Pumpkin Spice Affogato

I've had this in my head for a couple of weeks. How to make a pumpkin spice latte seem...fresh. The obvious answer is ice cream.

Pumpkin ice cream is where it's at. I admit my first taste of pumpkin ice cream came at the verrry beginning of the season. Like September 1st or 2nd. It was at Scoops by Holden Beach, where we held a bachelorette party for my dear friend, Shana. The store sells Blue Bell ice cream, and they'd just started selling Pumpkin Praline. It was heaven.

Thyme Scones with Syrupy Strawberries & Cream

I hope everyone had a lovely Father's Day. It's a bittersweet day for me, especially this year. It's been a year since my grand-daddy passed, and he was absolutely my daddy in every way that mattered. He was at my graduations and piano recitals and choir concerts.

He had a huge sweet tooth. As in, you should expect the cake we're going to eat to already have a slice taken out. Y'know...for testing. Most of the desserts I make have him in mind. But I'm not sure if this is dessert that I had for breakfast or breakfast that I had for dessert. I think it can go either way. The scones are sweet but herby, and the strawberry sauce has a tang that keeps this from being decidedly one or the other.

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

Sometimes you just want to make something that has, like, 5 ingredients.  Seriously, whole shows are devoted to the concept of simplicity.  5 Ingredient Fix, anyone?  Because maybe you're tired or you've had an uber-busy day.  Or just don't feel like broasting and basting and filleting and marinating and heightening the umami.  Just... straightforward please.

I've made a handful of Pioneer Woman recipes, including her deadly cinnamon rolls.  I withered (in a good way) when I ate one for the first time.  I've made her roasted red pepper pasta before, and it comes together in no time if you use jarred roasted peppers.  PW roasts her peppers, which isn't difficult.  I'm definitely not averse to roasting your own peppers, it's just that red bell peppers for some reason have been expensive lately.  So for simplicity's and my budget's sake, I used jarred peppers.

Cream Sauce? Check.

Well I had a most fun Friday!  My dear friend, Kaitlin, won tickets to the Rascal Flatts concert in Charlotte and invited little ol' me to go with her.  I have a bajillion pictures that I took at the show of Sara Evans and Rascal Flatts, but I have yet to go through them and edit; so they'll have to wait.

I do, however, have a sweet little pasta dish I made the same night as the pineapple upside-down cake.  It's fairly simple and mostly a one pot meal (except for the noodles that are boiled separately of course).  The point is, it doesn't have a million different components that all need separate pans.

I'm a sucker for pasta in a silky cream sauce.  I don't like it to be gunky and the noodles all stuck together.  I also don't mind if prosciutto and leeks are involved.

The finished product is salty and creamy, otherwise known as great comfort food.