Fall - - Page 3

by Emily

Just Give In: A Pumpkin Spice M&Ms Review

So, the internet has collectively decided that liking pumpkin and pumpkin spiced flavored things makes you a basic white girl. There have been many online thought (well, “thought”) pieces written about this, including one fairly accurate Buzzfeed list. If you’re really interested in the history of being basic, the truth is that everyone has taken a phrase coined a few years ago and twisted it into something completely different meaning ordinary/boring. New York Mag has a pretty good piece on it, and over on The Awl they have an interesting 2013 read about the fetishization of pumpkin and pumpkin flavor. If you’re interested into delving into this weirdly specific trend/topic.

Anyway, whatever. If liking pumpkin shit and football and boots makes me basic, then basic it is. Pumpkin is delicious, football is an amazing justification for day drinking, and boots keep your feet warm and dry.

All that being said, what up with all the pumpkin-flavored stuff in stores these days! It’s getting borderline ridiculous. Apparently these limited-edition Pumpkin Spice M&Ms debuted last year, but I never experienced them in-person until this year, the year of our lord 2014. SUPPOSEDLY there are also Pumpkin Spice Oreos out there now, but I have yet to see them in stores them despite a semi-intense search at Target last week. But let’s rewind a sec to the M&Ms.

I was in said Target purchasing my new Crock Pot (one more step in my quest to be the most basic white girl in the fall, I guess) when a garish display of seasonal M&Ms caught my eye. Nestled among the Halloween-themed regular flavors were Pumpkin Spice and White Chocolate Candy Corn varieties. Clearly the powers above were sending me a message, and that message was: you must sacrifice your pre-vacation crash diet and sense of pride. You must taste test these cheap, bandwagon-y limited edition candies.

I decided to save the candy corn flavor for a later unfortunate date, but purchased the pumpkin spice kind and tore into them in the car ride home (obv, why would I delay this flavor experience longer than necessary?) To the disappointment of my friend and myself, they were barely pumpkin-tasting at all. If anything, I would describe these M&Ms as “Mexican chocolate,” that is, regular milk chocolate infused with a tiny bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, and generic “spice.”

When I got home, I introduced them to Rob in a BLIND TASTE TEST and he thought I was just feeding him regular milk chocolate M&Ms. Another failure.

But… something strange started to happen. The longer the weekend went on, the more we snacked on these little nuggets of dubious seasonality. And the more we snacked on them, the more we liked them. Soon we were saying things like “You know, maybe I CAN taste the pumpkin spice” and “Well, I actually really like these, they taste like fall” until we were full-on making conversation with each other about how we might be borderline addicted to Pumpkin Spice M&Ms.

What does this all mean? I suppose if the summary of my review is “They don’t taste that great at first, but just keep eating them and eventually you’ll think you can taste the difference, start to like them, and eat way more than you meant to in one sitting” that might not be high praise. But, this is kind of how I feel about pumpkin spice and fall in general. You resist at first, you think you’re better than it, but you’re not. Just give in.

by Emily

Southwest Slow Cooker Hatch Chicken Chili

I finally gave in and got a crock pot this past weekend. (I say “finally” because I feel like slow cookers are really experiencing a renaissance in my generation, thanks to Pinterest and other domestic-y sites – I’m one of the last 20-something girls I know who didn’t have one.) It was perfect timing because for the first time since, oh, March, Austin was cold (aka, in the low 70s) and wet. Pair that gloomy, stay-inside weather with a weekend full of football, and you’ve got yourself an ideal slow cooker combo situation.

This recipe is just something I threw together on Sunday morning, and it turned out so well. The bonus: unlike a lot of football snacks, it’s completely healthy. Take about 10-20 minutes to prep this in the late morning or early afternoon, leave it on high for 4-5 hours, and you’ll have a hot, spicy meal just in time for the evening game.

If you don’t have a Crock Pot or other slow cooker, guess what? You’re in luck. You can achieve the same results by cooking low and slow in a stockpot on the stove. Just make sure you’ve cooked your chicken breast most of the way through and add ingredients from there.

Note – this recipe uses hatch chiles, grown in New Mexico, which are really popular in the southwest this time of year. If you don’t have them in your neck of the woods you can feel free to use whatever chile pepper you prefer. Canned chipotles are always a favorite of mine, and they’re easy to find in practically any grocery store.

Southwest Hatch Chicken Chili

by hungry monster

Sensible Sports Snacks: Baked Taco Roll-Ups

Are you finding that you are going to more get-togethers lately? That”s how I feel about fall. When the weather is nice, people love to gather. And you know what? When people gather…they eat.

So, if you have a few friends over for the big game (Go, insert relevant sports team name here!!) why not make them some secretly healthy taco roll-ups to fill their bellies?

They will thank you for it.

(Healthy) Baked Taco Roll-Ups

in Cheese / Recipe / Veggie 0 comments

by Hannah

Where’s the Pumpkin?

This fall has been a rocky one for pumpkin loving people. With the dawn of October came a Starbucks pumpkin latte shortage that left coffee fans reeling with deprivation. With its whip cream poof and milky autumnal hue, the pumpkin spice latte has practically overtaken its ancestor (the pumpkin, lest you forget) as the national mascot of Fall. Yet what exactly is pumpkin spice? Homemade recipes include a tablespoon or two of actual canned pumpkin pie mixture, which presumably dissolves in hot milk and espresso to create the ghost of a gourd flavor.

