Autumn...finally!

Sorry it has been so long since I've post anything.   I adore autumn, and finding new recipes with apple or pumpkin in them. Things around here have been...well...not sure how to phrase it.  We had a long, HOT, dry summer and Steven's long days at work were more than his body could handle. He suffered from heat illness on July 5 and he still hasn't returned to work.
I promise I'll try to catch up on my posts...beginning with these Skinny Pumpkin cupcakes with Spiced Pumpkin Cream Cheese Icing.  One frosted cupcake is about 121 calories!
I found the recipe from skinny taste.  I doubled the frosting recipe and remember KEEP THE FROSTING IN THE REFRIGERATOR!
It's yummy yummy in my tummy!

Fragments

Steven has always picked up every penny he sees, it quickly became a routine practice for the both of us. You see, Steven already knew what I heard taught recently about  the significance of 'fragments'.  If you can find fragments of money, lower the cable bill, stop buying a cup of coffee before work, etc.... the fragments add up and can be helpful to either go towards paying off debt, increase savings, etc... One year, we used the change we found in parking lots and elsewhere to help pay for our vacation.  The past several months, we haven't been sticklers about putting everything we've found into our change bottles, but Thursday, we took what we had gathered into the bank to be counted. We came out with $44, not bad for just stopping to pick up change as you run across it.  Don't disregard the small things....

Coconut Cream Pie

Yummy memories of my Mom's coconut cream pie caused me to pull out my recipes to look for hers.  I couldn't find it so I called her and got the scoop-- an easy, delicious pie recipe you can use to make any cream pie....

Mom's Coconut Cream Pie

1        Pie shell-blind baked

Filling:

1/3C  Flour

2/3C  Sugar

1/4t    Salt

2C     Milk

3        Egg Yolks (set egg whites aside)

2T     Butter

1T     Vanilla (add coconut extract optional)

1/4C  Flaked coconut (optional)

Meringue: 

3        Egg whites

1/4C  Sugar

Flaked coconut (optional)

Using a heavy pan, cook the flour, sugar, salt, and milk until thick. Turn burner down to simmer and temper the egg yolks then add them to the pan.  Cook 2 minutes.  Turn off heat.  Add butter, vanilla and/or coconut extract. Pour into baked pie shell.

Beat egg whites in large bowl with electric mixer.  Once frothy, add sugar and beat until stiff peaks. Spread on top of pie filling and sprinkle flaked coconut on top. Place pie under the broiler to brown the meringue.  

To make Chocolate Cream:

Increase sugar to 1 Cup and substitute 1T Cocoa for vanilla extract.

Father's Day Weekend

We celebrated uncle Hubert's birthday today and father's day.  Mom, Dad, Sarah & Hub came over and we visited on the back porch and went to The Bluffs restaurant at the marina for lunch and afterwards had a piece of cake at the house.  It was an enjoyable day to remember.

Steven, Me, Dad, Mom, Hub, Sarah at the marina

The fishing cake I made

Graduation Celebration!

My youngest nephew, David, graduated with an associates in Surgical Technology, as well as his girlfriend, Heather. They worked and studied so hard, putting in 4 a.m. shifts, driving to several hospitals for clinical, this deserved celebrating!  We gathered under a shady pavilion at Millie Harris park in Harrison where we enjoyed a casual gathering of family near the water.  White and black balloons with stars decorated the posts of the pavilion and I draped the center table in a white table cloth scattered with black, silver, and gold confetti.  We served pizza (david's favorite) and a special cake was made by Shelby Lynn's Cake Shop in their honor decorated with black swirls and a red band around the bottom of the cake.  Matching plates and napkins finished the look.  I'm so proud of their accomplishment and am excited to see their futures!