Book Club & Apple Crisp with Pumpkin :)

This past week I had my first book club gathering!  There's this great group of women I've discovered in Blacksburg, who all got together for our friend Jess's bachelorette party a few months ago.  We had soooo much fun and decided we all needed to hang out more!  So, we tossed around ideas of a wine/knitting/book reading group and officially just got started on Thursday.  We're going with the book club idea (but of course wine drinking and knitting are welcome during meetings!).  We hosted the first one, really just as an excuse to get together and to decide what book we're going to read.

We chose Bitter Grounds by Sandra Benitez.  Here's the blurb from Amazon: "Spanning the years between 1932 and 1977, this beautifully told epic is set in the heart of El Salvador, where coffee plantations are the center of life for rich and poor alike. Following three generations of the Prieto Clan and the wealthy family they work for, this is the story of mothers and daughters who live, love, and die for their passions."  Sounds great, huh?!

I've always enjoyed reading, but don't get around to it very often.  I also have never really gotten into discussing or analyzing books (I was a total math & science girl in school), but I'm excited to be reading the same book with everyone, listen to their discussions and chime in when I can!  

Of course for our meetings, we thought it would be fun for a few people to bring along something to snack on.  So, I decided to try to make a healthier version of apple crisp that I love so much!  And I wanted to try adding in pumpkin since I've stocked up and am still excited about eating for every meal!  It was a little drier than I was expecting, but was a real hit at the meeting, especially served with some plain yogurt. 

Ingredients:
5 small apples, peeled & sliced
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 cup whole wheat flour 
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp applesauce
2 Tbsp pumpkin puree
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 tsp nutmeg 
2 tsp. cinnamon (divided)

Directions:
Peel apples and slice them into approximately one inch chunks.

Spread chopped apples into an oiled 9x13 baking pan.  Drizzle with lemon juice and sprinkle 1 Tbsp cinnamon.  Toss apples with your hands to mix.  Preheat the oven to 350.

In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, sugar, applesauce, pumpkin, nutmeg and remaining cinnamon.  I use a fork to mix until all of the flour and oats are moist.

Spread topping evenly over apples.  Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes.  Serve with ice cream or yogurt! :)

Enjoy!

Fall is HERE! :)

Fall is my favorite time of year!!! (well, it's a toss up - I'll probably say the same thing in the spring!).  I love the chilly evenings and changing leaves!  I love cooking soup and drinking hot chocolate!  I love campfires and snuggling! I love sweet potatoes and all sorts of squash!  I love dressing up for Halloween and spending time with family over Thanksgiving!  I love putting on a long sleeve shirt to run and wearing slippers!  I love fall!

I've only just started to make some fun fall recipes.  Here's one (not really a recipe - just a fun thing to whip up for dessert) I made a few nights ago!  Thanks to Jess & Chris for sharing this fun treat!

Slice up a butternut squash into moons or chunks, drizzle with maple syrup and bake for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees.  YUM!  You can also get fancy and add a little cinnamon or nutmeg, too.

 I cut it long ways and scoop out all of the seeds (they're great for roasting too!).  Then slice into about 1/2 inch moons.

 Place on a cookie sheet or baking dish.  Drizzle with maple syrup and throw it in the oven!

 Yum!  I don't have any after pictures, because they didn't last long.  Seems to be a common theme with dessert around here... 

Another favorite thing about fall is an extra cuddly pup :)

I'm headed to the store tonight to stock up on pumpkin!! I'm going to try to make this spiced pumpkin cornbread recipe!  Any other fun pumpkin recipes I should try??

Happy Tuesday :)