Helllllooooooo strangers! I realize that I haven't written on here in, well, months. Truth be told I've been busy keeping up my other blog and starting a new business. All the while, the newfangled housewife duties never ceased-- they just haven't been shared on here!

I won't make promises of changing that on a consistent basis, but I am hoping to get a few posts up over the next few weeks...months...by December, in order to keep this thing still running. I happen to enjoy this space still very much.

I have been rereading Harry Potter (shocker), the first time I've done this since Michael was around 1-2 (if you're keeping tabs-- he turns five in just under a month). It's been so amazing, and part of me wishes that he was old enough to read along with me. But we're not there yet.

Anyway.

Rereading has me dreaming of fall, and since we don't actually have fall in Arizona, anyway, I didn't see what was stopping me from creating and baking and cooking some yummy fall foods to go with the warmth of the pages I am revisiting.

Without further rambling and sharing all that you probably don't care too much about, here's the RECIPE!

Chocolate Salted Caramel Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

- 1/2 C + 2 TBSP Salted Butter, softened
- 2 tsp water
- 3/4 C Sugar
- 1/4 C brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 + 2 TBSP cocoa powder
- 1 C all purpose, unbleached flour
- 1/2 C salted caramel chips
- 1/2 c chocolate chips
- course salt, for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:

- Preheat your oven to 350 and prep your baking sheet (I used parchment paper, but cooking spray works well, too).
- Blend together your butter, water, and sugars. Add your egg and vanilla, blending again until well whipped/combined.
- Add your baking soda, cocoa powder, and flour to your wet ingredients. Beat on a low speed until you can no longer see any flour in the mixture.
- Mix in your caramel chips & chocolate chips with a spatula.
- Use a medium cookie scoop (1-2 tablespoons) and drop the cookies on your prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle salt on top if desired (I did not in this batch, but I have before and it's sooooo good!)
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until cookies are cooked on bottom and edges. Let sit on baking pan for 2-5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.


TRY NOT TO EAT THEM ALL IN ONE SITTING!

Last year on Halloween I posted a recipe for cool Butterbeer (which is also delicious). However, when reading the books again, I couldn't help but notice that whenever they visit The Three Broomsticks it talks about how warm the Butterbeer is. Although in other moments of the books they produce bottled Butterbeer (which I imagine to be cold), I began to think that it was a sort of hot chocolate drink when they enjoyed it in Hogsmeade.

Most of the recipes I came across simply said to make it like my other recipe (with cream soda), and heat it... but this didn't seem good enough to me. I wanted to create something entirely new. Then I stumbled across this recipe, did some molding, and came up with a new one!

Ingredients:
(serves four)

- 8 C Milk
- 8 tbsp Butterscotch syrup (like you would use for ice cream)
- 8 tsp Imitation butter
*Optional: six to eight drops of yellow food coloring*

- 1.5 C heavy whipping cream
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp butterscotch syrup
- 1 tbsp imitation butter

Directions:

- In a pan over medium heat, stir your milk, syrup, and imitation butter until well heated (as you would hot chocolate).
- For the foam, whip your cream, sugar, syrup, and imitation butter together for around five minutes until soft peaks begin to form and it takes on the texture of cool whip/whipped cream.
- Move your milk mixture to your serving mugs, top with your foam, and enjoy some warm Butterbeer on an autumn evening with your favorite Harry Potter book or movie.


What's up next, you ask? Let's just say it involves chocolate.

Oh, and if you want some Harry Potter proposal ideas (or a funny little read), follow this link!

Dear Baked Goods, It is very hard for me to say "no" at this time of year. What makes it even harder is that Michael has decided he loves to make pumpkin everything. I didn't even try to brainwash him into this decision! Could you please, somehow, become calorie-less, carb-less, and sugar-free so we can continue on this baking spree without me having to freak out every time and attempt to find an innocent bystander to give the baked goods to?

Dear Sickness, It's been fun and all, but I'm kind of over waking up with migraines and a sore throat. Can you disperse so I can have a normal upcoming week? Thanks!

It was a bit of a rough week, friends (I know, I know... sorry for always complaining come Friday), but I'm really looking forward to next week! Have any weekend plans? Make sure to check back here come Monday (and Tuesday... Wednesday...you know the drill)!

Here's what you have to look forward to!

Warm Butterbeer

Staying Thankful: Focusing on the "here".

Creamy Spinach Penne Pasta
The idea for this post came from Ashley over at The Sweet Season.

