Zen Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins

Although the weather feels more like Summer I am still noticing touches of Fall here and there, such as the abundance of pumpkin flavoured goods on display wherever I go. I love baking and cooking with pumpkin. Sunday I made up a batch of Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins to use up the pumpkin I had left over from making Pumpkin (Quick) Bread. They are Zen muffins only because I enjoyed mine at my desk in my office with some Zen tea at work. 

Whole Wheat Pumpkin (Quick) Bread

This weekend was such a relief. A welcome respite from the reality of the last couple of weeks. (It's been very real around here of late) September has been a strange month so it was wonderful to spend a Sunday in the kitchen again. It felt familiar and I've been craving something familiar. So after David and I ran in the Terry Fox Run (10K) this morning I went crazy in the kitchen - pumpkin bread, banana maple oatmeal cookies and pork roasted slowly with apples. It was very Fall-ish here today.

Penne with Broccoli Rabe and Ricotta

The title of this post is not entirely accurate. I thought I bought broccoli rabe for this recipe but turns out I bought broccolini. Apparently broccolini is a cross between regular ol' North American broccoli and Chinese broccoli. Or so says this Wikipedia entry on the subject. Who knew? So for the official record, I made Penne with Broccolini and Ricotta. Not Broccoli Rabe.

Welcome September Salad

On Sunday we were invited to a last-weekend-of-Summer BBQ. The weather wasn't perfect but the menu and company more than made up for a bit of rain. Homemade burgers, fresh veggies and dip and potato chips - all hallmarks of a great backyard BBQ. I contributed Rainbow Salad and I was very pleased with how it turned out. Let's take a closer look!

Icing on the cake...

The last few weeks have been something of a rush as we've scrambled to fit in birthdays, vacation and the dreaded back-to-school shop. (Is that just a boy thing? Because I used to love back to school shopping. My two fellas hate it with the passion of a thousand blazing suns.) Bottom line, I'm a bit behind in terms of keeping this food journal up to date. First order of business - birthday cake. I can't believe I have a nine year old, but it's true. Daniel requested a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for his cake this year and I was happy to oblige.