Pumpkin Raisin Muffins

Okay now, be honest.  Are you still all sugared up from last night?  Did you eat more Halloween candy than you gave out?  Or did you "check" your kids candy and take out all of the delicious treats for yourself?  C'mon, fess up!  Well, even if you might not want to admit it, I'm sure you need a little candy detox.

Growing up, we never had the problem of eating more candy than we gave out.  The reason for this?  In all the years that my parents have lived at their house, not a single trick-or-treater ever came to the door.  Did that stop my dad from buying five bags of candy every year?  No.  When asked why he was putting all those bags of candy in the grocery cart, the answer was always "for the trick-or-treaters."  Big ole liar.  Dad likes candy, plain and simple.  We always ate more candy than we gave out, always.

Even now I can say that I've never answered the door of my own home to a trick-or-treater.  Since moving away from my parents home, I've lived in apartments.  Boyfriend, on the other hand, grew up in a classic suburban subdivision.  He has many memories of costume-clad children ringing the doorbell and screaming for candy.  He describes it as "annoying."  I guess when you're trying to get stuff done, going to the door every two minutes might get a bit old. 

So, for now I have continued my trick-or-treaterless existance.  Perhaps boyfriend and I will buy a house, then we'll have ghosts, pirates and pixies ringing our doorbell on October 31st.  Until then, I'll keep buying the candy, just in case.

Daring Bakers - Povitica

On a recent Friday at work, we had ourselves a party.  It was a party that is probably right up your alley.  It was called Bake-toberfest and it was for charity.

For Bake-toberfest, the kitchen-saavy members of my company took to their ovens (and a couple to their cars and the grocery store) and produced some seriously delicious treats.  I wish I had pictures of the tables.  There were pies, cookies, cakes, bars, cupcakes, tarts and even a jell-o dish, lining over fifteen feet of table.  The bakers had really outdone themselves.

You might be asking what we did with all of these treats?  Were we baking and sharing just to pig out and drink all of the milk in the lunchroom fridge?  No, it was all for charity.  For a mere $5, you were allowed to come in the room and enjoy the buffet of sugar.  For a scant $10, you could not only enjoy the treats at work, but you could bring as much home and you could carry.  It was a brilliant idea, because once someone glanced over the table of treats, there was no way that $10 wasn't making its way into the till.

The Daring Baker's October 2011 challenge was Pivitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered-Whisk.  Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat!  I decided that it was the perfect item to bring in for Bake-toberfest.  It was totally different from anything else on the table and quickly disappeared.  Even a coworker who tried to stay away from the buffet, couldn't help herself from trying a piece.  When I asked her why, she responded "We have this at home, it's a treat we eat during the holidays!"  My coworker is originally from Romania, and was very happy with this recipe.  She suggests you eat the end pieces, because they are the best!

In the end, Bake-toberfest was able to raise almost $800!  Quite the feat for a table full of goodies.

Newman's Pizza

I arrived home to a package recently.  It was filled with delicious goodies.  I was particularly struck by this pair of items.  Mostly because of the label on the pasta sauce...

Do you see it?  No, it's not those mysterious lady hands, growing out of the bottom of the bottle.  No, Newman's is spelled correctly.  It's up there, on the top left...  See it?  Yep, it says "Industrial Strength."  Why?  I have no idea, it didn't taste like it was extra strength or full of special chemicals (I'm a chemist, trust me on this).  It actually just smelled like tomato, and basil.  Have you ever opened a bottle of "Pasta sauce with basil" and you couldn't taste/smell the basil?  Well, you won't have that problem with this jar.  Mmmm, basily. 

It made one delicious pizza...  Look at all that deliciousness!

That basil flavor persisted, even after being layered over with sausage, peppers, onions and cheese.  Lots and lots of cheese...  Mmmmmm...

Oh, and I made a salad too.  Because vegetable are good for you.  Eat your vegetables.