fall bucket list

I've seen this bucketlist everywhere on the internet since the start of september and as much as I always loved making monthly bucket lists on here with these huge goals I never really accomplished, I've decided to mix it up. I've made seasonal bucket lists with recipes I want to make during each season. So far I have recipes saved on google docs and notecards with the recipes written out, once I have all of them collected I'll put them together in a binder I decorated and hopefully use every year after this. So here's some of what I'm hoping to make this fall:

- whoopie pies
- my grandmother's pumpkin bread
- pumkin cream cheese muffins (like the starbucks ones)
- cinnamon pull apart bread
- applesauce
- whole wheat banana bread
- spiced applesauce cake

my goal is to share the recipes with you as I try them out, these are just a few of the ones on my list. I'd love to hear what your favorite thing to make is in the fall!

the time i made 4 dozen cookies and they were gone in 10 minutes

i've been doing a disservice to you guys by not sharing this recipe with you. the first time i made them i made 2 dozen and they actually made it in the cookie jar for a total of 15 minutes before they were gone, the next day i made them again and they didnt even make it into the cookie jar.

the best part is that it takes like no time to put the batter together. after we tried them my mom and i both agreed they were the best cookie we've had in a long time. they were cakey and biscuit like at the same time. they have just enough sugar and with the added combination of the sweetness of the strawberries they have made it to the pile of recipes that i will keep and make over and over again.

the recipe comes from martha stewart so you know its a good one and i found it on one of my new favorite baking blogs always with butter. make sure to check it out.

strawberry shortcake cookies
ingredients:
12 oz strawberries hulled and diced
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup & 1 tbsp sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp butter, cold & cubed
2/3 cup heavy cream


preheat oven to 375 degrees.
mix strawberries, lemon juice and 2 tbsp sugar, set aside. whisk flour, baking powder, salt and remaining sugar. cut in butter (i used a pastry cutter) until coarse crumbs. stir in cream then strawberry mix. scoop out onto a parchment lined baking sheet. bake 25 minutes.
**notes: the recipe says bake for 25 minutes however my cookies took about 10 to bake so just watch to see when they are done.

future plans

i can remember saturdays on pbs sitting in the living room of my house with my dad watching cooking shows, lydia's italian table, julia child, and ciao italia with maria esposito. jokingly my dad and i would talk about how great it would be to be able to cook for a living like they did, to have their own show and enjoy what they were doing. as i grew up i was always in the kitchen helping, thats just how it was in my family everyone helped with dinner. as we grew up we became more responsible for cooking our own meals. i always enjoyed it deep down and always wished there was something more i could do with it, like go to culinary school. i was never really sure of what i wanted to do, first i considered social work, eventually i thought working with 4-H a program that had helped me out so much and formed me into who i was seemed like the perfect fit. i applied to colleges, began classes and never really looked back. last year wasnt to bad, i made friendships some lasted longer then others but i thought the deeper i got into my classes and coursework the easier it would be to make friends i would spend the rest of my years with. summer after freshmen year for some reason i cant remember i started following blogs, collecting recipes and trying some. i made a peach pie and zucchini chocolate chip cookies and was given aprons from my grandmother. after that it felt like i was truly doing something i enjoyed. last semester was hard but i figured soon it will only be my major required classes, i'll enjoy them more. instead i hated them more and more. every now and then i would joke around with my mom about going to culinary school. i knew it was only a pipe dream, then i registered for a weekend class at le cordon bleu and it seemed my mom finally grasped how much this was something i wanted to pursue further. so i am. next year i won't return to the university im attending now, i'll move back home and start at a community college based culinary arts program. at first when i started telling people like my favorite teacher and 4-H leader i felt i was letting them down. but now i've come to realize however hard it will be to explain to some i'll finally be happy in my classes and i'll be doing something i truly enjoy. this post helped me really clarify for me that i was doing what was right for me and that i wasnt alone

sharing

to be honest i never thought i was going to find the link to where i got the recipe for this bread from and i thought id have to retype all the steps because it was so worth it to share this delicious bread with all of you, thankfully after some longgg searching i have finally found it. so here it is hope you all enjoy and while were sharing here, id like some feedback from you readers so if you get a chance fill out this survey itd be greatly appreciated. have a lovely day!

my weekend

this weekend while i was home was jampacked with lots of great moments, celebrating chinese new year, getting to see my lovebugs, making red velvet cupcakes, buying my toms, being able to see my best friend and venting about everything and then listening to her vent to me, and texts at 9:30 at night to make oh baby bars. overall it was pretty successful and cant wait for it to happen again soon.








to be quite honest the cupcakes didnt taste like i wanted them too, i dont think there was enough cocoa powder and although i used quite a bit of food dye it still wasnt enough to make them the red that i expected. the cream cheese frosting on the other hand was to die for and i dream about eating it everynight now. any suggestions for a better red velvet recipe are welcome.

what i've been up to recently

my last couple of days home before school were kinda crazy. i tried to fit in everything i had forgotten to do until the last week. some of these things included seeing my friends and family for the last time, craft shopping and clothing shopping with my mom, buying things for my school apartment, attempting to buy textbooks, cleaning my room and closet. but lets talk about some of the more exciting things i did:

i made 3 loaves of delicious bread:

once i type up the recipe i will post it because its sooooo good and super easy, however i feel awful because i dont remember for the life of me where and who i got the recipe from

i made homemade butter with my sister:


another simple recipe from joy the baker

i made another batch of whole wheat chocolate chip cookies from this lady and didnt even get a chance to eat them after giving them to my grandmother, great aunt and my family devouring them

i also made lentil soup thats my great aunts recipe. she said she had been making it for a few years and one day she told her husband she was making it and he finally admitted he didnt really like it one bit however he had ate 2 bowls of it whenever she made it up to that point

a recipe will be posted soon because i think its too good not to share

my parents made dutch bread


and finally i made little bits of heaven aka oh baby bars aka peanut butter cups


and finally i started working on organizing all the recipes i've printed out and putting them in a pretty binder if you have any great recipes let me know im always looking to try new ones out.

now im at school and still trying to get back into the school mode, i keep thinking it really hasnt started yet. hope you have a lovely wednesday :)

cookies

lately baking has become my new favorite hobby, last night i made my first loaf of bread from scratch and i cant wait to make it again and before christmas i made some cookies with my favorite children.

recipe found here, not my favorite recipe they lacked alot of flavor

i think she got excited because she thought it was chocolate

cutting the cookies

please ignore the hot mess i am in the picture

later that week i made these, whole wheat chocolate chip cookies and they were heavenly so heavenly i might have ate all of them on my own....

my cute apron with ruffles and comfy slippers

ingredients

entertainment while i wait for the cookies to be done

the cutest cookie of the entire batch