pumpkin apple butter

Welcome back, friends.  Just when you think life is going to slow down, more exciting things introduce themselves into your life.

I feel so truly blessed with this busyness.  The new season of fall seems to be knocking at our door.  Our third annual Mommy/Child Bake Off usually greets the chill in the air–that is tomorrow.  (We’re determined to win our own Bake Off this year… well, not really, but it is worth a try.)

We’ve recently made the most incredible (healthy) pumpkin cookie in the world.  I adapted this recipe: pureed mango instead of applesauce, half the sugar (so I could throw in chocolate chips), and added a handful of walnuts.  I wish I would have doubled it.

And pumpkin apple butter.  Have you ever tried it on toast?  If you want to know a secret, we made it in bread machine.  The recipe is from our favorite bread making book– The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook.

pumpkin apple butter (in a bread machine)

15 ounce can of pumpkin puree

1 tart cooking apple–peeled, cored & grated

1/2 unfiltered, unsweetened apple juice

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

3 TBSP unsalted butter

1.  Combine all the ingredients (except the butter) ein the bread pan.

2.  Program the machine for Jam cycle and press Start.  When the machine beeps at the end of the cycle, carefully remove the pan with heavy oven mitts.  Stir in the butter until it melts.  You can scrape the fruit butter into heat-resistant jars right away.  For other jars, let the fruit butter sit in the pan for 15 minutes before transferring.  Let stand until cool.

Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 months, or spoon into small freezer bags and freeze.

We ironically spend much of our hours outdoors in the fall, more than summer.  It is like the earth and its coming chill is calling us out one last time before the frost.  So the race of finding socks and matching shoes, jackets and doing pony-tailed hair is upon us.

What does your fall look like?

 I’ve got some exciting projects to share next week that are perfect for this time of year.

the sleepy time gal