Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

If you are anything like me, you probably frequent Starbucks or other coffee shops.  A few years ago I discovered my love for all things Pumpkin.  Pumpkin Spice Latte's, Pumpkin Scones and these delicious Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffins.  I found the recipe (although I don't remember where) and it looked easy enough.  I have not made it in two years or so but it was a hit this year with the RA's!

Muffin:

3 cups all-purpose flour (or gluten free pantry all purpose flour)

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Nutmeg

1 teaspoon Ground Cloves

4 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 eggs

2 cups Sugar

2 cups Pumpkin (canned or homemade)

1 1/4 cups Vegetable Oil

Cream Cheese:

8 oz. Cream Cheese

6 (or so) Tablespoons of Icing Sugar (or Powdered Sugar)

Dash of Vanilla

2 Tablespoons of Butter

1. Preheat the oven to 350

2. Mix all of the "Muffin" ingredients and fill muffin tins (either greased or with paper cups)

3. Using a mixer, mix the "Cream Cheese" ingredients.  Use powdered sugar to taste...more will make it taste like icing, less like regular cream cheese.  You can also just cut up small cubes of cream cheese and drop them in.  Also delicious.

4.  I used an icing bag to "pipe" the cream cheese into the muffin but you can just drop it by teaspoonful's (using two spoons) into the muffins and press it down into the batter with your finger.

5.  Optional: sprinkle with chopped nuts or pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds

6.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.  Makes 24 muffins.

What happens when Grant is sick and Katie is bored...

This weekend was a nice, quiet weekend and was very relaxing.  Unfortunately, we both did not feel great (although Grant got the brunt of the sickness) so we slept, watched movies and read all weekend.  I have a love/hate relationship with these kinds of weekends.  I love having time to rest and relax and it was nice to just spend time at home but at the same time I totally hate feeling bored and I unfortunately become bored really quickly when I am stuck inside!

SO... I made chicken noodle soup (gluten free) and it made enough to feed us all weekend long!  I also tried making Artichoke Parmesan dip from a book called "Delicious Dips" that my good friend Stacey gave to us before our wedding.  I also bought four artichokes because I keep finding recipes for them that look good... but I'm actually not sure if I like artichokes or not yet.  I'll keep you posted.

On Saturday Grant and I were planning to go apple picking but didn't end up feeling up for it.  Instead I brought fall into our little abode.  I had a small pumpkin sitting on a table serving as my fall decor and I became inspired to try making something out of it.

The before picture of the pumpkin

The pumpkin after.  (Pumpkin puree was absolutely everywhere in our kitchen.)

Then I was inspired to host "Pumpkin Post-Rounds" since I was on duty all weekend.  Sunday night we had pumpkin seeds, Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and pumpkin cream cheese muffins (like what you'd find at Starbucks this time of year).

Now I've gone and made my mouth water again!

I'm not sure if I'm sold on roasting my own pumpkin vs. buying pumpkin in a can.  The canned stuff is definitely less work and less mess, but roasting it myself was pretty fun.  I guess it will all depend on my level of motivation for that pumpkin pie.

Fischer Hall

We live in Fischer Hall, a Residence Hall on a college campus that houses 600 Freshman and Sophomores.  Some think that we're crazy... that we would choose to live in the lobby of a dorm, but we love it.  Every year (and this is my fourth) has brought new joys and new challenges.  In a typical week the joys far outweigh the challenges and this week was no exception.

This photo was taken at the beginning of the school year at our first ever All Fischer Meeting which we held in the large auditorium on campus.  I loved seeing majority of our 600 residents all in one room.  Definitely a favourite moment in my career as a GRA.

On Friday night the Fischer CLC (Community Life Council - a group of 12 Sophomore students that I work with) hosted the first ever All Fischer Worship.  CLC this year is doing an incredible job... but I'll save that for another post!

What I re-learned on Friday night is that Wheaton has some very talented students!  CLC planned it all and three students volunteered to lead worship.  It was a wonderful fall evening and a great end to the week.

Too many fonts

I learned many things in College, but one of the things that stands out most is my Graphic Design professor John Printy's design wisdom (and maybe a pet peeve) of telling us not to use too many fonts.  Grant calls me a font snob since I don't like comic sans (and maybe a few others) but I do believe he is being converted over to my snobbery and this picture is the proof.

Grant just texted me this photo.  The other day he came home from work and his story from the day was about this can of stuff.  He was amazed at just how much information they managed to get on a single can and how it does not actually say on the can what it is called!  My favourite part is that he just sent the text and said "Here is the spray I was talking abut with the crazy fonts on it." Yes, I do believe he is slowly making his way over to my side!

