Fallified Table

We've made it to hump day and I've officially decided that every week should be a 4 day work week. Last night Shaun and I feasted on leftover spaghetti and meatballs from Sunday dinner at my parents house and then watched Castle from Monday night (even though I fell asleep midway through the ep). This morning feels oh-so-Fallish here in NYC so I thought it was the perfect time to share my autumn updates around my Avid Kitchen. Or just outside of it, I should say.

Last week I broke out our small collection of Fall decorations! And by small collection, I mean a couple of table runners, a $3 light up pumpkin from Target and a collection of fake yet very pretty leaves and...well, that's about all she wrote. I'm all for keeping things simple, but this year I wanted to take it up a notch. So when my mom and I took on a curtain sewing project (and by my mom and I, I mean that she sewed while I supervised), we also picked up some fabric to make a DIY autumn table runner. With a couple yards of orange burlap and some faux leaves, we Mom was in business for a sweet runner that took my plain jane dining table from just another piece of furniture to a truly adorable statement maker.

Oh and my red and white leaf dishware is just about the perfect addition to a Fall table! While they aren't as classic as plain ol' white, they somehow manage to go with every season - especially Fall! Add a few mini pumpkins on my gorgeous Tiffany plate (a precious engagement gift from dear family friends) and the space was transformed. Oh and we snapped up those little guys for a mere $5 total at our local A&P.

A closer look at the fine craftmenship by my amazing, domestic goddess of a Mom.

And so that my coffee table didn't feel left out, I also picked up a little pumpkin to sit on top of a sweet table runner that I got at Kohl's last Fall. I added our cheap-o, industrial chic plant and a candle holder to round out the setting.

So what do you think? Doesn't the coffee table look totally hors d'oeuvres worthy? I just can't stop staring at the pretty runner made by my awesome Mom! But what I want to know is, how do you deck out for Fall? Do you change over your kitchen? Dining table? Do you whip up inspired eats?

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins with Sweet Spice Glaze

Happy Tuesday! I don't know about you, but my office was closed yesterday, meaning that I had a nice, long three-day weekend. I spent it celebrating a friend's engagement, shopping like mad in SoHo with my mom and sisters, eating fast food and watching Jersey Shore with the hubs, visiting with family and baking a boatload of apple pies...more on that later. I'm still spent this morning though since Shaun and I were up watching the Jets beat up on the Vikings last night (ok, I may have fallen asleep way before the end of the game, but still...).

I'm not sure if it's the Fall season, more time at home or the impending holidays but lately I've had a major jonesing for getting my bake on. It seems that all I want to do is bake up delicious treats, much to the chagrin of my waistline, I might add. So after I cleaned out my local A+P of their entire stash of pumpkin, I knew that the day of whipping up some pumpkin baked goods had finally arrived.

For my first pumpkin treat of the season, I whipped up a batch of whole wheat pumpkin muffins. By substituting whole wheat flour for all purpose and drizzling with a pumpkin spice glaze, I amped up the flavor and texture on these delectable little treats. And ya gotta love that muffins as a whole could not be easier to make. No hand or stand mixers, no beating until your arm goes numb. Just putting some simple ingredients together and gently mixing is all it takes to get 'er done.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins
*Adapted from Muffins
1 C whole wheat flour
1/2 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 C butter
1 egg
1/2 C pumpkin puree
1/2 C evaporated milk
1/2 C raisins, optional (I omitted them)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Fill muffin cups with paper liners. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles cornmeal. I used two knives and then got down 'n dirty with my own two hands.

In a separate bowl, comgine the egg with pumpkin and milk. If including raisins (I didn't), add them.

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Don't overmix or you'll end up with one tough muffin.

Fill muffin cups about half way full and bake for 15-18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Mine were done after 15 minutes.

Let cool. Drizzle with Sweet Spice Glaze.

Sweet Spice Glaze
1/4 C confectioners' sugar
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Whisk all together in a bowl.

If it isn't thin enough to drizzle, add more milk until desired thickness.

