175 Shmorgishborg AND A Barn Owl Primitives GIVEAWAY! :-)

My mom has printed out every. single. one. of. my. blog. posts. . . . ever. . . and keeps them in a binder (she is on binder #2 now). . . in plastic dividers because she doesn't want to "lose any words to a hole punch." because she loves me. . .and because she is one of my biggest supporters and sources of encouragement. . . 

I am so lucky to have a husband who constantly pursues me . . . 

Have you heard about Casey, Danielle, Illy, and Jess' party?? Link up with fall, Halloween, recipes, costumes, or whatever your heart desires!

Gus Gus hurt his paw hunting with his Grandpa . . . so he is taking it easy . . . 

Don't forget about the Pumpkin Linky Party I am hosting on Monday! 

The winner of the cute kitchen towel is Joanna

And I am SO excited to share some of my FAVORITE signs from Barn Owl Primitives. . . 

Kristi is SO talented and I ADORE all of her signs! :-)

Would you like one?? I know I would take one of EACH (of every sign in Krisit's shop :-))

The winner of the giveaway can either choose one of the signs above or receive a 40 dollar shop credit to Barn Owl Primitives. 

To enter: 

1. MANDATORY: Must be a follower of Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box and leave a comment telling me which sign you would choose if you won (go and look at Barn Owl Primitives if you would like the shop credit!)

You can leave an additional comment for each of the below. 

2. Follow Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box on Facebook

3. Tweet about the giveaway

4. Facebook post about the giveaway

5. Blog about the giveaway 

6. You have Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box on your blog roll! 

7. You have Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box button on your blog! 

8. Tag something from Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box on Pinterest!  

9. StumbleUpon this post (to learn how to stumbleupon, go here) 

You have 9 chances to enter! 

Giveaway closes at midnight Thursday, October 13!

8 Pumpkin Pound Cake and a Pumpkin Loving LINKY PARTY!

This Monday, I am hosting my first LINKY PARTY called Pumpkin Loving! :-) Link up with ANYTHING pumpkin related! :-) I have seen a TON of cute pumpkin decorating ideas and SO many pumpkin recipes! So be ready Monday to link up with all the pumpkin goodness you can think of! :-) 

Tonight, I made this pumpkin pound cake that I have seen ALL over pinterest! You might not recognize it because I dumped instead of dusted powdered sugar on it (requested by my husband:-) and because SOMEONE took the camera hunting so I apologize for the quality of the camera on my phone!! 

(I'll announce the winner of the cute pumpkin kitchen towel tomorrow! The giveaway ends at midnight!) 

Pumpkin Pound Cake
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
3 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 small package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
In a large bowl, combine sugar and oil until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, cloves and pudding mix; add to egg mixture alternately with pumpkin, beating well after each addition.
Transfer to a greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack. Remove from pan and cool completely. Dust with confectioners’ sugar. Serves 12-16.
Sing for your Supper 

3 Thank you!

Tonight I wanted to take a break from pumpkins, baking, and the kitchen and just say THANK YOU!

Thank you for following my cooking adventures, leaving sweet comments, and constantly being an encouragement! 

And I also wanted to say thank you to the top 10 blogs that refer traffic my way! :-)

1. Casey Leigh 

(I copied this idea from sweet Casey and she ironically is my number 1 traffic referrer! ;-)

2. Life in the Fulmer Lane 

3.Him and Her Plus Four 

4. A. Liz Adventures

5.Blue Eyed Boy Meets Brown Eyed Girl 

6. The Great Adventure 

7. Holy Experience 

8. Loving Life with Luke

9. A Little Bit of Bennett

10. Mason Family Happenings

Have a lovely evening! :-)

5 Owl Cupcakes

Since I was going to dinner with some pretty special little ones (and a specific boy who literally associates me with cupcakes) I decided to make something fun for them! After looking over some of my Pinterest boards, I decided on these. . . 

Owl Cupcakes! :-) 

They turned out so cute and the kids loved eating them! :-)

Don't forget about the giveaway that ends on Thursday!

