavi (not to be confused with Robert Mondavi in St Helena), but I really enjoyed their tastings and even scored a case of chardonnay for half off! Domain Carneros is one of my all-time favorites and I try to pop by for a flight of sparkling wines every time I'm up that way.

Loving these major falls deals!

This is what happens when I go to discount fashion stores in search of supplies for my Halloween cakepops... Sometimes they have festive sprinkles and such in their baking section and I was having a hard time tracking down a couple of things.

But seriously, come on now, how could I not! Literally two fall seasons have come and gone as I have hunted for reasonably priced boots like these - Riding boots generally run $300+. I found this pair by Chinese Laundry on clearance for $70 at Nordstrom Rack (their store on 9th in SF is stellar!). And this blouse? It was meant to be! I walked up to the baking isle and blam! There is was hanging from a rack of pans, size Medium, oh so Kimberly in bone and sparkle with a clearance tag of $15. It would have been a crime not to take it home. And if it helps my case, I did buy sprinkles too.

Pumpkin Carving

I simply adore all things fall, especially all things holiday, and certainly all things pumpkin!

Just because a girl lives in the city doesn't mean she can't enjoy some good ol' fashion pumpkin patch fun and home cooked yumms! Yesterday after work, a friend and I headed to The Great Pumpkin Patch on Sloat and 19th Ave to goof off and pick up a few mini pumpkins and gourds for my mantle. We bought our carving pumpkins at Safeway - yah yah, I know, I am that cheap.

Low-fat jalapeno poppers from scratch (see recipe below)

Bruschetta (Baguette, basil leaves, tomato slices, mozzarella cheese) 

Blood orange mimosas with black sugar rims

After munching, we carved up these beauties! Okay, well, maybe "beauties" isn't the best way to describe them, but after two bottles of sparkling wine we weren't exactly pro status. 

This morning I seasoned and baked the seeds to take to the office and share! The batch on the left is  cinnamon and sugar, and the batch on the right is salt. Separate seeds from the pumpkin guts and rinse well in strainer, spread seeds on a baking sheet, bake at 325°F for 10 minutes, stir them up and add more seasoning, pop back in for another 10-15 min until they are more crunchy than chewy.

LOW FAT JALAPENO POPPERS

Ingredients: 

6 jalapeno peppers, 1/4 cup reduced-fat cream cheese, 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream, 1/4 cup diced scallions, 1/2 cup packed reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese, salt & pepper, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1 1/2 cups whole wheat breadcrumbs, 4 egg whites, nonstick cooking spray.

Directions:

Preheat broiler on high. Wearing gloves - cut stem off of peppers, cut in half length-wise, scrape out seeds and membranes. Place jalapenos on foil covered baking sheet and broil for 2 min to draw out some of the spice. If you don't do this, they'll be WAY too hot! Set aside to cool completely.

Preheat oven to 450°F. In a small bowl mix together cream cheese, sour cream, scallions, and cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Tightly pack mixture in each jalapeno half.

Put flour in shallow dish. Put breadcrumb in small dish. In a bowl, whip egg whites with a whisk until they are foamy but not quite holding peaks. Dredge jalapenos in flour, shaking off excess. Dip in egg whites, being careful not to lose the filling. Place in breadcrumbs and coat completely.

Place on foil covered baking sheet, salt and pepper to taste, spray lightly with cooking spray, and bake around 20 min until golden brown and crispy.

Staying Warm in the Sunset

I live in the Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco where it's cold all the time. Literally, all year around I wake up to my car dripping wet and fog so thick sometimes I can't see past my block. I'm pretty stingy on utilities so I try to find practical ways to stay cozy in my little flat without turning on my heater. 

Here are some of my favorites... 

Socks and slippers galore! I live in my white booties. They're oh so cozy! But my knock-off Ugg slippers and those thick knitted socks sure get a lot of wear too. Cooking and baking is an easy way to warm the place up and it forces me to eat real food instead of living off of take-out. Hats! I've never thought of myself as a hat person, but for a long time I didn't think I could pull off big earrings either (thanks Kirstin!). My favorite place to shop for cheap, fun winter accessories like hats and scarves is definitely H&M.

Speaking of scarves... They're my fall weather obsession. I've got a drawer full. My favorite black one was stolen a few months ago and I've been on the hunt for a replacement ever since. I've also been trying to find extra long ones that wrap around several times instead of hanging down in the front. I've seen them in photos but never been able to track one down for myself, so I was thrilled to find a long, black one at Nordstrom Rack on my lunch break last week! And for so cheap! I'll have to keep checking back there to see if any other colors come in.