30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 22

I'm thankful, for DQ Double-Chesseburgers

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 21

I'm thankful, for DQ Chocolate Malts

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 19

I'm thankful, I finally finished my sampler!

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 18

I'm thankful, for cupcakes!

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 17

I'm thankful, for whole wheat chocolate chip cookies.

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 16

I'm thankful, for my third sister Abbey.

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 15

I'm thankful, for my second sister Lizzie. 

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 14

I'm thankful, for my first sister Caroline.

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 13

I'm thankful, for the beautiful steeples in our town.

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 12

I'm thankful, for Panera bagels

Fabulous Friday Find

Allow me to sum up our week in one word, CRAZY!!!

I will be posting about all that has been going on soon.  But for now just know that blogging may have to take a back seat for awhile, as we focus on other things, mainly politics.  As I said details coming soon.

Even in all the chaos of the past week, I have still found time to find a couple of new blogs.  One of my favorites is Maple and Magnolia.  If I ever have time on my hands ("that's funny right there") I want to try some of the great projects she has done.  She really has some of the neatest vintage inspired ideas. 

I have pulled a few photos from her site to give you an idea of I'm talking about.

Great Before/After furniture projects

I LOVE this room!!!

Another Union Jack pillow! I have a soft spot for the British

And I love this photo.  It just looks like Spring to me.

Well thats all for now. 

Hope you enjoy the find. 

P.S. Some of my readers with young children/siblings will recognize the Cars quote in the post.  Like I said it has been a crazy week.  I need some chocolate! 

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 11

I'm thankful, for the brave men who have served our country.

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 10

I'm thankful, for sister story time.

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 9

I'm thankful, for Cowboys. Enough said.

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 8

I'm thankful, for little things that help me survive car trips

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 7

I'm thankful, for a "fashionable" baby sister.

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 6

I'm thankful, for Generations of Faithful Christians

(Grandma age 90 & Abbey age 2)

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 5

I'm thankful, I went to an NHL game before the Thrashers were sold.

Fabulous Friday Find

Today I wanted to share one of my favorite food blogs with y'all.

I found them last month, and have already suffered from several mouth-watering spells while viewing their blog.  I have really only gone through the Fall/Thanksgiving section and found several great recipes, including the Pumpkin Whoopie Pies I made earlier this week.

Here are a few pics from their site to give you an idea.

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

Apple Streusel Bars

Apple Cider Spice Doughnuts

Caramel Apple Bread Pudding

Can you tell I like apples? Well we have to do something with all of these!

I'm sure you will find some great recipe, everything looks SO good! 

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 4

I'm thankful, for little kitchen helpers.

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 3

I'm thankful, for whole wheat blueberry muffins

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 2

I'm thankful, for the many shades of fall

Pumpkin & Cream Cheese Whoopie Pies

Something very unusual happened on Saturday.  I was home alone, with my two year old sister.  Boy can that girl move!  In spite of her energy, I decided to try a new recipe.  This was somewhat of a personal achievement for me.  It marked the first time I had cooked alone with a little one.  And it really went quite well.  I only had to resort to giving her my camera for the last ten minutes.

I found this wonderful recipe on one of my favorite food blogs Our Best Bites.  They were a hit all around. Definitely a keeper!

Pumpkin & Cream Cheese Whoopie Pies

Cakes:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 cup oil
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 cups pumpkin puree
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs

Cream Cheese Filling:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 8oz. package cream cheese
3 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, beat together the brown sugar, white sugar and oil.  Add the pumpkin puree and mix well.  Add the vanilla and eggs and mix well.  Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until combined.

Using a tablespoon measure (I used a cookie scoop), drop the batter onto a baking sheet (lined if possible) leaving about 1" between the batter.  Try to keep the batter as circular as possible.  Bake for 10-14 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of the cakes comes out clean.  Remove from oven, and allow to cool for 5 minutes on pan before transferring to a cooling rack.

To prepare the filling, beat the butter on high for 1-2 minutes until smooth and fluffy.  Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth.  Add the powdered sugar, maple and vanilla and beat until combined.

Flip the cakes over onto a flat surface.  Using a pastry bag or small cookie scoop, place 2-3 tablespoons of filling on every other cake.  Top each pie with the remaining cakes.  Serve immediately or refrigerate in a airtight container. 

Makes 30 Whoopie Pies.

spices, flour etc.

mixing things up

you know it is fall when this is in the kitchen

ready for the oven

ready for assembly

YUM-O!!!

30 Days of Thankfulness-Day 1

November is a very special month for our family.  We celebrate two birthdays and our favorite holiday Thanksgiving.  We have a tradition in our family, every Thanksgiving we go around the table and share what we are thankful for.  I always have a hard time narrowing it down, so I have decided to be thankful for the entire month.  Each day I will share something that I am thankful for.  You are welcome to join me in giving thanks for our blessings, big and small. 

So without further ado, Day 1.

I'm thankful, for little faces at breakfast.