The Great Pumpkin

I love Charlie Brown holiday specials and can’t wait to see the Halloween one – they have a way of totally getting you in the mood for whatever holiday is coming.

Dinner tonight was simple spaghetti with Marinara sauce, started off by a new recipe, Bleu Cheese and Walnut Salad with Maple Dressing. The salad recipe is a new one for me, from Rachael Ray. I saw it mentioned on a cooking bulletin board and it was described as “heaven on a plate.” How can you not want to make a recipe with that type of description? It was very good and really quick to make. Nicholas gobbled it up, which is great because although he loves salad, had I told him he was eating spinach, he wouldn’t have touched it, so I managed to sneak some green veggies into him today! ;) All told, dinner was on the table in under 20 minutes. Can’t beat that!

After dinner, I made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins. I doubled the recipe and made full size muffins, mini muffins and used the rest of the batter to make a loaf. Perfect. I’ll give the loaf to The Neighbor, saved six muffins for us here, and the rest will be for the Halloween party at Nicholas and The Girlfriend’s old school tomorrow. It’s a recipe I’ve made before and it is super simple and never fails to impress. Great for the Fall season.

The special holiday magazines are starting to come out, and this is definitely one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. Tonight, I found “Our Best Holiday Menus” from Better Homes & Gardens. It’s got an interesting Pistachio cake on the cover, which I think I’ll be passing by, but it’s filled with a ton of other scrumptious holiday meals, appetizers, desserts and more.

Mail Call! Sara Moulton’s new cookbook, Sara’s Secrets for Weeknight Meals came in the mail today. As soon as I heard about it, I pre-ordered it from Amazon. I’ve never had a bad Sara Moulton recipe and this cookbook looks like it’s going to be no exception. And speaking of pre-ordering new cookbooks, for Rick Bayless fans, his newest cookbook, Mexican Everyday comes out next week, and yup, that’s on my list too.

Giada’s new show, Behind the Bash, and Warren Brown’s new show, Sugar Rush, both premiered last night, so I’m off to catch up on my Tivo. Optimum was here again today to play with the cable modem, and will be back tomorrow to hopefully finish up the job. Until then…

Bleu Cheese and Walnut Salad with Maple Dressing
Rachael Ray

1 10 oz. package of baby spinach
1/3 lb bleu cheese, crumbled
6 oz. walnut halves, toasted if desired
1/4 cup maple syrup
1-1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Place spinach on a large platter. Top with bleu cheese and walnuts. Warm maple syrup in a small saucepan. Pour vinegar into a small bowl. Whisk oil into the vinegar in a slow stream. Whisk maple syrup into dressing in a slow stream. Pour dressing over the salad platter and toss. Season with salt and pepper.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
1-1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Add eggs, pumpkin, butter and chocolate chips. Stir until well blended. Spoon into muffin pans, filling about 3/4 full. Bake 20-25 minutes. Makes about 12 muffins.

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