It's almost here!

Even though the official first day of Fall is still a few weeks away, the start of the Fall decorating season is upon us. September is knocking on the door and that means filling the house with pumpkins, leaves, gourds, wreaths ect. Not to mention the scents. Oh yes, I'm referring to the wonderful smell of spiced pumpkin candles. This year I'm going with Bath & Body's new scents, Autumn and Leaves. They are wonderful!

May your Fall be filled with many bonfires, flip flops & hoodies, listening to the crunch of leaves under your feet, hot apple cider, baking, pumpkin carving and much much more.

What's your favorite part of Fall?

Pizza Pizza

One of my favorite meals is homemade pizza night. We have these nights quite often but this time we decided to do things a little different. This time we used the grill instead of the oven. We had tried this method once before and it turned out great. This time however, it was just okay. Mainly because we let the grill get too hot. Do you know what happens to dough placed on a 550 degree grill? That's right, it immediately burns and leaves no time to cook the top let alone the middle. So, pizza one didn't turn out all that great. Luckily pizza two and three turned out delish! I'm sure we'll use the grill for pizza in the future but we'll just have to keep a better eye on the temps!

Ingredients

• 2T honey
• 1T kosher salt
• 1T olive oil
• 3/4C warm water
• 3C all purpose flour
• 1t instant yeast
  -------------------------------------
• 2t olive oil
• olive oil for the crust
• flour for dusting

Directions

Place all ingredients (above the dotted line) in mixer's work bowl.
Using the paddle attachment, start the mixer on low and mix until the dough just comes together, forming a ball. Lube the hook attachment with cooking spray. On medium speed knead dough for 15 mins.

Roll dough into a smooth ball on the counter top or cutting board. Place into a stainless steel or glass bowl. Add 2t of olive oil to the bowl and toss to coat. Cover with a towel and leave on counter for 1 hr.

After 1 hr divide into thirds. Punch down each section. Roll into balls on counter top or cutting board. Cover with towel and let sit for 45 mins.

Dust counter top or cutting board with flour and roll out dough to the thickness and shape of your liking.

Set grill to medium heat. Rub one side of dough with olive oil and place that side on grill. Once the top starts to blister, add olive oil and turn.

It's now time to pile on the toppings. Cook until cheese starts to bubble and enjoy!

zucchini, yellow pepper, hot salami, home grown tomato, home grown basil, fresh mozzarella

fresh mozzarella, home grown basil, imo's provel cheese

One Fantastic Weekend!

In a nutshell, this weekend was filled with making a new friend/BFF and spending time with family. My brother and his girlfriend came in town this weekend for my cousin's wedding. This was the first time meeting Julie and it was love at first site! And as you can see, she's not only beautiful, she fits right in with us crazy...I mean fun folks!

The wedding was beautiful and it was great to spend time with family that we don't get to see very often.

Fun loving Great Aunt Dorothy and Dad

from right to left - Uncle Dale, Aunt Linda, Uncle Tommy, Aunt Jeannie and Dad

The wonderful and beautiful Great Aunt Norm

And of course Wayne (the bro), Tim, me and Daddy-O!

This weekend was a lot of fun and it ended way too soon. I can't wait to get up to KC in a few weeks to hang out with Wayne and Julie again. Fun times will be had, no doubt! My big brother is very important to me and I want him to be happy. I have to say, it's been awhile since I've seen him have this much fun and smile like he did. I think some little lady may be to blame for all this happiness. :) :)

Zucchini & Ricotta Tart

I found this recipe in the August issue of Every Day w/ Rachael Ray.
It's another year of monster zucchinis in my garden, so I thought this would be a great recipe to try something new. I love zucchini bread but there is just so much of that you can eat. I think this recipe went well. It was fairly easy and was pretty tasty. However, I'm not sure I would call it a tart. It was definitely more of a quiche. Would I try this recipe again...yes.

Ingredients:

• 4 zucchini (about 2 1/2 pounds), thinly sliced crosswise
• Salt and pepper
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 2 tablespoons butter (unsalted)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill (I used dried dill)
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling (I used fontinella cheese)
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1 pinch nutmeg (I used freshly grated nutmeg)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Layer the zucchini in a colander, sprinkling each layer with salt; let stand for 20 minutes. Rinse, then pat dry.

2. Meanwhile, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry to remove the creases. Press the pastry into a 9-inch pie plate and trim the excess, so the crust is flush with the rim. Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork. Refrigerate.

3. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini and cook, turning, until golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in the dill and remove from the heat; let cool to room temperature.

4. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, ricotta, 1/2 cup parmesan and the half-and-half; season with salt, pepper and the nutmeg. Stir in the zucchini. Pour the mixture into the chilled pastry crust and sprinkle with more parmesan. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Let cool slightly before slicing.

New Old Spice Commercial

These commercials crack me up! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Beautiful Dragonflies

My dear friend over at The 8th Child has started a weekly blog titled "Lost, Found or Hand-Me-Down". I have been meaning to play along but keep forgetting, don't have the time, blah, blah, blah. Well today is the day. My "Lost, Found or Hand-Me-Down" is the soon to be lost dragonflies.

For some reason, everywhere I have looked the past couple weeks, I have seen something to do with dragonflies. They have been on TV shows, Internet articles and even this past weekend Tim and I were sitting in the yard relaxing and noticed a huge colony of them dancing around the sky. They were so much fun to watch and even listen to.

I visit treehugger.com pretty regularly and what did I stumble across today...you guessed it, dragonflies! Check out this slide show of beautiful dragonflies near extinction.

Hip Hip Beignet!

Tim was in New Orleans a few months ago and was telling me all about the delicious beignets. I have never had the opportunity to try them, so this morning I thought I would take a stab at making them. I had a little help from the Cafe Du Monde beignet mix from NOLA, of course. Thanks to this famous mix there were only a few easy steps. Add water, mix, roll, cut, fry, ENJOY!

I don't know how the originals taste, but these puppies were awesome! I can't wait to make them again and eat the whole plate!

Yum! Yum! Yum!

Now you'll have to excuse me, I must return to eating me plate of tasty french donuts and sipping my coffee. Until next time...