fall entertaining class || a creative class at the cottage

A few weeks ago I hosted my 3rd annual FALL ENTERTAINING CLASS.  It was such a fun evening and I think the ladies had fun too!  The weather held out and it was a cool, cloudy Fall evening.  Just perfect for a night of friendship, food and creativity!

The girls and I decorated the front porch with colorful pumpkins and different squash, as well as a few mums and ornamental kale.

Each lady received a SWAG bag to take home.....just a fun little bag full of goodies and another way to say THANK YOU!

We made new friends, created pumpkin succulent centerpieces, enjoyed yummy food and drinks.  I think it's safe to say that each and every one of the beautiful ladies that attended, walked away with a full heart and a head full of fun and easy entertaining and decorating ideas!

Thank you to Brittany Rossman Photography for capturing the evening in photos!

Thank you to each and every one of the ladies who attended!

And thank you to my mama who helped me serve the ladies that evening....

Happy Thanksgiving friend!!

xoxo~Darci

PUMPKIN DUMP CAKE :: a sweet treat recipe

I thought I would share one of the easiest dessert recipes E.V.E.R.  Most of the desserts I make are easy, I don't do complicated!  Takes too much time, and I would rather be spending my time eating the desserts instead of baking them ;-)

If you have never heard of dump cake before, it was a recipe that became popular in the 80′s by church cookbooks and potlucks.  You basically dump a few cans of fruit in a pan, cover it with cake mix and butter and bake it.

This is the same idea, only I used pumpkin instead of fruit!

Pumpkin Dump Cake

 Ingredients

• 1 15 oz can Pumpkin Puree
• 1 10 oz can Evaporated Milk
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter melted
• 1 cup coarsely crushed graham crackers or pecans
• 1/2 cup toffee bits (optional)

How to Make

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Spray a 9×13 baking pan lightly with cooking/baking spray
3. In a large bowl combine the pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs and pumpkin pie spice. Stir to combine.
4. Pour into your prepared pan.
5. Sprinkle your entire box of cake mix on top, followed by your nuts or graham crackers and toffee chips.
6. Pour your melted butter evenly on top.
7. Bake for 45-50 minutes until center is set and edges are lightly browned.

** serve with sweetened whip cream or ice cream, I served mine with my vanilla honey ice cream **

PUMPKIN SPICE MUFFINS :: a recipe

I thought I would share a scrumptious pumpkin spice muffin recipe.  Last week I made some to-die-for pumpkin + molasses cookies.  Seriously, I couldn't stop eating them!!  I will post the recipe, I just didn't get any photos, but I promise, you will want to eat the entire batch!!

Anyways, I had some left over pumping puree to use up.  A little breakfast treat sounded good, so I made some pumpkin spice muffins.

Pumpkin Muffins from Smitten Kitchen

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15 ounce can) 1/3 cup vegetable oil 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice 1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Put oven in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Put liners in muffin cups.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/4 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack five minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

Addilyn loves to help in the kitchen.  She picked out the muffin liners ;-) and she takes her role of taste testing very seriously.  Don't step between the girl and her muffin batter {or cookie dough, or cake batter or anything with butter and sugar}.

And on a separate note, I am loving my 'FALL' sign that I got from Anne.

Isn't it darling?

We did a little bartering after the SALE and I was thrilled to come home with this ;-)

Now go bake some muffins....your family will love you for it!!

xoxo~Darci