Fall

Name: Pumpkin Cheddar Cheese Ball
Yield: 2 cheese balls
Ingredients: 2 8 oz packages cream cheese (softened); 1/3 cup canned pumpkin; 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese; 1 tsp smoked paprika; 1 tsp sea salt; 1/2 tsp crushed black pepper; 1/4 cup black sesame seeds; 1/4 cup poppy seeds

Easy Vegetarian Chickpea Noodle Soup Recipe

January 2, 2019ALL, Entree, Fall, Soup, Winter34

This Chickpea Noodle Soup recipe is chocked full of healthy vegetables, hearty beans, and chewy egg noodles. This soup is a great way to get more vegetables into your meal while still enjoying the comfort of delicious pasta.

Happy New Year! Ready or not, it’s time for 2019! Can you believe this will be the last year in this decade?! I’m a bit in shock since I’m still listening to music like it’s the early 2000s (just joking…sort of). Anyhow, it’s sort of become a tradition for me to share a soup recipe (like this one and this one) as the first recipe of the year. I decided to share this Chickpea Noodle Soup recipe because it’s chocked full of vegetables (helloooo 2019 goal of eating more vegs) and beans but its not totally indulgent free because there are plenty of filling egg noodles in this as well.

20 Vegetarian Thanksgiving Recipes You Should Try This Year

November 12, 2018ALL, Entertaining, Entree, Fall, Round-Up, Sweets, Thanksgiving, Winter82

Thanksgiving is less than a week away – do you know what you are making yet? Whether you are planning the whole menu or just looking for a dish or two to bring to the party, I’ve got 20 Vegetarian Thanksgiving that are perfect for the occasion.

Quick Starters and Appetizers

This Roasted Beet Hummus with Hazelnut Oil & Rosemary recipe is a bright and easy snack worthy of serving to guests.

Marinated Goat Cheese with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Olives

November 8, 2018ALL, Appetizer, Drinks, Entertaining, Fall, Thanksgiving, Winter29

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This Marinated Goat Cheese with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Olives recipe is an easy appetizer that can be made ahead of time and is a great starter to serve at your holiday parties!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Day Owl Rosè. The opinions and text are all mine. Thank you for supporting the brands that make VV possible. Msg 4 21+

Pumpkin Cheddar Cheese Ball Appetizer Recipe

October 15, 2018ALL, Appetizer, Fall, Side, Snack73

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This Pumpkin Cheddar Cheese Ball Appetizer Recipe is perfect For Halloween themed parties and any fall entertaining you are planning to do!

As you may remember, we completely redid our backyard this past spring and I am SO SO SO excited that it’s finally cool enough to have a fire back there and not break into a sweat. This also means it’s time to host! I’m planning to make this festive Pumpkin Cheddar Cheese Ball the next time we have guests over for a fire because it’s not only delicious but super festive (black and orange!) and can be whipped up ahead of time. I’m thinking I will also probably make this for Halloween so Wyatt and I can have a delicious treat while we hand out candy on our porch – we deserve a treat yo ‘self moment too for the holiday, right??

You do need to plan ahead just a bit by making sure you give the cheeseball time to chill in the freezer before rolling it in the poppyseed and black sesame seeds. I like to serve my cheeseball with some crackers and veggies but potato chips would also work great here as well.

Oh and if you are into pumpkin recipes, make sure to check out all the other amazing recipes being featured on the Virtual Pumpkin Potluck!

How is your fall shaping up so far? It’s been pretty quiet over here – the weather FINALLY turned cold yesterday so I’m hoping we can finally start getting in some fall activities like hiking and apple picking. Wyatt and I are also celebrating our 8 year anniversary (woot woot!) next week with a little weekend trip to Cincinatti (a place neither of us have really spent any time in but is close enough for a weekend trip and has some pretty awesome looking restaurants to check out. Let me know if you have any recommendation for musts while we are there and make sure to follow along on my Insta!

5 from 1 vote

Pumpkin Cheddar Cheese Ball

This Pumpkin Cheddar Cheese Ball Appetizer Recipe is perfect For Halloween themed parties and any fall entertaining you are planning to do!