Serve on a pretty plate, and you're set for your next gathering or even for a special evening at home. I Fall-ified mine even further by jazzing them up on this sweet plate that was gifted to us by our dear friends Ryan and Kristen at our mini housewarming party a few weeks ago. Isn't it just adorable? I couldn't wait to break it out for something as delicious as pumpkin muffins.

So there you have it, a little roundup of my baking frenzy. And these delicious, light as a feather muffins can easily be prepared on a weeknight since the entire process took about 20 minutes. Shaun and I had these muffins all week long and it was such a wonderful autumn treat after work each night!

So what do you think? Has your holiday baking bug kicked in yet? Are you obsessing over Fall flavors like I am? What's your favorite treat thus far? Any plans for yummy Fall eats this week?

Psst...for more heavenly Fall eats, check out my Apple Cupcakes + Cinnamon Frosting, a sure fire crowd pleaser!

The Suite Life

A few weeks ago, Shaun and I had the very, very fortunate opportunity to attend the Giants game in style. With some (free!) tickets from his office, we got to watch the game from a luxury suite! Though Shaun is Jets/Mets fan, and my heart belongs to the Giants/Yankees, we try to support each others’ teams as much as possible. You know, as long as they aren’t playing each other. So when Shaun scored this rockin’, once in a lifetime tix, you know he couldn’t wait to go and cheer on the Giants with his Big Blue-lovin’ lady.

And since I have yet to get him into a Giants tee (I have been known to rock Shaun’s vintage Jets jersey...once. At a Jets game. When the Giants weren't playing.), he did at least wear the appropriate colors. Meanwhile, I broke out my red #44 Ahmad Bradshaw t-shirt, gifted to me by a one Shaun Humiston. Doesn’t it look super chic with my black blazer? Classy, no? Here's the inside of the suite (yep, that's a waiter walking down the stairs near the seats):

Our truly fab leather seats afforded us this amazing view. Not only were we able to lounge out with merely a few others in this private box, but unlimited food and drink was located just a few feet away. The view was uncompromised by the exclusion of rowdy, beer-drinking brutes and the lack of anyone needing to pass by you multiple times during the game for a potty break. Not bad, eh? It's really the only way to watch a football game in my opinion.

And you know I couldn't resist snapping just a few photos of a small sampling of the goods. The buffet consisted of Caesar salad, sub sandwiches, potato salad coated in cheese, tomatoes, chives and bacon bits, chicken wings, mozzarella sticks and hot dogs.

For starters, I kicked off the game with some salad, chicken fingers and an oversized mozzarella stick. Yum.

And no football game (or any sporting event for that matter) could ever be complete without a hot dog, so that made it onto full plate #2. You know, along with another mozzarella stick and some of the aforementioned potato salad.

And just when we were in the midst of thanking our lucky stars for such good fortune (there may have been a happy dance involved), someone unexpected showed up in our suite.

Since I had to do about 100 takes to mentally confirm it was her - and was still unconvinced - Shaun suggested that I, in that moment, download U.N.I.T.Y. as my ring tone. You know, so he could proceed to call it and see what her reaction would be when she heard it. Like it was a totally normal coincidence. (Oh, my husband...) Luckily, it didn't come to that. Upon a closer look, we decided that it was in fact Queen Latifah. And when she didn't give me a 'you have two heads' look when I requested a photo with her (like the dork that I am), I was then fairly certain it was her. She just stopped by to catch some of the game. You know, in the suite we just so happened to take up residence in. Oh and did I mention that the back up quarterback's family also set up shop in the same suite? We so obviously belonged there.

So there you have it. The perfect way to watch a football game. Well, almost. The Giants suffered a terrible loss to the Titans...but I kinda forgot about that part in all the other awesomeness that ensued.

So what do you think? Are you a sports fan? Have you ever gone all out for a game? What's your favorite part? Dish it!

Psst...want to see more football fun? Check out last year's Giants game and all of its tailgating glory! And for even more game day eats, check out some fun recipe ideas!