Fall is in the air and that means Spiced Pumpkin Muffins!

Ahhhhhh.....All around the country Fall is in the air!  

Whats that mean...the air is crisp and cool, the leaves are changing colors, sweaters, scarves, fuzzy slippers (ok mostly for me), and of course in our house that means soup, apples and of course PUMPKINS!!  

But guess what...

AZ hasn't caught on with the rest of the country that its Fall!  Our states a little slow when it comes to following the rest of the country.  Well, maybe I shouldn't say that...we have dropped down the the low 90's and our nights and mornings are perfect...Whohoo!!!  

But in our house we will NOT be denied FALL!!  We will not be denied our Soup nights and of course we will NOT BE DENIED all the yummy foods you can make with PUMPKINS!!!  

I love getting as many pumpkins I can this time of year and to render down the pumpkin so we can have fresh pumpkin anything all year long!! Really fresh pumpkin changes the taste of food, I like it so much better than can. Last year I think I did about 12 pumpkins and believe it or not...we are running low on our pumpkin supply...its time to start building my pumpkin supply back up.  

 To start the season off right I made one of the easiest pumpkin recipes I have ever found...

SPICE PUMPKIN MUFFINS...

really you can't get any easier than 3 ingredients, 4 if you count water...and its super super good!  

Lets get cooking!!  

Gather all your ingredients 

1 Spice Cake Mix 

about 2 cups of fresh pumpkin puree (between 16-20oz) or 1 can of pumpkin

3 eggs 

1/4 cup water 

Mix all the ingredients together.  

Place in a well greased muffin tin or in muffin cups.

  This makes about 18 muffins.  

Now to make these muffins extra special you will want to all the following streusel topping. 

Streusel Topping

1/2 cup flour 

1/2 cup brown sugar 

1/4 cup butter  

Mix four and sugar together, then cut in butter.  

Place a couple of spoonfuls of topping on each muffin.  

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes.  

For a super easy recipe this has become one of my families favorite muffins! 

 And trust me we eat a lot of muffins!!  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

 Add cake mix, pumpkin, eggs and water

 Mix well

 Spoon into muffin tins, about 2/3 full

 Next prepare streusel topping - add flour, brown sugar and butter

 Cut in butter

 Streusel will be crumbly 

 Spoon on top of the muffins 

 Place in oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes 

 Remove from oven when finished

Enjoy either warm or cold, with butter or without

Did you think I dropped off the FACE of the earth...

...Well, I didn't...I'm alive and kicking...I've just been a terrible blogger!  I'm sure some thought that I ran away from home and changed my name to Gracie Lou!!  Well I tried but alias, my family found me!!  LOL.  I think my kids have a hidden low jack on me somewhere cuz they always manage to find me no matter where I'm hiding. 

Well it looks like I really have to bring you up to date on whats going on in our lives!!  WOW has it really been a year since I wrote...my my how time just seems to fly by!  So lets just give you some of the major things that have happen since September last year......
     
     ~At the end of last year we received some very exciting news...Cayla and Craig were over for a visit and they were getting Eric ready for bed and Eric came out wearing a shirt that said "Big Brother".  Yep yep...Cayla was expecting!!  Very exciting for us know that we were going to have another grandbaby sometime in Aug!  

     ~Christmas (2013) came and went. It was so much fun having Eric around.  It was so much fun watching him open all his gifts!  

     ~Seth played the Frog Prince in his Drama Club play "Ever After".  He sang, he dances and got kissed on the cheek from Snow White and Cinderella (Not sure how I felt about that, LOL).  

     ~Josh started driving and turned the big 1-6...(Stay off the roads)  

     ~In May Cayla and Craig graduated from ASU.  Craig will be continuing his education and is currently applying a different schools.  To save money they are temporarily staying with us cuz most of the schools Craigs looking at are out of state (tear tear tear :( ). 

     ~For the last year or so before Cayla and Craig finished school I was driving out to their place to help watch Eric 2 times a week.  It was so much fun getting to spend a couple of hours a week playing with him and watching him change every day!  

     ~Seth survived 6th grade!!  It was VERY questionable if he would or not!  There were times he had more homework than my High School and College students (Crazy crazy).  Now he's in 7th grade and knock on wood (yes my head) its starting out as a GREAT school year!!  

     ~Josh is a Jr. now and its kinda scary to stop and realized hes only got a year and half of school and hes than off on a mission....Oh plus hes dating and driving...wait did I mention hes driving!!  Seriously who said this was aloud...this growing up thing!  You think I would have learned with Cayla not to let it happen!  

     ~NOW for the BIGGEST and most EXCITING news this year...drum roll please...........We had a new grandson!!  David Gavin was born August 21st.  Its been so much fun having a new born around!  Hes so stinkin CUTE!  Eric just loves his little brother so much!!  

     ~Oh my heck...I almost forgot one other BIG bit of news...DJ retired from DPS!!!!  Who on earth would have thought that he ever would...not me thats for sure!  After 21 1/2 years he decided it was time to move on!  He was retired for a whole 18 hours and then started a new job...hes now a police officer for the community colleges.  He currently working at Glendale College.  Its been strange having him work this new job.  His hours are taking some getting use to and ready for this one...hes wearing a uniform again!  Thats been very crazy!  But he likes it!  

I know I've forgotten a ton but really its hard to remember what happened yesterday let alone all year long.  Geesh I'm lucky I remember my name!  But really I'll try and be better at updating this thing!  There have been so many new recipes and cards and crafts that I've made this year that really I should have added them.  Oh well, we all know life tends to get in the way!