Servings: 2 cheese balls

Ingredients

2 8 oz packages cream cheese softened
1/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp crushed black pepper
1/4 cup black sesame seeds
1/4 cup poppy seeds

Instructions

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Add cream cheese, pumpkin, cheddar cheese, paprika, salt, and pepper to a food processor and process until completely combined and a smooth paste remains.
Using clean and damp hands, divide the dough in half and each half into a circle using the palm of your hands. Transfer to prepared baking sheet and place in the freezer to chill for at least 20 minutes.
Mix together the sesame seeds and poppy seeds in a shallow rimmed dish. Remove chilled balls from freezer and roll each ball in the seed mixture until completely coated.
Transfer to a serving dish to serve right away or store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to serve. Serve with veggies, chips, and crackers.

Chai Spiced Apple Cider Cocktail

October 3, 2018ALL, Drinks, Entertaining, Fall, Thanksgiving, Winter76

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This festive Chai Spiced Apple Cider Cocktail recipe is a delicious fall drink that can be easily made with booze or as a mocktail.

I seem to be on a roll with chai-spiced apple recipes this season which I am not at all sorry about (because both of these makes your house smell A M A Z I N G and oh so fall). Ever since my mom moved into her beach home near Lake Michigan in May, I’ve been up to visit her at least once a month. We’ve already worked ourselves into a little Saturday routine which consists of browsing her nearest farmers market and then stopping at both a small Swedish bakery for pastries and a cute little grocery store / coffee shop for sandwiches to pack for a lazy afternoon at the beach. One the last trip up there a few weeks ago, I picked up a really delicious iced Chai Cider which should honestly be the official drink of September because it was the perfect mix of fall spices while still being a refreshing warm weather thirst quencher. As I was sipping on it, I couldn’t help but think about how simple it was – I’m sure it was just half local apple cider and half of their homemade chai mix they use in lattes. Genius! I knew I had to create my own.

Chai Apple and Almond Puff Pastry Tarts

September 25, 2018ALL, Appetizer, Fall, Snack, Sweets61

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Today we are covering how to enjoy ‘me’ time this fall before the holiday busyness begins. Plus, I’m sharing a recipe for these delicious and easy Chai Apple and Almond Puff Pastry Tarts.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Oregon Chai®. The opinions and text are all mine. Thank you for supporting the brands that make VV possible.

It’s no secret that chai lattes hold a special place in my heart (one of the first recipes on VV was a chai spiced cupcake recipe and I’ve featured the spice combo in many recipes since). My obsession with them first started when I worked at a coffee shop in high school, as it was my favorite drink item on the menu. Over the years, I’ve also come to associate the smell of a steaming cup of chai latte with fall – with the crunching of leaves, a big cozy sweater, pumpkin picking, and so much more. A spicy chai latte always seems to be my first choice when packing up a warm drink for a brisk walk in the woods to wander among the changing leaves.

10 Vegetarian Soup Recipes To Get You Excited For Cooler Weather

September 18, 2018ALL, Entree, Fall, Side, Soup, Winter93

10 Vegetarian Soup Recipes To Get You Excited For Cooler Weather featuring chilis, stews, dumpling soup, minestrone, and more!

Here in the Midwest, we are at that point in the year where I’m just so ready for cooler weather and comfort food in the form of easy and flavorful soups. Any else with me? Well here are 10 vegetarian soup recipes to add to your dinner menu in the coming weeks:

1. This Creamy Vegetarian White Chili recipe that is cozy and filling (with vegan option). Ideal for healthy weeknight meals or chilly afternoons.

Roasted Grape Crostini with Chevré and Rosemary + Scenes From Fox Island

November 30, 2017ALL, Appetizer, Fall, Side, Snack, Winter5

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This Roasted Grape Crostini with Chevré and Rosemary recipe is the perfect accompaniment to your next cheeseboard or appetizer table. This post was made in collaboration with and sponsored by the generous folks at La Brea Bakery but all opinions expressed are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make VV possible.

I’ve had a lot of ‘pinch me’ moments this year. After spending the previous 2 years focusing all of my time writing my book, I knew I wanted to devote this year to traveling and more freelance. When I set that goal last January I could not have even begin to guess the opportunities that were in store for me. Not only did I triple my freelance work this year but I also found excuses to go out to the west coast three times. Excuse me, you want to fly me to a beautiful cabin in the woods with some of my favorite blog friends to cook up a storm for 3 days? Uh DUH!

