Saturday, October 31, 2009

Our Little Pumpkin

We had fun at the Merritt's house tonight handing out candy to their neighbors and eating hot dogs off the grill. Here are a few pictures of Caleb's first Halloween (he didn't have any candy, but he ate part of a hot dog bun and he had no idea why he was wearing this crazy costume):
Too much Halloween fun . . . all tuckered out. :)


Monday, October 26, 2009

Fall Fun!

October has most definitely been my favorite month this year so far, here are some reasons why:
-we have had the most perfect weather every weekend (fall-like weather! yay!)
-Caleb has been in such a great mood (no teething!) and is really starting to show us his personality
-trying out lots of new recipes (mmm . . . comfort food!)
-lots of fun activities (pumpkin patch, date night at Grimaldi's
Pizza, Mediterranean Festival)
Here are a few pictures:

Finding new uses for the exer-saucer!

Bobby, Caleb, and the Cokenours

Eating straw . . . yummy.


Bobby's 1st Birthday Party! Morgan made these adorable hats for all the party-goers!



Friday, October 16, 2009

Possible family resemblence



My mom sent me these two pictures in the mail . . . I had no idea Caleb and I looked so much alike! crazy!

Return to Blogland!

Haven't felt like I've had much to say lately and my days at home definitely get filled up with school work = no blog posts. But, with my most favorite season of the year sort-of gracing us with it's presence here is Southeast TX (or maybe it is just teasing us), I wanted to post a couple of recipes that I have tried recently. I definitely associate fall with comfort food, so these are probably not all that healthy for you (but they sure taste yummy!).

Pumpkin Cupcakes (I love anything with pumpkin in it, but not necessarily pumpkin pie - weird!)
Source: Real Simple
1 box yellow cake mix (I like the butter recipe kind)
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 15-oz. can of pumpkin puree
Follow the directions on your cake mix box (adding all ingredients needed in the cake mix) and mix in the pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice. Line 2 cupcake pans with liners and bake for 18 - 22 minutes.
Cream Cheese Frosting (I used store-bought frosting, but this looks like a very simple recipe)
2 8-oz. bars of cream cheese
2 cups confectioners' sugar
Beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until creamy and frost cupcakes when cool. Top each cupcake with a couple of candy corns.

Pork with Blackberry Sauce
Source: Better Homes and Gardens (modified for crockpot by me)
1 - 2 lbs. pork tenderloin (I used a pork roast, as the tenderloin was kind of expensive)
1/4 - 1/2 cup of blackberry preserves (depending on how sweet you would like it)
1 cup apple juice
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard (I didn't have any Dijon, so I opted for dry mustard - 1 tsp.)
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp. finely shredded orange peel
1/2 tsp. snipped fresh rosemary (I didn't have any of this, but think how good that would be!)
Let this cook for 6-8 hrs. on low in your crockpot. You could leave your roast whole and slice to serve or shred it to put on sandwiches (or corn tortillas - that was how I served the leftovers!)
This will make your whole house smell like fall! :)