Pumpkin Cookie Bars with Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting

I made these pumpkin bars for 100% unselfish reasons.

I made them for Michael's boss, my brother, and you.

See....I may have mentioned it before but Michael and I pretty much despise all things fall. We do not like this season. And one of those things includes people pumpkin-ing all the things. Mind you, I enjoy a nice piece of pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving but aside from that...no pumpkin for me, thanks.

But then Michael's new boss made a request. And my brother (who is leeeaving for the airforce in a couple months!) was all "oooh yeah!" and I thought to myself..."The readers will want this."

So I did it.

I made these. You're welcome everybody.

First let me explain what I made. These are a spiced pumpkin sugar cookie bar (which I made even more pumpkin-y with the addition of pumpkin spice flavored butter that I had) that are then frosted with a brown sugar cream cheese frosting (which I, again, amped up with that pumpkin butter).

Since-like I mentioned-these bars weren't really up mine or Michael's alleys I'll give you the impressions from other people (although I will confess that I tried-and liked-the frosting. It was a nice amount of sweet without being too much):

Josh: "I was expecting them to be gooey but I really like them-the pumpkin flavor is just enough."

Michael's coworkers: Well....they disappeared in like 5 minutes flat. And one of them said he really liked the texture and flavor and that the ratio of frosting to bar was perfect-nothing overpowered anything else. (I will note that Michael's coworker Angela said the frosting was too "cream cheesy" but the aforementioned fellow told her she was insane. So...do with that as you will.)

You (probably): OMG I LOVE THEM YAYYY PUMPKIN ALL THE THINGS!

I dunno, just guessing :P

Something Saturdays (9/26/15)

This week was so much fun!

Monday-Carla (AKA Chocolate Moosey) came to visit me and we spent the day eating our way through Cleveland. We started out by spending some time in the adorable town of Chagrin Falls so we could get some Jeni's ice cream. Which is the best ice cream everrr. Their special of the day was Honey Milk Chocolate with Smoked Almonds and we each got 1 scoop of that. Carla also got a scoop of Salty Peanut Butter with Chocolate Flecks on a cone and I got a scoop of Salty Caramel in a cup with a wedge of waffle cone. Then we headed into Cleveland to the food mecca that is the West Side Market-ohemgeeee! We were so overwhelmed and I know I def. am going to need a return trip! Carla got a latte from City Roast and a gyro from Steve's Gyros (the line was insane! She said it was really good!) We also shared a banana and nutella crepe from Crepes de Luxe (it was pretty good). And we each got a flavored cannoli from Cake Royale (I got hazelnut and Carla got caramel cappuccino)-they were really unique and quite tasty! Oh, I also got a mini creme brulee macaron from Cake Royale-it tasted sort of like a pizzelle (so...anise?) which was weird but it was good. Then, to re-work up appetites and burn some calories, we drove up to Edgewater Beach/Park and walked around. It was sooo pretty. And then we headed down to Strongsville to try out B Spot (Michael Symon's burger joint!) I got a classic cheeseburger but with griddled onions and Carla got a burger that had mushrooms, grilled onions, and blue cheese. We also got a side of rosemary fries and "pork cracklings" (essentially pork rinds)--it was happy hour so those were each only $1! :) Everything was suuuuper tasty and if you like pickles then it's pretty cool because they have a pickle bar. They also have their beers listed in a way that means Michael could prob. actual order for himself because they're divided into categories (light, medium, dark, essentially). And that was our day-it was so fun and I'm so happy that Carla came in to spend the day with me! (and if you were wondering, Jeni's was def. the highlight!) --scroll down to highlights from instagram for some photos from the day!

On Tuesday I helped with the auditions for my old high school's fall play. It was fun but super hard--like...sometimes the best person for a part didn't get it because they had to do a different part and someone else who was ok at that other part had to do it and...yeah. It's like a puzzle. Also we had to like beg the guy we wanted for the romantic lead to do it----boys in drama clubs at small schools have way too much power lol. But everyone who auditioned got a part so that was good. And my sweet little sister-in-law is one of the leads and I wasn't even playing favorites. But anyway now I'm going to sort of help assistant direct and help with rehearsals when I can. I'm pretty excited about it!

Black Bean Pico de Gallo

I miss Mexico.

You know-we went there for our honeymoon and it was the best time ever. Well, it also had the tastiest food ever. I've never been huge on Mexican food but that somewhat changed thanks to our trip-especially when it comes to salsas and dips and such, we had those with/prior to pretty much every meal and they were SO GOOD! My particular favorite was a black bean pico de gallo we had at the Cactus Club. So one day I decided...I'm going to make my own! And it was a fantastic idea.

Anyway, my missing of Mexico has only be exacerbated by the fact that we've been to a couple Mexican restaurants (people are very excited that I'll now go to them) and my cousins had been making pico de gallo/salsas a lot lately during our Sundays in the summer. Then, one day, Michael asked me to buy him salsa con queso and tortilla chips and I said to myself, "Kayle-this is the time. Let's recreate your favorite pico de gallo!"

First a couple tips: This is totally adaptable based upon your palate. Know that. Also--use smaller (cherry or roma) tomatoes so that your pico de gallo doesn't turn out as watery as mine. Trust me on this. Also, um....make sure your jalapeños are chopped very small, your onions are pretty darn small, and that the tomatoes are diced on the smaller side too. And, finally--DO NOT SKIMP ON THE SALT. I'm normally very wary about the salt shaker for health reasons (and it's also kind of like I'm a recovering salt addict...I used to just straight up eat salt y'all and the sad part is...I'm not grossed out by it because I know that's delicious stuff. But soooo bad for you!)-but salt is really your friend with this, it's going to make the biggest difference with the flavor and just...you need it. You will thank me for this. Promise.

And c'mon people...this is a bowl full of vegetables and beans-it's still healthy!

Now you're probably wondering, "Was it everything you wanted it to be? Was it delicious? Did you love it?" 

....

YES YES YES!!! This came out as good as I could have ever expected! Mind you, it would have been nicer if I was staring at the beach and if Michael and I were in relax-y vacation mode but...still...for non-honeymoon fare, it was pretty darn good. Fresh and sweet and and cilantro-y (although that is another thing you can totally mess with to get it to your liking) and delicious (mine wasn't spicy at all because I don't like spicy so I used the lower amount of jalapeño--if you like spiciness feel free to up the amount and/or use the seeds!) And it was demolished pretty much in one sitting with Michael, me, and my brother all circled around it in my living room like crazy savages.

Yepp. That good. You're gonna love it!