pumpkin spice cake that LOOKS like a pumpkin!

it is late september, and autumn recipes are popping up all over the place.

i saw a recipe in a williams sonoma catalogue for a pumpkin cake - made of pumpkin and LOOKED like a pumpkin. so cool! they were selling some type of special pan for it - but, after doing some research, i figured i could do it in a bundt pan. and i think it came out awesome!!

here's the recipe - for the cake & the frosting:

1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups white sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg*
1 teaspoon ground allspice*
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon*
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

*i ran out of allspice when i was making this. whoops.

but, most of these ingredients are what "pumpkin pie spice" is composed of. to make "pumpkin pie spice" you should combine cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and nutmeg. if you add a teaspoon of cloves, and then about 2 - 2 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice instead of the others, it will come out just fine : )

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease one 10 inch bundt pan.
Cream oil, beaten eggs, pumpkin and vanilla together.
Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, ground nutmeg, ground allspice, ground cinnamon, ground cloves and salt together. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and mix until just combined. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cake cool in pan for 5 minutes then turn out onto a plate.

For the frosting:

1/4 cup shortening
1/4-3/4 cup water (you decide how thick you want it)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon clear imitation vanilla extract (i only had regular vanilla extract - but clear almond extract, so, i used that instead - came out wonderful)
1/2 cup butter
4 cups confectioners' sugar

With an electric mixer blend all ingredients until mixed.

Add food coloring as necessary! I used orange & green gels from Wilton's.

For the pumpkin stem, i used a waffle ice cream cone. i broke off the pointy end so it was slightly flat - and then covered it with green frosting. I put some bunched up papertowls in the middle of the bundt (under the cone) just so the cone wouldn't sink all the way down to the plate.

ta-da!

peach pecan crumble muffins

very exciting, interesting, and novel to use peaches in muffins. yummy!

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped fresh or frozen peaches, thawed and drained
1/2 cup chopped pecans

TOPPING:
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon cold butter

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, milk, oil, egg and vanilla. stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in peaches and pecans. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full.
Combine topping ingredients until crumbly; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Nahant 30K - September 14th, 2008

I decided to run a 30K (18 miles and change) in Nahant. The race was on a Sunday - and September, i think, is one of the best months for running. The temps are a bit cooler, especially in the morning, but you are almost guarenteed reasonable weather since fall hasn't had a chance to completely take its toll yet.
Sunday, September 14th, 2008: it POURED.

The temperature wasn't bad - about 65 or 70. but as Paul (who was nice enough to be my support staff and get up at 6am to drive me) and i waited in the car before the start, the rain just seemed to come down heavier and heavier. i was thinking "wow this stinks." but, no one else was going home, or seemed to be complaining. so i kissed paul goodbye, and splashed through puddles on my way to the start.
the course was beautiful, running all through Nahant, with tons of ocean views. but, honest to goodness, it was the most hilliest course EVER. ever. besides the causeway, that links lynn & nahant, it was up and down, and up and down, and up and down again - the entire way. oh, ya, and raining.
it briefly stopped raining somewhere between miles 5 and 11. and, well, that was nice. all i could hear was the "slosh slosh slosh" of the other runners - as with each step i felt like i was stepping through a wet & steamy swamp.
the rain picked up again around mile 11 or 12, but, really, who cared at that point. i just wanted to finish.

and finish i did. my time was 3:12, and i was damn impressed.

mount washington hike - labor day weekend

i love the outdoors & i am def adventerous: running, walking, biking, hiking, exploring, and i am down for pretty much ANYthing once. i've done some light hiking, but, i wouldn't call myself an "experienced hiker." and my husband, who is also down for anything, isn't exactly a hiker either. i would rate myself as intermediate, probably just because of my running experience. but, we decided to hike mount washington, the largest & most difficult peak in the east, anyways. haha.

let me start by saying, overall, we had a great time. it was more difficult than almost anything i have ever done, and my husband wanted to "pull the plug" two hours in, but, we ended up making it to within 0.8 miles of the summit. the roundtrip took us about 7 hours. i went from shorts & a T-shirt to fleece, gloves, and a hat. and i would definitely do it again.

loaded with enough food for a small army, which included about eight peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, we started our hike at pinkham notch at about 8:15am. it was a beautiful day, not a cloud in sight, and about 70 degrees. the forecast was sunny and mid 80s. the forecast at the summit, however, was 40-50 mph winds, and a windchill of 25 degrees. oh well, we said. let's go!

the first half wasn't too bad, but definitely long. we made it to the halfway shelter at about 10, or 1 hour and 45 mins into the journey. paul looked like he was struggling a bit, but looked revived after a peanut butter and jelly sandwich & a bathroom break. we spoke to a few people that he hiked to the summit before. they informed us that it was at least twice as difficult going foward, and if we hiked "reasonably fast" we would make it in 2 1/2 hours. yikes!

well, hard was an understatement. it was "seriously uphill." seriously uphill, as in, i was using my legs AND hands to climb the rocks as a cougar would, and we were stopping about every 2 minutes. oh man, but, it was beautiful. we met a woman and her father at the halfway point & chatted a bit (who were from winchester, ma by the way! small world). she was about 50, and in great shape, and her father had to have been at least 70 - and he waved and flew right by us, as we were trying to recover on the side of the mountain. my husband, sweaty, wheezing, and 30 seconds before told me he was ready to "pul the plug," looked at me and said "no way is that old man beating us ..." and off we went!

all and all it was amazing, and i would definitely recommend it to anyone who is in average shape physically, but excellent "mental" shape. we didn't make it to the top. we stopped about 0/8 miles from the summit, as it was already 12:30, and i was nervous about getting down before dark. we took a different path back, and hiking down was a lot easier. when i say a lot easier, i mean really really hard ... but easier than going up!

oatmeal raisin cookies

simply delicious. these cookies are wonderful, soft and chewy. they are easy to make, and are AWESOME to carry along with you when you hike mount washington (even as oatmeal raisin cookie crumbs!) yum!

1 cup butter

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 and 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cups old fashioned uncooked oats

1 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy.

Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; mix well.

Stir is oats and raisins; mix well.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown, 10-12 minutes.

Should make about 4 dozen - although I tend to make larger sized cookies, and get about 30-35 total cookies instead.