It seemed only appropriate to start October off with a Harry Potter inspired recipe. As you may know from previous posts (especially last year's Halloween post), I'm a fan. And that may be putting it lightly. This year I'm rereading the series and making treats to match.

What's surprising is I'm already more than halfway through (finishing Goblet of Fire now). I think I was so worried about not finishing by the end of October that I was speed reading parts. I intend to slow down a little bit now and enjoy. Of course, now I'm on to the longer books... so I guess we shall see.

Annnnnnywho....

TREACLE TARTS!

If you didn't know, Treacle is an actual type of sugar, but it's basically Molasses and Corn Syrup. There was no way I was clever enough to come up with this on my own. I referenced Bakingdom's recipe, bless her for being just as big of a fan and having one ready for me to use.

Ingredients:

Crust

- 3/4 C unblecahed all-purpose flour
- 1/4 C confectioners’ sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 C (1/2 stick) cold, butter, cut into pieces
- 2 tablespoons water

Filling

- 1/3 C light corn syrup
- 1/4 C molasses
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
- 1/2 C bread crumbs

Directions:

For the Crust

- Put all the ingredients in your food processor and pulse/ run on low until a dough ball forms. OR use a pastry cutter and blend in your butter by hand, then kneed the dough until it is well formed. Chill in the freezer for around 30 minutes or in the fridge for up to two hours (at least one).

- Next, roll your dough out on a light floured surface to around 1/8 inch thick (AKA pretty dang thin). If you are using tiny tart pans (I got mine from Amazon), carefully lift your dough and place the (sprayed) pan underneath the dough, then press it into the pan and around the edges. Kind of like a complex cookie cutter. If you're making a large tart/pie, put it in your 9" round pan.


- Put the tart(s) on a baking sheet and chill for 20 to 30 minutes in your freezer.

*Optional*
* Preheat your oven to 350.
* Line your (chilled) tart(s) with parchment/wax paper and pie weights, beans, or rice (like in the Apple Nutella Bars recipe) and bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Note: I did this with my first batch (which are not pictured) but they got WAY over cooked. However, they were chewier with the final product. If you want them more candy-like and less pie-like, I would definitely recommend doing it this way.

For the Filling

- Mix all your ingredients together in a bowl. Wow, that was easy!

Put it all together!

- Preheat your oven to 350.
- Put around 1/2 to 1 tsp of filling into each mini tart pan (or put it all in your large pie dish).
- Bake the mini-tarts around 20 minutes, or a regular pie-size for around 30 minutes.


DELICIOUS! If you like molasses, you will definitely love these!


I made these to celebrate finishing books one and two! Treacle is mentioned in both of them and really stuck out, so it seemed an obvious choice to make. Can you guess what I'm going to be making once I finish book four (yes, I already finished three)?

Here's a hint:

"He drank deeply. It was the most delicious thing he'd ever tasted and seemed to heat every bit of him from the inside." -Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

This is the LAST weekend of September. How crazy is that? I can't believe October is just days away. Today definitely called for a jacket in the morning, and most days have in the past week. I'm so excited for it to cool down to sweater weather. It just gives me an excuse to buy some, since I really only have maybe one good one. No exaggeration there, honest.


Dear Michael, It has been a week of mischief. I wish you'd take a nap every day instead of this two days off, one day on thing we have going right now. I know you're so excited about our days together and all of our adventures... but mama needs some more down time. At least most some days you let me sit on your bed and read while you play with your trains.

Dear Friends, You make time go by so much faster when Clark is away. Thank you for all your love and support. I don't know what we would do if we didn't have y'all to spend time with!

Dear Readers, In case you don't follow me on Instagram and haven't gotten the notice, fall is HARRY POTTER TIME. Yes, I'm one of those people. If you aren't, please forgive me and know that I forgive you in return. This coming week promises some treats (see below) from the book, as do the upcoming weeks as I continue to reread the books (Yep. I'm on #4 and shooting for all seven by Halloween) and watch all the movies.

Things to look forward to:

Treacle Tarts

Meet Me At The Fair

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cookies
The idea for this post came from Ashley over at The Sweet Season.

Here it is. My confession...

I. Love. Harry. Potter.

Perhaps it's because I grew up with Harry. Perhaps it's because I initially wasn't allowed to read the books. Maybe it's because J.K. Rowling is awesome. Who knows. All I know is, I love Harry Potter.

So much that October this year became Harry Potter month. It just hasn't been the same since the movies ended. There's nothing to look forward to with the series. It's truly over. Ended. So sad. Anyway, October became Harry Potter month. I made a schedule of what I was going to cook and when we were going to watch each movie. I spaced it out over the month so we would finish right before Halloween (saving that day for It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!, of course).