Last month I had the pleasure of joining some of my favorite blog friends on Fox Island for a weekend shoot which involved cooking, catching up, exploring the nearby towns, a picturesque sea view, and eating so much delicious La Brea Bakery Bread. The weekend revolved around three main meals that we each were in charge of preparing one item for: a cocktail hour, a formal dinner, and an elegant breakfast spread. Krissy and I took charge of the cocktail hour with this Roasted Grape Crostini with Chevré and Rosemary (recipe below!) and a Aubergine Spread. For dinner, Alanna made a Golden Vegetable Chickpea Minestrone, Sasha served a Fall Panzanella with Roasted Squash and Creamy Lemon Pepper Dressing, and Eva finished the evening off with a Apple Bread Pudding with Caramel Drizzle. The next morning we enjoyed Natalie’s Coconut French Toasted with Poached Apples and Pecans and Trisha’s Shashuka with Chevré and Fresh Herbs. Needless to say, we did not go hungry over that weekend.

All of the food shared one common ingredient: . All La Brea Bakery bread begins with a starter from 1989 (the same year I was born! Woah!) and each loaf takes at least 24 hours to make which means more time for complex flavors to develop. We sampled an array of delicious varieties that weekend but the Sesame Semolina Loaf was my favorite. I’m pretty excited knowing that I can even find these loaves in my smallish city because that means even more french toast is in my future!

Now onto this Roasted Grape Crostini with Chevré and Rosemary recipe. I love how effortlessly this appetizer comes together, making it a perfect option when you want to impress your guests but not go to too much trouble. I like to keep the grapes in small clusters, for a striking presentation, and then just let the guests pull off the stems if they wish. Make sure to cut the La Brea Bakery French Baguette into thick slices to allow the flavors to soak into the open, airy crumb of the loaf’s interior.

Scroll below for the recipe and scroll below that for even more photos of the weekend.

Roasted Grape Crostini with Chevré and Rosemary

This Roasted Grape Crostini with Chevré and Rosemary recipe is the perfect accompaniment to your next cheeseboard or appetizer table.

Servings: 10

Calories: 125 kcal

Ingredients

For the roasted grapes

1/2 pound grapes (I used a mix of concord and red) split into small clusters
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
4 sprigs rosemary

Everything else

1 La Brea Bakery French Baguette sliced and toasted
4 oz chevre
Zest from 1 orange

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss grape clusters in olive oil and salt and place on baking sheet. Sprinkle rosemary sprigs around the baking dish.
Roast for 20 minutes or until most of the grapes have blistered but haven't burst.
Arrange La Brea Bakery French Baguette slices in a single layer on a serving dish. Divide the cheese evenly between the slices and top each one with a small grape cluster.
Garnish with orange zest and serve right away.

More photos from the weekend and the other meals:

Vegan Pumpkin Baked Ziti (Easy Thanksgiving Vegetarian Main)

November 14, 2017ALL, Entree, Fall, Thanksgiving, Vegan161

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This Vegan Pumpkin Baked Ziti recipe (from the Veganomicon cookbook) is the perfect easy Thanksgiving Vegetarian main dish. It can even be made ahead of time and baked just before serving!

Okay don’t panic but Thanksgiving is next week. Are you ready? Yeah, me either. I think we all can agree that being a vegetarian around the holidays can be a bit tricky. After many years of going to holiday dinners and realizing I could only indulge in the salad and rolls, I’ve discovered that my best way to enjoy the holidays (and avoid pity smiles from others looking at my plate) is to take control. And when I say take control, I don’t mean run to the freezer aisle and pick out one of those deformed tofurkeys that your relatives will snicker about behind your back all day (darn you mean cousins!). I’m talking about whipping up your own vegetarian main dish that will smell so amazing, all your family members will scoop some onto their plates without even realizing it’s vegan. Here is a perfect example of this: after I whipped up this casserole this past weekend, Wyatt anxiously stood behind while I photographed these photos and asked “When do I get to eat this cheesy goodness? It smells amazing!”. I smiled, handed him a plate, and watched him devour the whole thing without even noticing that it didn’t have a drop of cheese (or any dairy) in it. I’m telling you is going to love this!

