pumpkin |

Mini Pumpkin Pies

November 12, 2014 By Callie Leave a Comment

Pumpkin is so in right now-right? Besides it being November and all….so I have a thing for minis! This week one of our fabulous mommies from our Ibloom group is hosting a Toddler Thanksgiving-how cute is that? I opted of course to bring something mini and well pumpkin pies just seemed so right.

I scoured Pinterest and found a wonderful post here and decided to roll with it.

They are so easy, good, and well cute. I snagged some premade pie crusts which made it extra easy! The best part is you can simply use the recipe off the can of pumpkin. I used one small can of pumpkin-recipe on back. If you’re making a shopping list before you go you’ll need the pie crust-one box gave me roughly 15 mini pies. One can of evaporated milk-stock up they’re on sale right now! Crushed cloves and crushed ginger in your spice section. Then just your basic salt and sugar and eggs. Oh and cinnamon if you need it.

Follow the directions on the back of the can to make the filling. This made way more than 15 servings so I put the rest in the fridge for later this week. You can use a cup to cut circles out of the crust. Roughly 4 inches wide. I used a mini muffin pan and sprayed liberally as in all over my whole kitchen and self with baking spray. Put your oven at 425 degrees fro 15 minutes. After that lower it to 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.Remove to a cooling rack for 30m-1hour. Add cool whip and eat those babies! I hope those toddlers love them as much as I did. It’s just enough pumpkin.

This weekend I baked for Ibloom, I cooked for a special second time around mommy and brand new baby, and devised my plans for Toddler Thanksgiving. It was exhausting. In between we went to our cousin’s Fairy First Birthday-so cute! Row had a blast running laps around the house in her squeaker boots-totally necessary. Sadly this is the best picture I could get of my busy baby big girl. Toddler pictures are hard ya’ll! Oh and that man-well he’smy most favorite Veteran ever-thanks for your service and sacrifice hubs…and to all those who have served and who’s families truly sacrifice. You’re beyond amazing.

Do you have any mini/pumpkin recipes I need to know about?

What’s Row wearing? Matilda Jane Perfect Day Lap Dress and Fudgescicle Tights. Matilda Jane is sold online and through trunk shows. I finally decided to start hosting shows because I loved the clothes and wanted to see them! I have open shows from time to time and will post when I do. In the meantime if you want to order I’d be happy to help and with sizing and fit questions too! Just message me at calliecakes@outlook.com

I’m also an amazon affiliate and try to find you awesome deals when I can and link them in my posts!

Toddler Time-Pumpkin Carving

October 24, 2014 By Callie Leave a Comment

This week has been crazy!!!! In fact it has been completely consumed by party prep. We’re loving every minute of it-why? Because it’s all about making those memories. There’s been a lot of toddler time this week!

We started by playing with pumpkin guts. This was Row’s first time with pumpkin guts. Last week we went to a local pumpkin “patch”. I use that term loosely because we generally don’t have those here in Texas.It was in fact outside of a church with pumpkins already picked. We just grabbed two. Grandma picked one to carve a Daniel Tiger face on and I grabbed one to make a letter R on. Row ran amuck. So Grandma opened up her pumpkin last weekend….ours will happen this weekend.

Playing with pumpkin guts is a great sensory activity for littles and save those pumpkin seeds for an upcoming pumpkin seed recipe.

Row has also started receiving present and I totally let her open them as they come. It’s so much fun since this year she actually opens!

I’ve really been working on staying as stress free as possible during this party prep time. It doesn’t help that the theme for Row’s party this year is Bake Sale….meaning the food served will be similar to what you would see at a Bake Sale, and the favors are themed as such and hubs…wait for it…wait for it…actually made a toddler sized Bake Sale Stand!!!!! I’m dying over the cute factor.

I broke down the baking into day by day goals and it’s really helping. I actually have time to sneak in a craft show visit tomorrow-I mean who doesn’t love a craft show?

I also wanted to share this favorite thing which I’ll also be sharing over a Momfessionals this week. How cute is this? I snagged it at Target for $24. There are so many mason jar/chalkboard projects on pinterest right? It was found in the home office section but we’re using it in the bathroom!

I’m taking pictures of all the party prep as I go and will happily share! And while I’m thinking about it-let’s talk next year. What party themes are you choosing for your child’s party?

Crockpot Pumpkin Bread

September 10, 2014 By Callie Leave a Comment

Crockpot craziness! So let’s just get into the whole Fall thing shall we? Normally when I was living in Massachusetts Fall was all around. It was getting colder I brought my cardigans out and the leaves-oh the leaves. I was driving past farm stands and getting apple cider donuts and cider. It’s amazing. In Texas it is still like a hundred degrees. I’m a Fall lover. I’m a Halloween maniac. Pumpkin bread gets me there. I found this amazing recipe on pinterest for crockpot pumpkin bread and I had to try it. I had my doubts-but it’s amazing. Anything in a crockpot peaks my interest!

Ingredients-Crock Pot!!!

1/2 cup oil-I used vegetable

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs beaten

1 15 ounce can of pumpkin-stock up on this when the coupons come out in the Fall and then make it whenever!

1 1/2 cup of sifted flour-yes you have to sift it

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

This puppy is from scratch!

1. Blend the oils and sugars in a bowl.

2. Stir in the beaten eggs and pumpkin. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix.

3. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan.

4. Add two cups of water to the crockpot-prop loaf pan in crockpot as shown-IMPORTANT STEP- cover the top of the crockpot lid with paper towels. This helps keep the bread dry but moist. I just took a roll and wrapped the entire lid like a mummy.

This bread was amazing. It’s very dense but moist. Only serve small portions or you’ll get a bell ache-ask my husband. So perfect with some cool whip!!!!! The whole house smelled like pumpkin and Fall!!!!!

The crockpot does it again!