My senior year of high school is when the last book came out. Clark likes to tease me because I made him go to the midnight release of the book. He also makes fun of me because I dressed up. He always seems to exaggerate my "costume". Truly all I did was put on some jeans, a button down, and tie. However, with my hair, he always said I was a Hermione. Just to come clean... here's the one piece of evidence.


Now that that's out of the way, let's move on to the recipes, shall we?

How do you celebrate Harry Potter? By making butterbeer and pumpkin pasties, of course! While there are plenty of other sweets that could be made, these two stand out the most to me. So, here you are. Celebrate all the awesomeness that is Harry Potter with your very own butterbeer and pumpkin pasty!

Butterbeer

Ingredients:
This recipe is for four servings of butterbeer.

- 4 12oz bottles of cream soda (or just 48 oz of cream soda, a two liter works just fine)
- 2 tsp of imitation butter PER serving (I actually used "Butter Buds" because I was unable to find legitimate imitation butter, which should be a liquid.)
Optional: 1 shot of gold rum per serving

For the foam:

- 1.5 C heavy whipping cream
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp imitation butter (or butter buds)

Directions:

- Make sure your cream soda is nice and cold! In the bottom of your glass, put your butterbuds/imitation butter and your rum if you're making this adult-butterbeer. Pour your cream soda over it and make sure it mixes well.
- For the foam, whip your heavy cream on medium speed for three to four minutes.
Note: Because Michael was sleeping when I was making this, I just whisked it to death for four minutes. Had I used an electric mixer, my foam probably would have been a bit more "firm".
- Add the sugar and whip for another two minutes or so, until soft peaks begin to form.
- Add your vanilla and butter and mix for another 30 seconds or so, until soft peaks can be seen again.
- Add your foam to the top of your cream soda mix.
To make the foam mix in a little bit, I saved some cream soda and pour it on top of the foam as well so it was foamy throughout rather than just on top.
If you like, sprinkle some raw sugar, sprinkles, or whatever you like on top of your butterbeer!

WARNING: You will have a mustache, especially if you have one already...


And if you don't make enough for seconds, people can get violent.

Now on to the...


Pumpkin Pasties


Ingredients:
(For the dough)
- 1/2 C butter, cold, cut into pieces
- 3/4 tsp sugar
- 1.5 C all purpose, unbleached flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 8 oz cream cheese (low or fat free), cut into pieces

Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 350.
- Mix your dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Add the butter and use a pastry cutter (like you do for blackberry scones) to blend it in until it looks like you have course crumbs.


- Add the cream cheese and use the pastry cutter until you no longer can, switching over to a spatula or spoon until you get a nice mess.


- Add some flour to a surface or the bowl and knead the dough until you get it nice and round. Divide into two (if you don't want to make the whole recipe) and freeze or refrigerate half (if you want to).
I would suggest putting it in the fridge while you make the filling as well.


Ingredients:
(For the filling)
- 3/4 C pureed pumpkin
*Note: I only used half of the dough recipe, but made the whole filling recipe. Needless to say I had quite a bit left over. If you only intend to make half, make sure to cut the filling recipe in half as well.*
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1 egg
- 1/3 C sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp vanilla

Directions:

- In a small saucepan, heat your pumpkin and spices until warm (over low to medium-low heat).
- Whisk in your egg, vanilla, sugar, and salt. Let cool for a few minutes before proceeding.

BRING IT ALL TOGETHER NOW!

- Roll out your dough and use a biscuit or cookie cutter to cut into circles. I am not blessed with either of these, so I used the fabulous Boogie Wipes container and a knife.

- After you cut them, roll them out to make the dough thinner (note how they're not perfectly round, which is totally fine).
- Use a heaping teaspoon to put filling in them. Make sure you put it closer to an edge, rather than right in the middle.

- Fold them over and roll or pinch the edges with your fingers (or I believe you could use a fork).

Now you need: (optional)
- 1 egg, scrambled
- raw sugar

- Use a basting brush and lightly go over the tops of them with your scrambled egg. Next, sprinkle sugar on top.
A half recipe makes about seven pasties (but may make more if you have a standard biscuit cutter for the dough)!

- Put them in the oven and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until they're nice and golden on top (or just about to be golden, which is what I prefer).



Enjoy with your butterbeer or all on their own! These things go fast!

Have a Harry-Potter-Filled-Happy Halloween!




Butterbeer recipe inspired by: Bakingdom.com.

Pumpkin Pastie recipe adapted from: BrownieBites.com.