Roasted Beet Hummus with Hazelnut Oil & Rosemary

October 11, 2017ALL, Appetizer, Fall, Side, Snack, Winter39

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This Roasted Beet Hummus with Hazelnut Oil & Rosemary recipe is a bright snack worthy of serving to guests but simple enough to enjoy with weekday meals.

The gateway into my hummus obsession was the mediocre store bought stuff with bland flavoring (hey there, “roasted garlic”) which I would consumed by the tub in college as a meal along with some warmed up pita bread. The actual amount I consumed in those 4 years in obscenely too much and my over indulgent lead to the point where, even to this day, I can’t help but wince when smelling a certain brand I frequented during those coming-of-age years.

Apple Walnut Yogurt Coffee Cake

October 4, 2017ALL, Fall, Sweets10

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This Apple Walnut Yogurt Coffee Cake recipe is the perfect fall sweet breakfast or afternoon snack. Serve it with a cup of coffee or peppermint tea.

Picture this: windows open with a breeze gently pushing in the curtains, dressed in a flannel half buttoned up and cozy leggings, the scent of apples and cinnamon wafting through the house, and blues tunes coming from the house speakers. This, to me, is fall. The shortening of the days is our reminder to slow down and cozy up in the house. And what better way to relax than to whip up this effortless apple walnut coffee cake?

Butternut Squash Ricotta Pierogi with Brown Butter Hazelnut Sauce

September 29, 2017ALL, Entree, Fall14

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These Butternut Squash Ricotta Pierogi with Brown Butter Hazelnut Sauce are the perfect fall meal. The dumplings are stuffed with a slightly sweet ricotta butternut filling and then served with crispy hazelnuts and sage.

And just like that, we’ve moved on from summer flavors like tomatoes and corn to hearty fall flavors like sage and butternut. I know a lot of people are bummed about summer coming to a close but fall is my favorite season so I can’t wait for sweater weather, apple picking, and all the changing leaves.

Pumpkin Eggnog Oatmeal

December 19, 2016ALL, Breakfast, Fall, Winter3

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This Pumpkin Eggnog Oatmeal recipe is an easy seven-ingredient vegetarian breakfast that takes less than ten minutes to whip up. Perfect for a healthy fall breakfast before work for to serve the whole family during the holidays.

It’s almost Christmas (less than a week away!) and if you are anything like me, it’s probably getting pretty busy in your neck of the woods. Because of that, I’m not sugar coating this recipe post with lots of ingredient photos and long winded stories about the holidays. Today’s recipe is simple and quick to keep you energized for all of your last minute tasks. While frantically running around getting last minute gifts and whipping up Christmas cookies, I seem to have forgot to buy normal everyday groceries. This recipe is the outcome of sourcing my fridge and cabinets to see what I could whip up without adventure out into the 5 degree Midwest cold.

Vegetarian Thanksgiving Main Entree Recipe: Mini Pumpkin Pot Pie

November 3, 2016Entree, Fall, Thanksgiving312

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These Mini Pumpkin Pot Pie are the perfect vegetarian Thanksgiving main dish. They also make great weeknight meals as they can be mostly prepped ahead of time.

This post is part two of a six part series on Hosting a Vegetarian Thanksgiving. Please visit post one for the full menu and tips a hosting your own meat-free holiday.

I want to cover two things in today’s post: tips for setting a simple and modern table and vegetarian main recipes. In part one, we talked about general tips for hosting your own Thanksgiving and I want to dive a little deeper and talk specifically about table settings today. As a rather young woman (in my late 20s), hosting my own dinner parties was SO intimating for so long. Not only do you have to time cooking 4 to 10 dishes but you have to think about the mood and vibe at your party: how is the table setting it going to look? What kind of music will you have playing? What about the lighting? Okay, maybe the second two aren’t as important to you (and that’s okay) but let’s at least cover the table since that is a major one. Here are my tips for setting a minimal and modern table for Thanksgiving (or any big dinner gathering, really):

