Can I have fall yet?

The weather around here is FINALLY starting to change to the cooler side. I have to say, October is one of my favorite times of the year and probably my least favorite time to live in Arizona. I actually said to Todd this month "I think we should move," yeah, I know. See, the thing that stinks is all of the images of fall that start floating around this time of year. Leaves start to change, nights start to cool down and you pull out your Halloween decorations. Not in Phoenix, you still have one month left of 90 degree weather. All I want is to pull out my riding boots and sweaters and everyone else is still getting their tan on.

You really have to learn how to put that extra effort into making it feel like fall in Arizona. As soon as October first rolled around I threw up all my Halloween decorations. (This also explains the lacking blog on the home re-model. I dont' want you think that floating pumpkins are part of the new decor. I do want to show off my Halloween decor before the season is up though.) I spent most of last weekend watching all of my favorite fall movies. This included; Hocus Pocus, Practical Magic,The Skeleton Key (not really fall, but scary) and a few random ones that for some reason always make think of fall; The Stepmom and When Harry Met Sally (really I don't know why I consider these seasonal movies.)

This week I was blessed with cooler weather-77 degrees and cloudy out? Yes Please!  The stormy weather wasn't supposed to hit us until today, but I was too anxious last night and had to prepare something that was super fall-ish to me, it helps me psychologically you see.

Hence, last night's dinner was.... 

HOLY COW, was it good. I have never roasted carrots on their own before, but I think I have a new favorite way to eat this veggie. Carrots are made to me roasted, their flavor just explodes! It was really easy too!


Thyme-Roasted Carrots (from A Sweet Pea Chef via Tastespotting)
10-12 whole unpeeled carrots, split lengthwise (I only used about 5 since I was cooking for two of us)2 tbsp. fresh whole thyme leaves (no stems)
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
optional: balsamic vinegar, honey, fresh rosemary sprigs (I just used thyme because it was what I had)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cover a sheet pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Drizzle olive oil over carrots on the sheet pan. Season with kosher salt and ground black pepper. Toss carrots until evenly coated with oil and seasonings. Arrange carrots on sheet pan. Toss fresh thyme leaves over carrots.
Roast in oven for 30-35 minutes, until golden and tender.

How easy is that? These were seriously incredible. Carrots are also super cheap this time of the year, I got my bag of them for 98 cents at Fresh and Easy.These would be a great way to impress some dinner guests.

Is your mouth watering yet?

But let's get to the real reason you are here today...Loaded Baked Potato Soup.

Confession: I never follow recipes, I usually look at them as suggestions really. I like to find a few versions of what I am cooking then  take the parts I like and mix them into one. For the most part it usually works out. When I was searching a recipe for the potato soup I found this recipe from Natalie's Killer Cuisine. I wanted to try our her family's secret ingredient of Chive and Onion cream cheese, but it also was a huge batch of soup, (10 potatoes!) so I was shallow and picked a recipe from what picture I liked the best.

Baked Potato Soup (For The Love of Cooking via Tastespotting)

• 4-5 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
• 2/3 cup all purpose flour
• 6 cups of 2% reduced fat milk ( I actually used skim milk because I knew I was adding sour cream and cream cheese)
• 3/4 cup reduced fat extra sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• Salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
• 1 cup reduced fat sour cream (I used non fat)
• 1/2 cup green onions, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Pierce the potatoes with a fork; bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash. Discard skins
Lightly spoon the flour in a large Dutch oven; gradually add the milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, cheese, salt and pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Turn the heat to low. Stir in the sour cream and the green onions. Cook for 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated - DO NOT BOIL.
Toppings:

• 6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• Green onions, chopped
• Cheddar cheese, shredded
• Sour cream with chives

Hello gorgeous, you smelled lovely last night. Also, I would like to take this moment to introduce you to my cast iron dutch oven. It rocks my world. If you don't have one, get one...like yesterday. I would have to say it is one of the best kitchen investments ever.

