Dinner, Fall, Lunch, Main Dish, Savory, Sides, Summer, Vegetables, Vegetarian

charred corn polenta with herb + tomato salad

It is officially PSL season (pumpkin spice latte, in case you didn’t know), which means it should be time for all things pumpkin, right? While I adore pumpkin and pumpkin-flavored things, I have a hard time switching gears so rapidly from summer cheeseburgers and popsicles, directly to warm and hearty pumpkin-filled fall dishes without anything to bridge the gap between the seasons. In my neck … Continue reading charred corn polenta with herb + tomato salad

AmandaSeptember 20, 2015September 16, 2015Leave a comment

Dessert, Fall, Fruit, Snacks, Sweet, Winter

caramel pears

Pears are better than apples.

There, I said it. I’ve never been a huge fan of apples, they always smell better than they taste, to me. I do enjoy a few varieties that I’ll snack on if the rare mood strikes (Pink Lady, Honeycrisp), but I’d rather eat a pear than an apple, any day of the week. That’s why I decided to create a new cool-weather staple: enter the caramel-dipped pear!

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AmandaNovember 23, 2013September 13, 20152 Comments

Breads, Breakfast, Dessert, Fall, Fruit, Snacks, Sweet, Winter

autumn spiced donuts with apple curd filling

You guys. Ohhh, you guys. I can’t remember the last time I cooked something that I loved as much as these donuts.

Fall and cider donuts go hand in hand. I live in the southwest so they’re not quite as popular around here as they may be, say, in upstate New York or somewhere, so I decided to make my own. I had been wanting to make homemade donuts for a while, and I’m so glad that this is the recipe I settled on. Think of it as sort of a modified, inside-out cider donut.

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AmandaNovember 16, 2013September 17, 20155 Comments

Dinner, Fall, Holidays, Lunch, Main Dish, Savory, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Winter

perfect pumpkin lasagna

Let’s talk a little bit about pumpkin, shall we?

Pumpkin is good. It’s good in pie, it’s good in savory dishes, it’s good in soups, it’s even good in coffee as Starbucks would have you believe. Carving pumpkins is awesome, too.

How about pumpkin in lasagna? No, that’s not a typo. “But wait,” you say, “lasagna is supposed to have meat and tomatoes and lots of cheese! How can you fit pumpkin into all that?” Well, dear reader, I encourage you to branch out from your usual ideas of lasagna, cause this stuff is damn good.

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AmandaNovember 9, 2013September 13, 20153 Comments

Cookies, Dessert, Fall, Fruit, Sweet, Winter

spiced apple butter bars

Back a few months ago when I made these Strawberry-Lime Crumble Bars, all I could think about was how I couldn’t wait to make a fall-inspired version! The strawberry and lime ones were amazing, but when the weather turns cool, you just want something with cinnamon, vanilla and warm spices, preferably with some apples included, to ring in the season.

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AmandaNovember 2, 2013September 13, 2015Leave a comment

Breakfast, Fall, Sweet, Winter

pumpkin pie oatmeal with cranberry crunch

The arrival of cool fall weather means a few different things to me. One, it means an end to the dreadfully hot Phoenix summers, and two, it means that I can once again eat things like hot oatmeal for breakfast without sweating over the bowl!

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AmandaOctober 26, 2013September 13, 2015Leave a comment

Breads, Breakfast, Fall, Fruit, Sweet

carrot cake scones

Once the first day of fall arrives, we’re finally allowed to celebrate all things pumpkin without risking a punch in the mouth. We’ll get our fill of pumpkin bread, pumpkin cinnamon rolls, and of course the ever-present pumpkin spice latte. With all this pumpkin overload, there’s another autumn-appropriate flavor that always gets upstaged by pumpkin, and that’s the humble carrot cake.

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AmandaSeptember 28, 2013September 13, 20156 Comments

Dessert, Fall, Snacks, Sweet

golden grahams s’mores bars!

I love s’mores. Man oh man, do I love s’mores. Graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows! Mmmm.

Growing up, I never went camping (sad!), so I’ve never known the joys of making s’mores over a fire in the middle of nowhere. At our house when I was a kid, we had to make due with a lit burner of the gas stove, or make cheater’s s’mores in the microwave. They were still good, and they’re still one of my favorite messy treats for when the weather cools down.