Keep it neutral. Your dinner is first and foremost about the food so don’t pick out a bunch of tabletop items that are going to distract from the natural beauty of your dishes. I opted for a light beige tablecloth with beige napkins and wood and marble utensils. White, cream, grey, brown, and maybe even a light mustard would work well here.
Pick a few favorite items and create the theme around them. I created my table setting around these gorgeous beige napkins and little salt bowls so I made sure to pick out a table cloth that matched the napkins and utensils that went well with the wood. A lot of people may choose items based on a big centerpieces they have picked out which is also a great way to go. I personally ended up just picking out some orange flowers that I knew would work well with the beige and give it a little bit of a Thanksgiving vibe (without looking too cheesy).
Create a paper menu. It’s crazy how placing a menu on your guests plates can take the vibe from casual get together to full on fancy dinner party. I created the menus for this spread by purchasing a wedding package (YUP, who would have thought?) that included a menu template from CreativevMarket.com and then got it printed at a local printer (Kinkos should work if you don’t have a local place). It was an extra $20 expensive that I’ll be using over and over again.
Set a formal place setting. Do you know which side the knife goes on? What about the wine glass? Would you judge me if I told you that I had to google that? Because, well I did. And I know none of my friends would have noticed if it was wrong but my grandma sure would have said something when she sat down. If you have the silverware to set a full on formal setting, I’d say go for it but don’t feel pressured to go out and buy a soup spoon set and salad forks. If you don’t have them already then go that route – it’ll still look great if you set it up right! Use this chart to set your table correctly.
Don’t overcrowd the table with decorations. I’ve been to so many parties where the guests had to spend a few minutes before eating clearing the decorations from the table so there was room for food which just seems silly! Stick to a simple centerpiece and maybe a few candles so there is plenty of room for the main event – the food!

Vegetarian Thanksgiving Menu

November 1, 2016ALL, Entree, Fall, Thanksgiving, Winter, Wrap Up23

Today’s post is all about celebrating the season with a Vegetarian Thanksgiving! Below you’ll find a Vegetarian Thanksgiving menu, vegetarian recipe suggestions, and tips and tricks for how to host your own meat-free dinner.

I am so freaking excited that it is officially November 1st! This means it’s finally socially acceptable for me to begin talking to you about THANKSGIVING (sorry non-US readers as this post will be very helpful for you…)! I’m extra excited this year because I’ve spent the past few weeks working on a Vegetarian Thanksgiving menu for you. Inspired by several tabletop pieces sent to me by Bomisch, a rad home goods store run by a fellow veg head, this SIX part Vegetarian Thanksgiving series will be rolled out over the next three weeks.

Smoky Pumpkin & Black Sesame Seed Hummus

October 24, 2016ALL, Appetizer, Fall, Side, Snack, Vegan9

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This Smoky Pumpkin & Black Sesame Seed Hummus is the perfect fall appetizer or an easy dinner with a side of chopped veggies and chips. This orange and black dip is also festive and perfect for Halloween parties!

I don’t mean to have you ruin your impression of me but I kind of hate Halloween. There. I said it. I’m pretty sure I’ve felt this way ever since I was too old to go trick or treating. Back when I was a little kid, we’d watch Hocus Pocus and go trick or treating which I could get down with. But Halloween for middle and high schoolers was all about horror movie marathons and haunted houses which didn’t work out well for me since I scare easily and despise being frightened. Halloween for my college years was always dressing up in a slutty outfit while the guys wore something so far out that they weren’t recognizable; at the time, this annoyed me since I couldn’t tell if that was was actually cute or if it was just his Halloween costume and now I’m just annoyed I gave into wearing those slutty suits.

Chickpea Tomato Minestrone [Throwback Thursday]

October 20, 2016Fall, Soup, Vegan4

This Chickpea Tomato Minestrone is chocked full of fresh vegetables and pasta which makes it a filling and flavorful weeknight dinner.

And I’m back with another installment of my Throwback Thursday series where I make and re-photograph an old recipe. My archives are just crawling with my fantastic recipes that have been buried with time. I whipped up this Chickpea Tomato Minestrone the other night for dinner and decided to snap a few photos of it since it’s the second most viewed recipe on VV (right behind my Chickpea Dumpling in Tomato Curry recipe). Honestly, I can see why you guys like this recipe so much – it’s loaded with healthy vegetables, mega-comforting with the pasta, and keeps me full all night long from the chickpeas.

Persimmon Cupcakes with Matcha Frosting

October 16, 2016Adventure, ALL, Fall, Sweets3

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These Persimmon Cupcakes with Matcha Frosting are a perfect fall treat infusion of my southern Indiana persimmon pulp and the chinese green tea super powder, Matcha.

