Fall Back

Did you remember to set your clocks back an hour last night? Luckily, my iPhone changed times automatically, so I didn’t have to fuss with it. 🙂

 

I started last night’s dinner with two glasses of red wine. Wining and dining is pretty much a guarantee when getting together with my mom’s side of the family. What can I say, we just like to enjoy the little things in life!

There was a big discussion of reds vs. whites. I would say 9 times out of 10, I prefer white. I determined that reds are better in cold weather months (aka, January in Florida) and whites are better in summer months.

 

When we tried to figure out something to prepare for dinner, we went through a bunch of decision making steps. We wanted something: 

• seasonal
• large enough to feed everyone
• delicious
• out-of-the-ordinary (aka, NOT spaghetti!)
• healthy

Which lead us to…

BAKED PUMPKIN PENNE!

My mom saw it featured on my blog a few weeks ago, and had been dying to try it. We changed a few things around, like adding more water to the sauce, used less curry, and more salt.

Turns out, it was a hit!

     

Along with pumpkin penne, we had a lovely spinach salad with poppyseed dressing.

In the mix we included:

• spinach
• honeycrisp apples
• craisins
• pecans

 

I had a plateful… and went back for seconds, thirds, and fourths. Yes, fourths.

Even my picky sister, Brielle, enjoyed it! 🙂

  

For dessert, my mom made homemade peach cobbler. It was a very basic recipe that I will have to steal from her.

 

It was warm and goey, topped with a cold scoop of ice cream. Heavenly!

 

I really enjoy eating seasonally, especially in fall! I LOVE pumpkin, squash, cinnamon, sage, honeycrisp apples, warm pies, and hot chocolate.

 

Swoon! So excited, Thanksgiving is around the corner!

 

What is your favorite season of eating?

 

❤ MegaNerd

Pumpkin Penne

I don’t think pumpkin gets much better than this.

 

 

I have been craving all things pumpkin lately. Pumpkin spice lattes. Pumpkin muffins. Pumpkin ice cream. Pumpkin seeds. Pumpkin oatmeal. Pumpkin Swirl Bread. Pumpkin gelato.

 

When Heather made Baked Pumpkin Penne, I was intrigued. It wasn’t a recipe that immediately sounded A-maaaaa-zing to me. After BFF Debbie made it, and told me that it tasted similar to my beloved Pumpkin Ravioli I tried while visiting her in Princeton, NJ last year, I knew that I must give it a try.

 

From November 20, 2009, and I quote: “That was the best food decision of my life.” And it was.

 

 

I won’t lie, combining pumpkin and cheese in a bowl sounded a wee bit odd to me.

 

 

The final product. Heaven.

 

 

 

I was so happy with the results!

 

It made a TON! I literally was eating pumpkin penne leftovers every day until they went bad. I can’t imagine what the entire recipe would have produced; I only made one-third of her original recipe!

 

 

On the side, I made a spring mix salad with sliced apples, dried cranberries, and pomegranate raspberry dressing. It was the perfect sweet complement.

 

 

This recipe is definitely a keeper. 🙂

 

Which pumpkin recipes have you tried and loved?

 

❤ MegaNerd