However, gourd is one food group that I am not particularly keen to add to my coffee. Cinnamon, cardamom, mint, chai—those are all semi-acceptable additions to spice up our daily mud. But pumpkin? Might as well be sweet potato, or butternut squash.

What, then, explains the pumpkin spice latte’s popularity? After five seconds of sleuthing, the answer becomes clear. The Starbucks pumpkin spice latte has no pumpkin! Hence, “pumpkin spice.” Pumpkin spice, according to Starbucks, consists of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove, the autumnal trifecta of spices. In a neat twist of branding, the fall mascot is paraded in front of our eyes, cute and plump and vegetal, and then whisked away, never to be seen again. Until Thanksgiving, that is, when “pumpkin spice” makes its encore appearance in pies, whose pumpkin content we traditionally make great effort in disguising.

If we read too deeply into the pumpkin’s plight, we can trace similarities between the New World squash and its indigenous cultivators. But such a connection is perilous and academic, and, of course, not what anyone wants to be reminded of on the very day of celebration. Instead, we’ll treasure our pumpkin-less lattes for a few sweet months before transitioning into the white wonderland of eggnog and peppermint, seeking snow in our beverages when it fails to appear elsewhere.

Happy Thanksgiving!

in Drinks / Holiday 0 comments

by Emily

Smoky Southwestern Steak & Sweet Potato Chili

It’s always a bit difficult for me to surrender to the changing of the seasons this time of year; summertime is my favorite and I’m always reluctant to bid it farewell. Plus, here in Texas it’s still in the 80s most days, and I feel like I should be hitting the swimming hole rather than cozying up to the fireplace in a chunky sweater. The silver lining to my autumn blues is that I love, love, love fall flavors. I can mix pumpkin or sweet potato into practically any dish and call it an improvement.

On one of the rare gloomy, rainy days we’ve had so far this year, my roommate Dayna and I decided it was chili time. I detest canned chili (obviously) and even homemade, traditional ground beef chili gets slightly boring. My favorite chili recipe is one I created incorporating all of my favorite fall tastes. It’s hearty and comforting, yet very healthy and simple to make. It incorporates a smoky southwestern flair, thanks to the addition of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. It uses steak instead of ground beef, black beans and corn instead of kidney beans, pumpkin to add richness and bulk… basically, this is not your average chili and that’s why I like it.

Smoky Southwestern Steak & Sweet Potato Chili

in Recipe / Red Meat 1 comments

by snebbu

Pumpkin Gone Wild! Top 10 Ways to Use Pumpkin

Do you hear those crisp leaves crunching underneath your feet as you walk to your car in the morning, holding your favorite brand of pumpkin coffee in your hand? Are apples the only fruit that you pack in your lunch for the next month, yet you know you won’t get sick of them? Then you love fall, too. But before we go too far into fall, let’s focus on the hallmark food of the season: pumpkin.

Pumpkin pie and bread are great…but it’s time to mix it up a bit. Enjoy…

10. Pumpkin Pie Martini

Don’t tell me you didn’t think we’d have some form of booze on here. I know, some of your are cringing thinking of “ruining” a glycerin-induced regular martini with the sweet taste of pumpkin. Well then you go ahead and drink your regular martini. The rest of us will enjoy the pumpkin…and not feeling like we have to call poison control.

Recipe: Life’s Ambrosia

9. Pumpkin Pie Dip

There is a dip that neighbors make every year for fruit. It has cream cheese, sugar, and peanut butter in it. I’m not complaining, but I think they could also mix it up and try this pumpkin dip. I’ve had this before, and in addition to fruits and graham crackers – pretzels are a great instrument in carrying the dip. Plus – sweet and salty.

Recipe: The Girl Who Ate Everything

8. Pumpkin Tagliatelle

There’s a restaurant in Philly that makes the best pumpkin pasta I’ve ever had. And I’m dead-set on returning this fall. However, for those of you that can’t enjoy it at the restaurant: this tagliatelle looks awesome. Used the right way, pumpkin adds a buttery, nutty flavor to the pasta. Yum.

Recipe: The Little Things

7. Pumpkin-Caramel Mousse Cakes

Pumpkin. Caramel. Mousse. I’m sold.

Recipe: Bakers Royale

in Desserts / Drinks / Lists / Top 10 Lists 4 comments

by unsightly

Endless Ice Cream: Pumpkin Chai

I couldn’t close out this ice cream series with including one of my favorites, pumpkin.

Pumpkins start showing up at the farm stands by me around the first week of September, and I cannot resist the urge to pick up a few pie pumpkins and roast them. If you’re down for roasting your own pumpkins and making puree, here is an easy tutorial. Make sure you puree it until very smooth; the ice cream is unforgiving to stringy pumpkin puree. Otherwise, canned pumpkin works perfectly. Scoop yourself a big waffle cone of this and pop in The Nightmare Before Christmas for a perfect (in my opinion) end to the day.

Pumpkin Chai Ice Cream

in Desserts / Featured / Recipe 0 comments