Last month around this time, my neighbor, Susie, and I took our boyfriends on what we said was going to be a ‘quick stop on the way to get some pizza’. What we didn’t tell them is that we had signed up to pick the day’s supply of persimmons from a friendly couple’s tree (known to the locals as ‘the giving tree’). With me bringing my small apple picking basket and Susie a reusable bag, the joke was on all of us when we got there to find out that the tree has dropped 30 pounds of persimmons that day (!!!). Unlike when Susie and I “picked” persimmons last year in the form of sneaking onto private property after dark to pick up half rotten fruit from the under a tree, this was a big production. The couple had built a giant net contraptions under the tree to catch any fruit that ripened and fell. There were poles keeping the net up that they could then release to let the fruit drop into big buckets.

In case you’ve never picked your own persimmons before, let me give you a small description of how this went down. American Persimmons are ready when they fall from the tree and seem overripe; because of this, they go bad very quickly if they aren’t washed, pitted, pureed into pulp, and frozen within a day or two. After getting a small tutorial on how to work the poles and the net, we managed to fill 4 bins (equalling between 30 and 40 pounds) from what had fallen onto the net that day. Thank goodness they had the net system because that was only the beginning of the process. From there, we had to take the stem off of every piece of fruit and dunk it in water to wash it. Between the four of us doing this in an assembly line fashion, it took us about 45 minutes. From there, we divided the harvest in two so that Susie and Ryan got half and Wyatt and I got the other half. Back at home, with the stereo blaring Alannis Morsette, I used a cheesecloth bag to extract the pulp from the pits. All in all, my 15 to 20 pound bounty yielded 8 cups of pulp. So far I’ve used 1 1/4 cup of that pulp and the rest resides in the freezer. Guess I’ll be serving Persimmon Pudding for any gatherings that come up for the rest of fall.

Walnut-Crusted Brie Mac and Cheese with Apples

October 2, 2016ALL, Entree, Fall23

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This Walnut-Crusted Brie Mac and Cheese with Apples is the ultimate cheesy, carby, and slightly tart comfort food for chilly fall nights.

And my accidental fall virtual cookbook tour continues (three cookbook recipes in a row? Promise I have an original recipe coming next week)! This week, I whipped up a cozy comfort recipe for Walnut-Crusted Brie Mac and Cheese with Apples from Molly Yeh’s new cookbook, Molly on the Range. I honestly don’t even know where to begin with this book. I was expecting, based on the name of the book, another Pioneer Woman story about moving to a farm to build a country chic empire all while whipping up casseroles and ringing the cowbell for family meal time. Instead, it’s an intimate look at Molly’s city / country hybrid life in the form of funky illustrations, pie chart recipes, cleverly named cookies (Lindsay Lohan cookies, anyone?), and an entire chapter on cake. It’s the most intimate cookbook I’ve ever owned (with chapters split up by her life events) which is exactly what makes it so unique and approachable. It reads so casually that it makes you feel like you are sitting right next to Molly at a slumber party and she is revealing all of her silliest secrets to you.

Pumpkin Pistachio Muffins

October 21, 2015ALL, Breakfast, Fall, Snack1

Where the heck has October gone? I had all these fall recipe ideas and they are slowly slipping away as I try to grasp onto whatever is left of the season. I’m so sorry it’s been a little silent over here this month but October is one of my favorite months so I’ve been spending it soaking up as much of the outdoors as possible and shooting as many projects as possible (more on that soon!) before the weather turns us inside.

Chocolate & Spiced Chai Biscotti

December 24, 2013ALL, Breakfast, Fall, Side, Snack, Sweets1

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These chocolate and chai biscotti are perfect with your afternoon cup of coffee or for lazy mornings in bed with a pot of tea for breakfast.

MERRY CHRISTMAS [EVE] (or, to all of you who don’t celebrate Christmas, HAPPY TUESDAY!). I love Christmas eve just as much as I love Christmas day. This is because, growing up, my parent’s were divorced so we always had Christmas with my Father ‘s family on the 24th and then had ANOTHER Christmas with my mother’s family on the 25th. I never could relate to those kids who were so excited to get to open ONE present on Christmas Eve to hold them over – I always received DOZENS of gifts on Christmas eve followed up lots more gifts on Christmas day. As I’ve aged, I’ve toned down a little (just a little!) on my excitement for a double dose of gifts but have learned to find joy in so many other wonderful aspects of having two Christmases in a row. Double the santa cookies. Double the Christmas movies. Double the Yule log playing in the background on your tv (speaking of that, I’ll be playing Lil Bub’s yule log video this year – if my family doesn’t think thats too weird).

