Off to the pumpkin patch we go!

fall family fun!

the cutest pumpkin in the patch!

Today was a perfect fall day here! So we took advantage of it and went to a local apple orchard and pumpkin patch! Jordan picked out a pumpkin to carve for Halloween and I took some sweet pictures of Everly. My mom and I propped her up in an apple basket and she slept (like a baby!) the whole time so she made it really easy to get some super cute shots...At one point, another woman walked by and said, "oh my gosh that's the cutest thing ever! That's not even my baby and I want to take a picture!" I love fall activities like this and can see it becoming a family tradition of ours each year! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well and got to enjoy some fall activities! 

Carved pumpkins & Roasted seeds!

Now that Halloween is getting closer, we thought it was finally time to carve our Great Pumpkins!!! After the search we had for these bad boys, we obviously couldn't let them go to waste! And with the perfect weather we had today and a lazy Sunday, there was no better time in our mind to carve them than today! 

And there's the finished products after lots of concentrating and carving, perfecting the cuts, and cleaning the seeds! I went with a monogram and Est. 2012, which is no surprise. I love monograms and since it's our first Halloween as a married couple, I couldn't pass it up! Jordan likes to carve out a challenging design so he went with Hades from Hercules! I think they look pretty awesome and now our porch is ready for Halloween! 

Now for the pumpkin seeds recipes! I made these in two separate batches today because I didn't know if cooking them in the oven at the same time would mix the flavors or have them end up tasting funky and since I was home all day anyway...I figured, why not! So the two different flavors I did were salty/spicy garlic and cinnamon-sugar apple cider! Yummmy they are tasty! I know it might seem like a lot of work to separate the seeds from all of the pulp and goop, but one taste of the seeds, and you'll know that it was worth the work! The first thing to do for whichever seasoning you decide to go with is to soak the seeds in a bowl of hot water then rinse them off and pay them dry. That really helps to get the pulp off easily!

Salty-Garlic Seeds:
2 cups pumpkin seeds, cleaned and rinsed
1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter OR olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt (I like using corse salt)
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
1/8 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Directions: **Same directions for both flavors of seeds!**
1. Preheat oven to 275*F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper 
melt the butter in a mixing bowl then add salt, garlic powder and garlic salt, worcestershire sauce, and pepper. Mix this up well then add in the seeds.
2. Once the seeds are fully coated, spread evenly onto the parchment paper in a single layer.
3. Bake for 1 hour, checking occasionally and tossing them around. Bake until the butter mixture is dried and until they are  nice and golden brown.
4. Take out from the oven and take the parchment paper with seeds still on it off the baking sheet to cool. Store in an air tight container!

Cinnamon-Sugar Apple Cider Seeds:
2 cups pumpkin seeds, cleaned and rinsed
1 1/2 cups apple cider
1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter OR olive oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

mmm fresh roasted pumpkin seeds!
Salty and Sweet!

Aside from the Hawks losing terribly yesterday, we still had an enjoyable weekend! It was beautiful fall weather here, we spent time with friends and each other, and got to carve our pumpkins! Next weekend our good friends Jared & Heather are getting married we're really looking forward to celebrating with them!!! Eeek and that means that my girl friends Leah and Hilary will be coming to town on Friday for the weekend/wedding! Really looking forward to next weekend already so let's hope that doesn't make the week drag on, isn't that the worst?! Enjoy the last few hours of the weekend and here's to a not so manic Monday! :)

homemade mini pizzas for gameday!

Well right now, our Hawks are playing and it's halftime. And they look awful. Man, we spent the day tailgating, hopping around seeing a bunch of our friends, soaking in Melrose Madness, and walked past the roar of Kinnick Stadium before heading home to catch the game. We were going to try and get tickets but two things in the end made us decide to come home: a. the tickets people were selling were from $50-75 a piece and we just don't roll like that. and b. I was already cold and had all of my layers on that I brought. So sue me, I forgot to bring a hat and gloves! Anyway, now after watching the first half in the comfort of our home, we're both pretty happy we passed up the tickets! Since it's gameday, I figured we'd go for a fun and easy dinner that's like the other tailgate food we had been snacking on all day. And the first thing that came to mind was, mini pizzas!!! We actually make these bad boys every Thursday night at the hospital for Bingo & Pizza with the kiddos and they love them! This seriously is a 15-minute dinner and about a $5.00 meal and it's delicious. Is there anything better than a quick, cheap and tasty meal? I think not!

Ingredients:1 can of homestyle biscuits (I used the smaller ones that had 10 in the package, but you could use the big fluffy ones that have 6-8 in the can)
1 jar of Ragu pizza sauce
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup of mini pepperonis (I used turkey pepperoni--70% less fat than regular!)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400*F
2. Take biscuits out of can, flatten them down between your hands and then spread evenly on an ungreased baking sheet.
3. Cover biscuits with the pizza sauce (however much sauce you like), then layer the cheese and pepperonis on top. 

equal peps on each pizza...
I forgot how much they spread so I would add more next time!

4. bake for 10 minutes or until the biscuit is golden brown and the cheese is baked to your liking.

5. let cool and enjoy! 

Then cheer on your team like crazy to play a better second half! Come on Hawks, pull it together! And there's talk of carving our AMAZING pumpkins tonight...so that could be happening! Since it's already getting so late though, it might be a two-day project but I'm excited to carve mine because I have a great idea instead of just decorating it....and then I'm going to make roasted pumpkin seeds! Mmmm! 

Off to the Pumpkin Patch we go!

fun fall day together!

Charlie Brown and his Great Pumpkin

best seat in the patch

Today we did one of my favorite fall activities....we went to the local apple orchard and pumpkin patch!! Because of the nasty spring weather and frost that we had combined with the brutal heat in the summer, I was bummed to find out that they had lost a lot of their apple crop. So we were unable to pick our own apples from the trees but we still got to enjoy some freshly made and still warm apple turnovers and some piping hot apple cider! Umm YUM! I would have been happy and satisfied right then and there! But Jordan was bound and determined to walk down the giant hill, across the field and to the pumpkin patch to search for THE PERFECT CARVING PUMPKIN (his words not mine and in all caps to really get across his enthusiasm for the perfect pumpkin...) So we made the walk and got to the pumpkin patch and started the search. And searched. And searched. We even set a few pumpkins out and carried them around to compare with other pumpkins because you know, we had to have the two most PERFECT pumpkins. And I think I devastated Jordan a little when finally I said, "well I think I just want to decorate mine and maybe not carve it..." Man, with the look I got after that comment, I'm surprised I'm still alive! Apparently pumpkins of this caliber are strictly for carving and showing off then making roasted pumpkin seeds with all the guts! Anyway, after freezing our buns off, tripping over one too many pumpkin stems and debating between some solid choices, we found the perfect pumpkins! But this didn't happen before I started calling him Charlie Brown and saying that he was searching for the Great Pumpkin....fall festivities at its finest! Now the search is on the find the PERFECT carving template and design! 

safety first! let's not mention we were driving with
the gas light on but hey, the PERFECT PUMPKINS
were good to go!

the only logical way to carry a heavy pumpkin
with hot apple cider...boom box it!