No such thing as too much pumpkin!

"umm... not that I don't love your pumpkin waffles, but do you think maybe sometimes we can have regular waffles?" -Beau

Okay, I guess I go a little overboard on the pumpkin this time of year. But I can't help it! Pumpkin spiced anything is delicious and for some reason it is only delicious around this time of year. This is hands down my favorite time of the year. I love how (in Southern Cali anyway) it is always blistering hot and then all of a sudden it happens almost overnight; the wind blows in a chill, the trees are suddenly an array of beautiful golds, reds and yellows and the sky turns a silvery gray. It is beautiful! The air smells like damp earth, and there is no better smell than the smell of a wet desert. I get a thrill from pulling out the old cozy sweaters and fuzzy socks. A rush of childhood memories of Falls and Winters past hit me full force as I slip into an over-sized hoodie and cuddle up with a book while listening to some of my mom's favorite old CDs. And then the best part: I'm already bundled up all the time anyway, so I have no qualms about baking (and eating) all my favorite goodies!

I am not huge about decorating my treats into little spookie critters or covering everything in candy corn. What I like the most is what the season has to offer this time of year, and it finds its way into everything I make: apples and pumpkins! Sure apples are in the store all year around, but this is apple season and there is nothing better than an apple just picked off the tree in its season. There is something intoxicating about the smell of a perfectly ripe apple. It smells so sticky sweet and almost flowery. Yum!

And then there are pumpkins... where do I even begin with pumpkins? As a kid I thought pumpkins were just for decoration and then I got a little older and discovered the joy of pumpkin pies, pumpkin spiced cookies and cakes, lattes and anything else you can throw some pumpkin in. I have so many pumpkin recipes I had a hard time narrowing down which one to share, but in the end it was obvious what my favorite has been lately: pumpkin waffles! I make a bunch of batter and store it in a mason jar in the fridge so I can get to it whenever I have the urge, which is more often than I should. I could literally eat these waffles morning noon and night which is probably why Beau is so sick of them.

Yesterday when I woke up it was gray and drizzly outside and absolutely freezing in my house. I stuffed my feet into really tacky fuzzy socks decorated with green and white stripes and put on two sweaters and did the only thing I could think of to do when you wake up and everything is drizzly. I turned on my computer and played some rainy day music and then pulled out the waffle iron. The smell of these pumpkin waffles set the mood for the rest of my day and I could not have been more happy to sit at my table and eat while watching the rain glisten off the field behind my house and the crows bounce around eating walnuts that had fallen from my tree.

Pumpkin Spice Waffles with Walnuts

1 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree (fresh or from a can)
1 2/3 cup milk
4 bsp melted butter, cooled
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl beat the eggs, sugar. Then add the pumpkin, milk and butter. Fold the wet into the dry. Pour some batter into your waffle maker and sprinkle with walnuts. Cook according to your iron's directions. Serve right away with some fresh whipped cream or maple syrup. Mmmm...


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This another recipe to celebrate the season that I got from a tart recipe from Julie Child's The Art of french Cooking. The tart is delicious too, but if you ever have a few extra apples and you don't want to eat them inside a pastry shell, this is just as good on its own!

Applesauce

3 lbs apples, peeled and cored and diced
1/3 cup apricot preserves, forced through a sieve (this is to get all of the large bits of apricot out. If you don't mind large bits then you can leave it as is)
1/4 cup apple brandy or rum
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
zest of 1/2 lemon Place the apples in a saucepan, cover and cook on a low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once tender, beat in the rest of the ingredients. Raise the heat to a boil, stirring until applesauce is thick

(p.s. these are not my pictures! I stole them from Google because my camera was lost :) but it is found now, so pictures of my food will be coming soon! ... Nice picture of waffles though right?)