But, to be completely honest, this biscotti has nothing to do with Christmas and I really just chatted about Christmas Eve because I’m just so darn excited its finally here. This biscotti is actually about having 11 days off of work in a row – which is the longest vacation time I’ve had in 2013. It’s about finally having lazy mornings after lazy mornings of sipping coffee in bed and enjoying a favorite magazine while munching some biscotti. It’s all about mastering the technique of getting the biscotti soggy enough in your coffee that it doesn’t crumble all over your sheets but firm enough that it’s still crunchy when you take that first bite. But don’t worry, it’s okay if it takes you a few days to master this technique – we’ve still got loads more days off ahead of us!

Chocolate & Spiced Chai Biscotti recipe below:

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Gingerbread Syrup /// DIY Gifting

December 9, 2013ALL, Appetizer, Breakfast, Fall, Sweets, Vegan3

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This gingerbread syrup is simple and quick to whip up which makes it the ideal gift to giveaway this holiday season! Perfect edible gift for DIY gifting!

Yikes, another sweets recipe? The holiday season has once again taken over and I can’t seem to get my mind to focus on anything else. I feel a little guilty about how sugar-laden VV has been over the past month (I’m not exaggerating. don’t believe me? Look here. and here. and even here). I feel like I’m setting a bad example after I went on that long rant last week to you guys about how switching to a vegetarian lifestyle is a healthy choice. So, I guess, what I’m trying to say is that for every sweets recipe I post on here, there are 10 salads being eaten in the days between which are not getting photographed / recorded. And that being a vegetarian is not an excuse to skip dinner because there is meat in it and jump right into dessert. But… do you know what is an excuse for that? The holidays! And they are here – so why don’t we just indulge for a little longer? Come on – what do you say? Well stuff our faces with fresh lentil soup and kale smoothies come the New Year – I promise!

My initial thought when deciding to make this syrup was that I could use dates as the sweetener and do a little bit of healthy twist on it. But I also wanted to make this syrup for far-away friends and I was worried about the dates not being able to travel halfway across the country without spoiling, ya know? What an awful greeting to an old friend – ‘Hey! Here is a package of spoiled baked goods for you! Enjoy! Hope ya don’t get too sick’. It just didn’t seem worth the risk. So, instead, I stuck to the good ‘ole fashion recipe that we’ve been making every year around this time. Silky and sweet – so you only need a few teaspoons. Perfect in your hot cocoa or morning cup of coffee. A great addition to a festive cocktail or to drizzle over baked goods. When deciding that I wanted to make some festive care packages for old friends, I couldn’t think of a more versatile gift.

In addition to this syrup, I’m including some homemade vanilla extract (that has been aging for 5 months now), my Sweet & Salty Curry Molasses Popcorn, and Baker Royale’s Cookies & Cream Bark (which was really just an excuse to buy another package of Newman-Os) in the goodies I’m sending to friends.

Next up – family packages! What are you DIY gifting this year? I need some more inspiration!

***REMINDER: Don’t forget to enter to win the book bundle I am giving away! Entries will be accepted until next Sunday so hop on over here and sign up!***

Gingerbread Syrup recipe for DIY gifting below:

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Hosting A Vegetarian Thanksgiving

November 21, 2013Adventure, ALL, Appetizer, Bread, Drinks, Entree, Fall, Salad, Side, Sweets3

(Although I wish this was my own feast that I was muchin’ down on, it is not. As a change of pace on VV, I’ve borrowed most of the photos in this post so please click on the images to check out more beautiful photos from the original authors)

I’m a total planner. Anytime my boyfriend mentions he’d like to go on a trip somewhere, I’ll have a full day by day itinerary wrote up and emailed to him by the following evening. He usually has forgot he even mentioned anything by the time he receives the email but I know he has to smirk a little in that moment he opens it to find days (usually by the hour) planned out with restaurants, museums, sights, road stops, forests, and campsites. At least, I know I smirk a little when I re-read those emails. I don’t realize I’m doing it but I’m being exactly like my father in those moments. He would take us all (my brother, my three cousins who lived with us, and my step-mother) on a two week vacation every August when I was growing up. For the months leading up to it, he would pull out the atlas after dinner and compare tourist books (this was before the internet was a real big thing) to what was along the route. I remember how playful he always was in those planning moments and he’d tease me with comments like ‘should we go gambling in Vegas or take that 7 mile hike all uphill to see the rock that resembles a monkey head?’ (as if either of those things were appealing to a 10 year old).