On another note, I was reading the book "Art for God's Sake" last night by our newly inaugurated college president, Dr. Philip Ryken.  It is a small book but clearly written and I honestly find it inspirational (as I am someone who loves art!)  "At its best, art is able to... satisfy our deep longing for beauty and communicate profound spiritual, intellectual, and emotional truth about the world that God has made for his glory.  Is it any wonder that the best artists are celebrated?"  He goes on to talk about art and why some Christians are skeptical of it and then responds by writing:

"Yet even Christians who are dismissive of art continue to use it.  Doing so is inescapable.  Every time we build a sanctuary, arrange furniture in a room, or produce a brochure, we are making artistic decisions.  Even if we are not artists in our primary vocation, there is an inescapably artistic aspect to our daily experience. The question becomes, therefore, whether as Christians we will aspire to high aesthetic standards.  All to often we settle for something that is functional, but not beautiful.  We gravitate toward what is familiar, popular, or commercial, with little regard for the enduring values of artistic excellence.  Sometimes what we produce can be described only as kitsch - tacky artwork of poor quality that appeals to low tastes.  The average Christian bookstore is full of the stuff, as the real artists will tell us, if only we will listen."

Many of you who may be reading this are aware that the above is one of my favourite soap boxes, that as Christians we settle when it comes to the arts.  Well... I am officially inspired to write that Literature Review now on the value of art in the church and of using it in ministry with children!  (Seriously, that is what is on the to-do list for this afternoon!)

Happy Three Month Anniversary!

Today is our three month anniversary... or our 92nd day of marriage.  We know that it is the 92nd day because we tried to return something to target yesterday, our 91st day and thus missing the 90 day return range.  But I digress...

Tonight we splurged and got Chipotle and watched my favourite movie, You've Got Mail.  The end to a perfect fall Sunday.  Now I want a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils and scotch tape.

Thanks hon... I love you!

This really isn't all about food...

Before this summer, I had lived alone for over 6 years!  (Well... some wouldn't call living in a dorm living alone but I was the only one who slept in my space).  I decided in the spring that I needed another living thing in my apartment so I thought I'd try my hand at gardening.  We have these wonderful south facing windows in our apartment that let in a ton of light and I figured it would be perfect for growing plants.  I went to Home Depot, bought some seeds and dirt and hoped that there would be directions somewhere.

This beautiful basil plant has been through a lot!  I planted the little sprouting seeds in the pot in May and soon after left with Grant to spend the summer in California.  I figured they would surely die inside and that there may be enough rain or humidity to keep them alive outside.  When we got back from the wedding we had so much basil!  Unfortunately, we left the following day to go on our honeymoon and when we returned the basil bush was scorched from the sunlight and lack of rain.  I thought it was surely doomed but after some pruning it has come back to life.  (As you may notice, the pot next to it of other herbs did not fare so well.)

Now that we have basil around, we can enjoy homemade pesto!  Yum.  And thanks to the Taylor's, we learned to freeze the pesto in ice cube trays so they are perfectly portioned out every time we want to use them!

As for my other cooking adventures this weekend... I found myself craving apple pie.  I have yet to make a good tasting gluten-free pie crust but I was feeling inspired to try it again.  The Gluten Free Pantry Perfect Pie Crust mix worked pretty well, although was extremely difficult to roll out.  The result, a pie crust that looked like a patch-work quilt.  This is my pie before:

This is the pie after:

I think it looks delicious... but what pie wouldn't in this beautiful pie dish that Grant's parents gave us!

This blog really isn't meant to be a food blog, but I suppose it is one of the more creative parts of daily life for us.

Transition and a reason to love Google Voice

I was looking back through the blog I had my first year in Illinois (2007).  That was a time of transition, learning a new job, meeting all new people, new church, new school... you name it, everything was new.  It is interesting to look at my life now, 3 years later.  This is a time of transition.  However, my job is not new, I am surrounded by people I know and who know me, I am a member of my church and completing my second graduate program in this place.  It is interesting that we are in a deep season of transition when life around us has remained relatively similar!

One aspect of transition for me is learning to stay.  Until coming to Wheaton, I had moved almost every summer since I graduated from High School in 1999.  I lived in Edmonton, Calgary, Minnesota and China, constantly packing and unpacking, saying hello and saying goodbye.  This is my fourth year in the same apartment.  I haven't had that since living in my parent's house!  It is funny to me that staying is what is unfamiliar to me!  I am also learning now what it means to be a wife and a roommate... but I'll save that topic for later!

