Halloween Treats

Halloween will be here soon. Not only am I excited about Halloween but Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have decided to host a rally and march in DC that weekend which is going to be tons of fun. And when that weekend couldn't get more awesome, it did when Rachel decided to come visit! Me, Rachel, and my roommate Moriah got Star Trek costumes to wear that weekend, which will be cute. My friends in DC also have other friends coming in that weekend so it's going to be a crazy few days. I'm looking forward to it!

Even though I don't have anything to cook for this Halloween, I thought I would share two things I've made for parties near Halloween in the past for anyone still trying to figure out fun dinner items!

These cake pops are adapted from Bakerella. I'm not going to post the recipe so hop on over to her fantastic website for it, but these are super easy and fun to make. I didn't have lollipop sticks so I used popsicle sticks and while not as good looking, they did the job. There are so many different things you can do with these but I, obviously, made vampires. I think this was actually for a Twilight part, haha.

 

Another Halloween party that I went to had asked me to bring a salad. I searched and search for some type of salad that I could make Halloweeny. I finally found this idea for eyeball caprese salad and they turned out great! I don't have a link because I don't remember where I found the idea - but they are made with a basil leaf, tomato slice, sliced mozzarella cheese balls (the kind you can get at an olive bar at the grocery store), and topped with two kinds of olives to make the eyeballs. I used a straw to poke holes in the halved green olives and in the black olives. I took the inner part of the hole out of the black olive and placed it into the hole I made in the green olives. I topped them with olive oil and pepper. I was quite happy with how cute these little guys were :)

Pecan Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake

This cheesecake has gotten the best reception of anything I have taken to work thus far. I made it for a friend at work's baby shower because he loves pumpkin. I had never made this recipe before and it turned out amazing. This is definitely a keeper and I'll be making it again. It would be a great alternative to pumpkin pie during the holidays. I really feel like the homemade caramel makes the cheesecake but you could certainly use store bought.

 

Butterscotch Cookies

I did a lot of cooking while I was home in September and these cookies were one of the things I made. I'm hesitant to post them here because I wasn't a giant fan of them but everyone else who tried them liked them so maybe it was just me. This recipe calls for browned butter, which I had never done before, so I may not have done it right. I also usually prefer soft or chewy cookies and these were very crunchy, which may have had something to do with it. I love butterscotch so I'm going to have to give these another try soon but let me know what you think if you end up making them!

Auburn and Football

My two weeks in Auburn were all too brief. I had so many things to do and people to see to fit into that relatively short period of time. It was so nice to be home, in a familiar environment. It was the little things that I enjoyed the most. The things that I really didn't even realized that I missed - the smell of my house, driving around at night by myself with the windows down and the music up, Auburn's campus, the feel of college football in the air, making a royal mess in the kitchen cooking, being lazy on the couch with Toby and Andrew watching TV. Right now Auburn is still my home. In a way, Auburn will always be my home - the same way Dothan will always be my home. But it makes me a little sad to come to the realization that Auburn will not be my home for much longer. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just change and change can be a little sad sometimes.

I ran a lot of errands while I was home (one of which was picking up my graduate school diploma!), packed winter clothes to bring back to D.C. with me, saw lots of friends and got to celebrate two birthdays, ate out at all the Auburn restaurants that I love (including Amsterdam's and MK's), cooked more than we could eat, and had lunch with some of my former professors. It was so nice to see them but it also made the fact that it was fall and I wasn't in school sink in more.

I also spent two days in Abbeville and in Dothan seeing my family. My Nana and aunts are all such good cooks and they cooked all my favorite foods. My dad and I went to see a movie and generally just hung out, since I had spent time with my mom at the beach. I miss all of them very much and it was great to see everyone.

The last weekend I was in Auburn, I was able to go to the Auburn v. Clemson game. It was crazy! And hot. Andrew's brother Chris came to Auburn to go to the game with us. I also found out last minute that Mr. Steve and Mrs. Ginny were coming for the game, so I was really happy to see them and tailgate with them.

 Hannah, Mr. Steve, and Mrs. Ginny tailgating at the Auburn v. Clemson game

As usual for sitting in the student section, we got to the stadium about 2 hours before the game started so we could get a decent seat. I typically don't enjoy sitting in the student section because of many reasons - you have to get there so early, it's hot and crowded and loud, you don't get the sit down (unless it's a TV time out, half time, or someone is hurt). But there is a certain energy in the student section that you don't get from sitting anywhere else in the stadium that is a lot of fun. Especially during the second half of this game when Auburn actually showed up to play football. We won by a field goal in overtime so it was pretty insane and I'm so glad that I went.

Hannah & Andrew at the Auburn v. Clemson Game

Rolling Toomer's Corner - An Auburn Football Tradition

Panama City Beach, FL

My trip to Panama City Beach, Florida for Labor Day was wonderful. I flew into the brand new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport bright and early on Thursday morning, September 2nd. The flight was quick and uneventful, the only interesting thing being halfway through the flight when the pilot came on the intercom and told everyone to look out the left windows of the plane. Out over the ocean, you could see the white line of Hurricane Earl, which was pretty cool.

My mom picked me up at the airport in Panama City since Andrew needed to stay in Auburn for his classes. It was really good to see her, especially since I had not seen her since May and her birthday was that previous Sunday. We grabbed lunch at a place I had never eaten before called J. Michael's Restaurant which is sort of catty corner from Capt. Anderson's. It was good, solid beach food but not necessarily somewhere I would put on my must eat list. 