Owl Cupcakes 

Chocolate Cake Mix (and ingredients on back of box) 

Chocolate Icing

Oreos 

M&Ms

Chocolate Gel Icing

Bake cupcakes according to box. Cool and then ice cupcakes. Separate Oreos. Dot gel icing on Oreos and place an M&M on top of the gel. Put Oreos on cupcakes and make a nose with an orange M&M!

Idea from: A Little Sussy

17 Pumpkin Fluff Dip

Let me start off by saying that this is not Nate's type of dessert . . . it is a little "girly" for him. . . but with that said, it is a wonderful dessert for a girl's night! And the presentation is perfect for a fall or Halloween party! :-) Happy Fall, Y'all! :-)

Pumpkin Fluff Dip 
1 (16 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
In a large bowl, mix together instant vanilla pudding mix, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. Fold in the thawed frozen whipped topping. Chill in the refrigerator until serving. Serve with Cinnamon Graham Crackers. 
All Recipes

3 Pumkin Bars (two ways!)

I love two desserts that can be made at the same time. . . these pumpkin bars are easy, can be made two different ways and are delicious!

Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Icing

Pumpkin Bars with Chocolate Chips 

Add chocolate chips to one side

Once baked and cooled, ice the other side 

slice and then enjoy! :-) 

Don't forget about the cute towel giveaway that ends on Thursday! :-)

Pumpkin Bars
6 eggs
1 1/2 cup oil
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 large can (29 oz) pumpkin
3 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. salt
Chocolate chips or cream cheese frosting
Mix together eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla, and pumpkin.  Fold in dry ingredients and pour into jelly roll pan (13 x 18 pan) . Sprinkle half the pan with 1 cup of chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Do not over bake.  Frost with cream cheese frosting. 
Cream Cheese Frosting
(This recipe is enough to frost half of the pan)
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese
8 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Blend together cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla.(Nate likes really sweet cream cheese icing so looking back I should have used 11/2 cups of powdered sugar.)
Real Mom Kitchen

19 Pumpkin Snickerdoodles and a GIVEAWAY!

Happy October 1st! :-)
It is a beautiful day outside; I have my patio doors open and am enjoying the cool breeze while Gus and Wrigley sleep in the sun!
They are exhausted from our dove hunt yesterday. . .
Wrigley

Gus 

My man! :-)

My love of pumpkin is going to be out of control this month on Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box. . . and Pinterest is not helping!
To start off our "pumpkin loving" month of October . . . .

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Yield: about 3-4 dozen cookies 
Ingredients:
For the cookies:
3¾ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the coating:
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
Dash of allspice

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Whisk to blend and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the pumpkin puree.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated.  With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.  Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.  Combine the sugar and spices for the coating in a bowl and mix to blend.  Scoop the dough (about 2½ tablespoons) and roll into a ball.  Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart.  Dip the bottom of a flat, heavy-bottomed drinking glass in water, then in the sugar-spice mixture, and use the bottom to flatten the dough balls slightly.  Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just set and baked through.  Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Repeat with the remaining dough.  Store in an airtight container.

Annie's Eats 

And to continue my love of pumpkins. . . 

my sweet friend, Emily, surprised me with this kitchen towel on Thursday! 

 Isn't it the cutest?? Emily's talent never ceases to amaze me!!

  Since I love it so much, I want YOU to have one too! :-)  

To enter: 

1. MANDATORY: Must be a follower of Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box and leave a comment telling me the initial you would put on your kitchen towel!

You can leave an additional comment for each of the below. 

2. Follow Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box on Facebook

3. Tweet about the giveaway

4. Facebook post about the giveaway

5. Blog about the giveaway 

6. You have Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box on your blog roll! 

7. You have Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box button on your blog! 

8. Tag something from Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box on Pinterest!  

9. StumbleUpon this post (to learn how to stumbleupon, go here) 

You have 9 chances to enter! 

Giveaway closes at midnight Thursday, October 6!