Apples and Autumn....

There is something about apples that just really shouts "A-U-T-U-M-N".....a red, yellow and green feast of crispy, crunchy and fresh loveliness.....I just love them....

Isn't this beautiful....?

Apple bobbing....(image from simplycolette )

Apple praline tart....

The prettiest apple tart ever....

Apple butter.....how delicious does this look?

I've never seen apples done like this before....my daughter would hate them and my son would love them!

Spiced apple pie....yes, please :)

Apple blossom....

Buttery apple cake....

Caramel apples....

Classic apple pie....

I recently discovered the joys - or perils - of Etsy and although I have never recommended particular shops before, these were too lovely not to....

French designer Anna Barrow sells her creations through her etsy store Lilla lotta.....I ordered a selection from her just a couple of weeks ago and I received them within days....I was thrilled with them!

The very charming olivia at Everyday Musings has also just opened her own very lovely Etsy shop and is selling a variety of gorgeous cakestands which she has created from vintage plates....

(All recipes/photos from CountryLiving.com and MarthaStewart.com)

Three Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins

I had been searching HIGH and LOW for canned pumpkin the past few weeks (who knew Irene caused a pumpkin shortage?!) and after going to three stores I finally got my hands on some last night. However, I did not buy enough cans to last me through the Fall so I will be heading back to WalMart to hoard some more this weekend.

Anyway, the reason I was needing a can of pumpkin was because I have been yearning to make the two (three for me) ingredient pumpkin muffins I saw on Pinterest a while back. It does not get much easier than this dear readers!

All you need is a boxed cake mix and a can of pumpkin. I LOVE yellow cake mix so I used that, but I think the spiced mix found in stores would actually be AMAZING. In fact, I guess I really used four ingredients because I did add a few dashes of pumpkin pie seasoning to the dry mix to give it more of a Fall flavor.

Simply add the can of pumpkin to the cake mix and blend the two together.

I opted to add chocolate chips as well which I mixed in at the end. They really made all the difference in my muffins as they made them a little bit sweeter.

The mixture is extremely thick as you would guess so the only thing I would do differently next time is fill the baking cups a tad more for more substantial muffins.

Bake your muffins according the the instructions on the back of your mix and voila, you are all done! These are delicious and and easy treat for the Fall!

Speedy Spinach Quiche

I have been wanting to make a quiche for some time now so on Sunday I got busy and investigated some recipes. While I did want to make a quiche I did not want to make the crust so I suppose I really just wanting to make the actually filling... Anyway, I searched and searched for a good recipe and finally Epicurious came to the rescue (if you do not have their app you must download it now!) with Speedy Spinach Quiche. This recipe originally appeared in a 1991 issue of Bon Appetite and it is simply delicious and easy too! You use a frozen pie crust and then the rest of the ingredients are things you most likely already have making this a winner! I made this on Sunday, but actually did not end up eating it until Monday evening. It tasted delightful and was perfect with a small salad on the side (my plate looks somewhat bare, but I promise it was filling and more than enough!). If you are ever in need of a delicious dish that can be made in under an hour (baking time included) you must add this to your list!!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, chopped
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained well

1 9-inch refrigerated ready piecrust (1/2 box)
1 teaspoon all purpose flour
1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) grated Monterey Jack
1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) grated Parmesan
4 eggs
1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon dried dillweed (I skipped this)

What to do:
Melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add spinach and stir until spinach is dry, about 3 minutes. Cool slightly.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Dust 1 side of crust with flour (my pie crust already was dusted so I skipped this). Transfer to 9-inch-diameter quiche dish or pie pan, floured side down (many frozen crusts are already in dishes in which they can be baked so I also skipped this...less mess). Press into pan, sealing any cracks. Trim edges. Sprinkle both cheeses over bottom of crust. Top with spinach mixture. Beat eggs, cottage cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg and dillweed (I left this out) in large bowl to blend. Pour over spinach. I also topped my quiche with a little bit of cheese on top. Bake until filling is set, about 50 minutes. Cool slightly. Cut into wedges and serve.

In other news I simply in LOVE with my new Lilly Eryn dresses! They are such a perfect fit and a timeless cut!

Happy Tuesday!

{table for two: desserts for breakfast}

. . . with utterly delectable recipes such as lobster lobster mac 'n cheese, ginger-champagne pancakes with champagne-poached pears, apricot pistachio chocolate mousse tartlets, rosemary pancakes with poached pears, chocolate ricotta and lemon poppyseed pound cake and chocolate & lemon mascarpone cupcakes{!}, desserts for breakfast, by bay area graduate student, stephanie, will have your inner martha whipping up deliriously beautiful concoctions in no time, or at least inspired to do so . . . unless, of course, you're like me and have an astonishing lack of culinary skills, and, like carrie, might as well keep sweaters in your oven . . .
















{above: kiwi & pineapple sorbets}

{p.s.} a few things on this sunny thursday afternoon:
* previous table for two: katie quinn davies
* special thanks to felicity for another lovely link xo
* also, in case you may have missed the tweets, a brand new page...

{all images © stephanie s. 2009-2010 for desserts for breakfast}

Oreo Balls

I have to say that while I LOVE to make cake balls I 110% disagree with what I read on most blogs...they are NOT easy or simple to make. While the end result is a taste of heaven, getting there is a LOT of work and extremely time consuming. However, I have to satisfy my sweet tooth somehow so HELLO Oreo Balls!

Unlike cake balls, there is no real baking involved in Oreo Balls. You only need three (four is you use sprinkles) ingredients and these take 1/3 as long to make as cakeballs.

What you will need:

One package of Oreos

One container of cream cheese

Chocolate

Sprinkles (optional)

Crush your Oreos (I put mine in a Ziplock bag and use a rolling pin) and pour them in a mixing bowl.

Add in your cream cheese and mix until combined.

Mold mixture into balls.

I always freeze my cake balls and Oreo balls for at least two hours before dipping them. It makes the process MUCH easier.

Melt your chocolate (I used milk and white with a few candy melts mixed in) and dip your Oreo balls. I use a fork for dipping and then "tap" off all the extra chocolate.

Add on sprinkles if you wish and let chocolate harden. You are now ALL done (sorry for the ghetto finished project photo- I forgot to take one before we went to town trying the treats), wasn't that easy?!

While the cream cheese was DIVINE I am thinking of trying of possibly using peanut butter next time. Stay tuned; I will be certain to post about my experiment!

Oreo balls do NOT disappoint. They are SO delicious and you can literally just eat spoonfuls of the batter. One batch does not make as many balls as a cake ball recipe, but they are more rich so fewer is better I think. Enjoy!