Saturday, September 23, 2017

Goofin' Off With the Start of Fall 2017

Mr. Goofin' Off kept telling me earlier this week that he felt like someone had flipped a switch and it had gone from summer to fall in a snap. The weather is cooler, the skies are gray, and the days are definitely getting shorter. Well, I guess officially it is fall now.

With the first days of fall, I am brought back to my days as a little girl. My father worked a late shift, so often my mother would often bake at night after we went to bed while she waited for my dad to get home from work. In the fall, I would sometimes wake up to the smell of pumpkin bread...mmm...pumpkin bread. That memory inspired me to make some of my favorite pumpkin muffins this week.

Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin Muffin Recipe

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
2 cups cooked or canned pumpkin
2 cups sugar
1-1/4 cups vegetable oil
1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
1.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Mix well. 
2.  In a second bowl, beat the eggs, pumpkin, sugar, and vegetable oil. 
3.  Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients just until moistened. 
4.  Fold in chocolate chips.  
5.  Fill muffin cups approximately 2/3 full. 
Bake approximately 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. 

Makes approximately 20 to 24 muffins. 

There is just something that smells so good about pumpkin muffins fresh out of the oven. I found a recipe a few years back that tasted very similar to my mother's recipe. I tweaked it a little so that I could add chocolate chips to the recipe. My family loves them, so they don't last very long around here.

Pumpkin Goofy!

I have added a gratuitous Goofy jack-o-lantern picture here from our trip to Disneyland because well...it's Goofy...and it's a pumpkin.

I found myself with some time yesterday and got my next quilt all cut out. Here are the pieces for the blocks.  


Pieces for Block A

Pieces for Block B

Pieces for Block C

Pieces for Block D

I love this fabric of Woody from Toy Story.  This will be one of at least three Toy Story quilts that I'll be making from the Toy Story fabric that I've purchased.  The pattern I am using is from the book Modern View 3 Yard Quilts by Donna Robertson of Fabric Cafe. I ordered it Monday from Amazon, and it arrived on Wednesday. Gotta love Amazon Prime. 

Modern Views with 3-Yard Quilts by Donna Robertson

I already have about half a dozen of Donna's quilt patterns but none of the patterns in this book. Each pattern uses 1 yard each of three different fabrics. These are the perfect size for the charity quilts I make. The bonus of this book that I hadn't expected was that the book gave instructions on enlarging the quilts to twin and queen/king toppers.

Well, it's time to get in gear and work on the fall cleaning, baking, and getting those Christmas checklists started. Yes, I said it. I said "Christmas". It's going to be here before I know it, and I need to be prepared.

Let me know below. Are there any foods that remind you of the fall months? What are your favorites? I'd love to hear about them...and maybe drool a little bit over them.

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24 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you, Linda! I am having fun with Woody smiling at me while I sew along. Andrea

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  2. Pumpkin ORANGE for the RSC... thanks for the recipe!!

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    1. Thanks for dropping by! Hope you enjoy the recipes. It's a favorite around here.

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  3. Sounds like a useful book. Always better when you actually make something from it.

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    1. So far I'm enjoying the book. Started sewing those first blocks together. I love her patterns. Thanks for dropping by! Andrea

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  4. I was shopping the other day and saw a big sign hanging in a shop window that made me think of you straight away........so much so I took a pic.......must email it to you.......

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    1. Oh, please do email the picture! I'd love to see it. Maybe I'll even feature it in a blog post. My blogging friends are the best! Andrea

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  5. Love those toy story quilt blocks, I may just have to purchase this book. Thank you for the pumpkin Muffin recipe I copied it and will make this week though I will swap the chocolate chips for golden raisins. One of my favorite fall recipes is Cranberry Walnut loaf I will have to check my files and post it to my blog shortly. Happy Autumn.

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    1. Cranberry Walnut loaf, now that sounds absolutely delicious! I would definitely bake some of that. Thanks for dropping by! Andrea

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  6. Pumpkin muffins look good, in our household it's pumpkin bread.

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    1. Yes, it was pumpkin bread growing up for our family. But since it's just the two of us, I enjoy making muffins and freezing them. I just pull out four or so every so often and let them thaw overnight. But I wanted to be sure I included the instructions for the bread since so many people do prefer it. Thanks for dropping by! Andrea

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  7. One of the best parts of Fall is PUMPKIN! I love pumpkin flavor. I also enjoy making pumpkin muffins and I put chocolate chips in mine too.

    Look forward to seeing your new quilt!!

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    1. Faith, My muffins are almost all gone now. Maybe I'll have to make some more this week. I love the smell of fresh baked anything pumpkin. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a note. Andrea

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  8. Home made applesauce my Mom made on the stove after going apple picking. After the first frost of course to get nice sweet apples. Ask any of the 5 kids what is in the white bowl with red markings on the middle of the table and we all know it is applesauce! Yummy. (kids are now ages 44-52.... I think all the grands know too!)

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    1. Deb, Yes, that's another thing my always made was applesauce this time of year. Loved waking up to that smell in the mornings, too. There was nothing quite as sweet as a warm bowl of fresh applesauce in the morning. Thanks for the memory. I can almost smell and taste it right now. Andrea

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  9. Cranberry nut bread is fall for me - my best friend's mom made it and it was heaven in a loaf pan, but not until Thanksgiving. Out here fall isn't any different than summer, so it's still way too hot to want to bake anything.

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    1. You're the second person to mention cranberry nut bread. I must find a good recipe and give it a try. Thank you for dropping by and leaving a note. Andrea

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  10. Yum pumpkin muffins sound so good. I make mine like Faith with chocolate chips too. And my favorite treat for fall is also orange - cranberry bread or muffins. I just wish it felt like fall here as it is still so hot and muggy. Maybe in a month or two it will cool off. RJ@stitchingfriendsforever

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    1. RJ, I think you're the third person who has mentioned to me that they love the cranberry muffins. I have been hunting down recipes today and hope to make some in the very near future. Thanks for dropping by! Andrea

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  11. I would enjoy going to Disney in the fall. Love all the pumpkins and decorations. Have you ever been for Christmas time? That would be gorgeous I bet!! Good luck with your new quilts. Love the fabrics. We had a few weeks of beautiful fall weather and enjoyed our fall favorites. Goulash is my favorite meal when it's cool outside. Then we had a ridiculous heat wave and even broke records. Now tomorrow it's finally going to cool down again. We also love chili when it's cool.

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    1. Katie, Disney in the fall is definitely gorgeous with all the decorations. New to Disneyland this year was Cars Land all decked out with Halloween decorations. My first post in October will have lots pictures from there. We're going to try to sneak in a trip to the World in November to catch Christmas decorations. We've got timeshare time and annual passes that are still good, so it won't be too bad $$ wise. We're having a bit of a heat wave at the moment, too. Expected to cool down this weekend again. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a message! Andrea

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