This recipe is really easy. You can even bake your potatoes ahead of time. I put mine in for an hour while I emptied the dishwasher and picked up the house. Then it was ready to eat when Todd got home from work. It was the perfect dinner to put me the fall mood. If I am lucky, it can be a celebration dinner for the end of triple-digit weather for this year.

Hope you are enjoying your fall weather, wherever you are.

-Mrs. J

It's A Fall Thing...

Guess what time of the year it is? Prickly Pear Jelly time!!!! Last year Katie, Laura and I all had the idea to make some home-made gift baskets for Christmas presents. We chose a breakfast theme and made biscotti , hot coco, scone mix, peppermint marshmallows and what ended up being the home run of the gift, Prickly Pear jelly. We had no idea that is was going to be as popular as it was, our friends and co-workers told us they hoarded it like gold in their homes, only taking it out for extreme cravings and special occasions.
We decided since it was such a hit last year, we had to do it this year! So last weekend we all went up to my parent's house in the Hualapai Mountains (pronounced Wal-a-pie) to start our 2010 jam-making weekend. (Full Disclosure: I am using some photos from 2009 to show the process, we made such a large batch this year that by the time we got to juicing stage it was too dark outside to see.)

The first thing we have to do is pick the Prickly Pears, much easier said than done, because Prickly Pears grow on this:

Yes we totally harvest the fruit from Cacti. What great Arizona girls are we? We are able to harvest the fruit just a little down the mountain from where my parents live. While it is fun it can also be dangerous. Cacti have a way of sneaking up onto your ankles and tend to hurt, a lot. Katie yelled out this poetic piece during the harvest trip, "SON OF A NUTCRACKER!!!!!!"

We picked a ton of Prickly Pears this year. We wanted to make a nice big batch for our Christmas gifts and to have a little leftover for ourselves. It took us about an hour playing pioneer women, traipsing through the woods until we filled up our bucket. After washing the Prickly Pears you have to cook them for a couple hours.

This is where the incredible color starts to form. The water you boil them in turns the most amazing shade of pink/purply/red ever. I don't even think I know a name of a color to describe it! We cooked two ways this year. There were two pots on the stove and then a giant pot we cooked outside on a propane stove contraption that we use for deep-frying our Thanksgiving turkey.

How cute is Laura? After the Prickly Pears are cooked down, the real process starts. If you haven't figured it out by the name of the fruit or Katie's cursing, Prickly Pears have prickles on them. Since we love all our friends and this isn't Nightmare Before Christmas, we spend a good chunk of the time sifting the pulp and stickers out. The first step is to chop up the whole pears into smaller pieces.

Once they are nice and chopped up we place them into a food mill to get as much juice out as possible.

This part is fun and messy! We then take the juice from under the food mill and begin the straining process.

The process is very time consuming and it takes all of us working a couple hours straight to get it done. We don't mind though. It is fun to chat with my sisters and my mother. Many times the conversation turns to if we think we could make it should the world suffer some major disaster and we lost all modern technology. Consensus is if there are no Zombies or Mutant creatures, yes. Otherwise, Jesus take us now!

The juice goes twice through a strainer and finally through a cheese cloth. This way all you are left with is a delicious, syrupy Prickly Pear Juice. The next steps are pretty generic in jelly making. You add your sweetener and pectin, bottle them up and can away. We ended up with about 52 jars of Prickly Pear Jelly!
I love this time of the year because it really is the starting off point to our Holiday Season. Our next event is our "McLarty-Jaramillo Annual Fall Festival Weekend." This includes all the fun October activities we love like carving pumpkins, a ghost tour and a visit to Schnepf Farms. When my sisters get married there are going to be a few more hyphens in the title though!

Even though Phoenix is suffering a heat wave, I am so ready for fall time. I pulled out my first Halloween decorations and can't wait for the cooler weather. This Holiday Season will be my first one as a married lady and I am actually hosting Christmas at my house! Luckily my family and my in-laws are wonderful people who would be happy if all I made was pizza and salad. As for the Christmas baskets this year, you are just going to have to wait and see what the theme is!

Happy Fall!
-Mrs.J