Most of these trips I plan are just ideas – tucked away in email folders – never to actually be carried out. Sometimes I wonder if I have more fun planning adventures then actually taking them. There is just something comforting about these plans being there – comforting in the sense that if we did ever decide to sneak away to the Smoky Mountains or Lake Powell or Montreal at the last second, we wouldn’t miss a thing because I’ve got an itinerary for that!

Anyhow, I bring this story up because I planned out Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is sort of like a trip – you spend months planning and prepping only to have it carried out in one big meal. The funny thing is I’m not even hosting Thanksgiving this year. We always have Thanksgiving at my parent’s house up north and all I do is pick out a few recipes to make the day of and demand a Tofurky. However, even though I’m not hosting Thanksgiving, I still made a Thanksgiving menu. You know, just in case I ever feel like throwing a Thanksgiving dinner on a non-Thanksgiving holiday or something? Okay, that sounded crazy. I just mean that I did it because I enjoy planning. Planning can be a hobby, right?

So, to get to the point, if you are looking to host a Vegetarian Thanksgiving this year or just still need a few ideas on some sides, here is how I envision the perfect Vegetarian Thanksgiving:

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Favorite Winter Recipe

November 5, 2013ALL, Fall, Soup, Vegan2

I am so very pleased to share my favorite kitchen trick over at Livia Sweets for her usual Tuesday Tutorial feature. Hop on over and check it out!

Chickpea Tomato Minestrone [with vegan option]

October 21, 2013ALL, Entree, Fall, Soup, Top Ranked Post112

In a hurry? Click here to JUMP TO RECIPE!

This Chickpea Tomato Minestrone is a simple but flavorful soup ideal for weeknight cooking!

Updated October 2016: I made this recipe again and wrote about it here as part of my ‘Throwback Thursday’ series! Feel free to check it my updated notes on it here.

When reflecting on past gardens, I can’t help but be grateful for the fact that I was able to have an inground garden this summer. In years past, I’ve always moved in August and had failed attempts with transplanting tomato plants and herbs. This means that the last time I had a real garden was when I was little and my parent’s let me pick out what I wanted to grow. And that was gourds – I remember distintcly only wanting to grow gourds and my parents thinking that was a little funny (although I wouldn’t understand why until many years later… when I realized they are really not very useful in the kitchen).

But anyhow, this year… this year I was able to go all out. No more of that half assing tomato and basil plant in a few pots. Nope, Nope. This year I wanted a garden both in the back and side yard (one for full sun and one for part). We planted tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, kale, swiss chard, scallions, lemongrass, cucumbers, bell peppers, jalapeños, rosemary, sage, and so on. Some of them flourished (lemongrass, scallions, kale, tamotoes) and some of them never quite got off the ground (potatoes, cucumbers…). But whether they grew to monstorous portions or stayed micro size, we tried to harvest and enjoy them. We harvested everything in September but the swiss chard and lemongrass.

I’m not sure what I was waiting for with the swiss chard but I knew I was ignoring it until a sign occured. Whether that sign was a must-try recipe or the first frost biting at it’s leaves, I knew I needed a sign. Perhaps it was because the leaves were coming in so beautifully with the colored veins speckled through out them. Whatever it was, I knew I didn’t want to waste these greens by burying them at the bottom of a recipe.

Fall

Quick Starters and Appetizers

1. This Creamy Vegetarian White Chili recipe that is cozy and filling (with vegan option). Ideal for healthy weeknight meals or chilly afternoons.

Chocolate & Spiced Chai Biscotti recipe below:

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Gingerbread Syrup recipe for DIY gifting below:

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(Although I wish this was my own feast that I was muchin’ down on, it is not. As a change of pace on VV, I’ve borrowed most of the photos in this post so please click on the images to check out more beautiful photos from the original authors)

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