Ham & Mustard Butter Biscuits

Y'all. I will eat just about anything on a biscuit. Biscuits are home. Biscuits are Sunday mornings with family. Biscuits are a fluffy vehicle for sweet and salty fillings alike. I could eat a biscuit with just a little jam. I could devour a biscuit with a little jam and a hunk of juicy sausage.

And I melt for a biscuit with mustard, more butter, and thinly sliced ham. It's my breakfastlunchdinner. Salty ham, tangy mustard, and sweet onions on a buttery biscuit. I can't ask for more.

Quick Pumpkin Custard with Maple Walnut Topping

I feel like I've been in a whirlwind of activity. I made this carrot cake into cupcakes for my grandmother's birthday, cut my hair supershort, had my favorite Mellow Mushroom pizza to date (Holy Shiitake pie omgggg), tailgated and watched my Gamecocks whup Missouri, and spent a day on the lake with wonderful friends. Phew. I wouldn't trade it for anything, but it definitely makes a girl guzzle pumpkin spice coffee.

I used to say I only liked pumpkin pie once a year, and that was on Thanksgiving. Um, things change. I'm the only one in my house that actually likes pumpkin pie, though, so what's a girl to do? Solution: Leave out the crust, make individual servings, and top with mapled walnuts. P.S. The compu-dictionary says mapled isn't a word. I say false. 

Cocktail Sauce

There are some things I just won't buy. Like I have to make it myself because I've convinced my crazy brain that there's no way storebought even comes close. Obviously mayonnaise does not fall into this category. We all know I love my Duke's. These things do include poundcake, pimento cheese, and cocktail sauce. Boiled shrimp and cocktail sauce are a mainstay at our tailgates and family gatherings. Sometimes we swap out the shrimp for crab meat and pour it over cream cheese. It's the business.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

It's gourd season, y'all. It's a beautiful coincidence that the time for all things pumpkin intersects with the time for all things football. I think that's sort of how my life works. Everything happens at once. My birthday is Christmas Eve, so I get birthday and Christmas all at once. And now it's not just football and pumpkins in the fall. It's also Grady-time. He turned 11 months old yesterday, and I'm absolutely floored at how he's gone from wee (although his hands and feet were never wee) and utterly helpless to large and in charge. He wants to feed himself, he can drink out of a sippy cup, and he's SO close to walking. Oh mercy, I didn't mean to get all sentimental.

I have to say I'm really excited for Grady's first birthday. My sister has a wonderful day in mind, and let's be honest, the party is really for the adults. I just know Grady will go to town on the smash cake we make him, but it's not like he'll remember any of this. All that said, let's get down to cookie business.

Instgrammin': Late Summer Edition

It seems like every September I catch a little cold. Not a knock-down-seeing-stars flu, just a cold that's inconvenient enough to sap all my energy and give me a low-grade fever. It's not a time when people like you to handle their food. I'm in recovery mode with plans for a pumpkin bender, but until then, here's a glance at the past month or so.

This is the face of disobedience. It's a sweet face to be sure, but mercy this dog doesn't listen!

Farm-fresh eggs come in pretty colors and taste phenomenal, too.

I think he's silently communicating "I don't take pictures of you while you eat."

Election 2012

This is Michelle Obama. Wanna know how I got this picture? I WAS THERE. Yup, I'm at the DNC Convention in Charlotte, courtesy of my lovely sister. I won't be able to blog for a few more days, but I've got a really good cupcake coming your way. Promise, promise, promise.

P.S. I met Melissa Harris-Perry and sat a table over from Jill Biden at lunch. I really hope I didn't get anything in my teeth.