I found this picture on my old blog of me and my friend Melissa.  We both started at Wheaton at the same time as students and GRA's.  This was taken within the first weeks here.  She moved from California, I had moved from Canada.  Our friendship grew over studying at Starbucks and talking about the culture shock we felt!  I also love this picture because it was taken at the Wheaton Public Library with our old on-duty pagers.  (Thank goodness... I no longer have "Pedro" but have moved up in the world to using our cell phones and google voice!)

"Everybody has to change, or they expire.  Everybody has to leave, everybody has to leave their home and come back so they can love it again for all new reasons." - Donald Miller, Through Painted Deserts

Velma Still Cooks in Leeway

"In the meantime, while you're hurting and healing, you do whatever it is the Lord's given you to do.  I cook.  I look over a table full of good things the Lord's already made, and I turn them into my own sort of love.  Sometimes I don't know what does people more good--my prayers or my recipes."

That quote comes from this book:

Ever since I finished Harry Potter it is all I seem to be talking about!  I loved reading it and now that I'm finished I don't quite know what to do with myself.  (The thought of reading textbooks is not nearly appealing enough).  I was talking to Grant and as soon as I said "I wish I had a fun book to read" I knew instantly which one I should pick up.  My copy is buried in storage somewhere, so I went to the library and took this out.  Velma Still Cooks in Leeway was one of my favourite books when I graduated from High School *cough* 11 years ago and I have not read it since!  I hope it lives up to my memory of it!

It is a story about a woman who owns the only restaurant in a small town... that's about all I remember.  At the end of each chapter there is a recipe too... maybe I'll try making something!

Harry Potter

Last night (or should I say this morning) I finally finished the Harry Potter series.  I read (or listened to) all of them over the summer and could not put down the final book this weekend.  I just read and read and read and it was fantastic.  Is it too soon to start them again?

Cookies and Concert in the Park

On Saturday night Grant and I headed into Chicago with his friend Andrew & James to see the Lyric Opera perform in Millennium Park.  This has been one of my goals ever since I moved to Wheaton more than three years ago.  I absolutely love the pavilion that Frank Gehry designed and it was incredible to see a concert there in person.

Grant and I are both not that familiar with Opera, but we agreed that it was incredible!  The standing ovation and loud applause from those around us (who looked like they knew what they were doing) affirmed that thought!  We also took fruit and sandwiches with us, proud that we had actually planned ahead enough to make ourselves dinner.  However, once we were there I was definitely coveting the other picnic's around us.  There was sushi, wine, and Giordano's pizza, to name a few.  People even brought in small tables and nice chairs.  It was quite the experience.

And lastly... on Friday night I decided to try my hand at making these bite size Almond & Chocolate Macaroons. I had so much fun making these!  Especially since I was able to pull out some of my cake decorating supplies from when my friend Toni and I took a class when I was still in college.  What can I say... cooking is my creative outlet these days!  These are soft and delicious and I recommend trying them!  You can find the recipe here. 

Chicken Meatballs

I am a fan of Martha Stewart.  She helped us with almost every detail of our wedding with her "Martha Stewart Wedding Ideas of the Day" e-mails (including this pillow I made for our ring bearer to carry).  

I also find a lot of good tasting and easy recipes from her website and I am often inspired by the the things she makes.  Hopefully I haven't managed to make everyone stop reading this already.  Say what you may about her character... you can't deny that she has good taste.

Well, the other day it was kind of cold outside and I decided to try making this soup that I had seen Martha make on TV.  It was surprisingly delicious in spite of the fact that the chicken meatballs look funny and that I am not a huge fan of ricotta cheese or cooked spinach.

But, this was pretty easy to make and was yummy... and to top it off it was gluten free!  It also made enough for 5 people with good appetites.  If you're interested, you can find the recipe here !

We made ourselves a blog...

well... If I am going to be honest, I have to admit that I (Katie) am really the one who made the blog.  I put Grant's name on it since I think I may be able to win him over to this whole blog thing!  (And he'll likely be the subject matter of many posts!)

I love to read my friend's blogs.  I have many of them bookmarked and every so often I will wander over to their websites to see what they've written.  I enjoy keeping up with the normal, everyday events in people's lives and living so far away from many of our friends and family make that difficult.  Since I love to read all of these blogs, I figured it was only fair to start writing one my own again as well.  Hopefully this will be a place where we can share the exciting and not-so-exciting things that happen in our lives as we figure out this whole marriage thing, finish up Grad school and continue to live in a college residence hall.

(This picture is the background photo and was taken at our wedding on June 19th)