We did a little shopping after lunch, walked out to the beach for a few minutes, and went to Capt. Anderson's for dinner to celebrate my mom's birthday. Capt. Anderson's is my favorite restaurant. Ever. And it's also one of my mom's favorites. As usual, we both got grilled grouper and as usual, it was amazing. So amazing, in fact, that I forgot to take a picture of it until I was halfway through eating it. We also had mozzarella sticks, salads, rice rolls, and cheesecake which was all fantastic as well.

The next day, we slept in a bit and got biscuits and sausage gravy at Thomas Donuts which is a great little donut shop on Front Beach Road. Once we got out and about, we drove around, did a little shopping, and generally enjoyed being at the beach (especially with my mom's dark blue convertible bug!) For lunch we went to place my mom had been a long time ago and I had never been - Hunt's Oyster Bar & Seafood Restaurant in downtown Panama City (no relation to Hunt's in Dothan.) Before I had tried Hunt's in Panama City, Shuckums on Front Beach Road in Panama City had my favorite baked oyster (I don't like raw oysters). Now Hunt's has won this title for me. They had such an amazing flavor and were baked, as most places do, with garlic and Parmesan cheese and butter. We also had fried shrimp, which were fantastic. Don't let the hole in the wall appearance fool you - Hunt's has gained a place on my must eat list for Panama City.

My mom left to drive back to Dothan and Andrew left Auburn to drive to Panama City Friday afternoon. I had a few hours to myself so I spent them on the beach with a good book, of course. Andrew got there with Toby a little after dark. I was SO happy to see both of them! It had been since June 1st since I had seen Toby and since mid July since I had seen Andrew. We spent the next day being lazy, driving around, walking the beach, and watching football.

On Sunday, we went to St. Andrew's State Park. I had not been to St. Andrew's since I was very little and was looking forward to seeing it. There is a neat little bay area that is almost completely surrounded by rock where you can snorkel and see lots of different fish. We also spent time on the regular beach part where the water was crystal clear and extremely warm. We will have to start going to St. Andrew's more often when we're at the beach.

After spending the day at St. Andrew's State Park, we ate at a place Andrew had eaten at when he was in Panama City with his class over the summer - Captain's Table. Located almost next door to Hunt's, Captain's Table is another slightly hole in the wall looking place with amazing seafood. Andrew and I both had grilled fish (though I can't remember exactly which kinds), along with salads and key lime pie. Very good food and another addition to my must eat list.

The next day we were planning to leave later in the evening so we got up early and took Toby to the new dog beach across the street from Pier Park. Andrew and I learned last time that we came to the beach with Toby that he absolutely loved it, which was surprising to both of us. Even the water didn't seem to both him too much (though he certainly wasn't getting his feet wet on purpose). We walked up and down the beach with him a good bit, which he loved.

The entire time we were at the beach, there were people riding up and down the sand in golf carts - looking for and cleaning up tar balls we assumed. They seemed to be doing a great job because the one time we saw tar balls, they were completely gone the next day. It would take a lot for the oil to keep me out of the water or off the beaches. I love the Gulf beaches and they will always be my vacation spot of choice.

HOME

So tomorrow I will be getting on an airplane and flying HOME! I'm so excited. I'll be leaving bright and early tomorrow morning for the Baltimore Airport (thanks to a friend from work who is driving me out there) to get on my flight that leaves at 8:35am EST and arrives in Panama City Beach, Florida at 9:45am CST. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. Not only am I going home, not only am I going to be able to see Andrew and my family and friends and Toby, not only am I going to be able to eat good southern food until I can't move, but I'm flying into the BEACH. Andrew and I will be spending Labor Day weekend at the beach before heading back to Auburn on Monday evening. At some point, I will be spending some time in Dothan and Abbeville (likely Sept 12th-14th). I've been feeling a little homesick lately so I'm insanely excited.

Very soon, I will be doing this. I. Can't. Wait.

German Chocolate Cake

I don't have my limited decorating tools here in DC, but it won't stop me from attempting to make a pretty cake! A friend a work's birthday was last week and his favorite cake is German Chocolate Cake. I had never make a German Chocolate Cake (and actually never even tasted one!) but I'm always up for trying to make a new type of cake. It turned out pretty good and would definitely make it again. I'm discovering that almost any cake recipe that calls for buttermilk is going to be a winner.

A little trick I've learned is to make the actual cake portion a day early. Not only does this give you a little breathing room when putting everything together, it also makes working with the cake a lot easier. Cold or frozen cake just behaves so much better and is a lot easier to decorate than warm or even room temperature cake. I don't know about you, but I rarely seem to give myself enough time when making a cake to get everything done just how I want it and the decorating and assembly is always the step that suffers. Breaking the process up into two portions allows you to focus your efforts appropriately.

Just let the cakes cool down to room temperature and wrap well in plastic wrap and pop in the fridge for a few days. If you need to keep them for more than a few days, put them in the freezer (and if you really want to be sure they are well wrapped, put them in those giant freezer bags).

Oh - and isn't this cake stand just gorgeous?? But seriously, $65? No thanks. But this one, at $20, is just as cute and comes in multiple colors! Oh goodness, once I have a stable house/apartment again, I'm going to be spending so much money on kitchen stuff. And I should really look into taking a class or two on cake decorating because I'm really starting to enjoy it. I'm sure DC has tons.

I hate the fact that this picture turned out so yellow. Darn fluorescent lights.