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Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal, Oh My!

09.27.10

A few weeks ago Scott and I started our Fall baking. The first thing we made was pumpkin spice waffles (which turned out great). The second thing we decided to bake was a pumpkin spice oatmeal from a recipe that I found on the interweb sometime last winter.

The recipe that I found called for ramekins, and since Scott and I thought they were super neat we decided to buy a few sets to bake in, and for future use of course ($2.99 for four small ones, or for two larger souffle dishes at Cost Plus right now). After having made this recipe I have realized that you probably don’t have to use ramekins, but I feel like they add an extra cuteness to the dish.
The recipe we used was found here and is as followed:
Ingredients:
1 cup old fashioned oats (not quick cook)
1 Tbs whole flax seeds (optional)
2½ Tbs brown sugar, packed
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp allspice
⅛ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp lemon zest
2 tsp butter, softened
¾ cup pumpkin puree
¾ cup milk

Topping:
¼ cup pecans, chopped
2 tsp butter, softened
1 Tbs brown sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease 4 individual-sized ramekins. Set aside.
2. Combine the oats, flax seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Stir well.
3. Zest the lemon.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the vanilla, lemon zest, butter, pumpkin, and milk. Whisk thoroughly. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the oat mixture. Stir until combined.
5. Divide the mixture evenly between 4 individual-sized ramekins. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet (this makes it easier to move in and out of the oven.). Bake at 375°F for 10 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the topping: chopped pecans, butter, and brown sugar. After the oatmeal has baked for 10 minutes, remove and divide the topping mixture evenly between the ramekins. Bake an additional 7 minutes.
7. Cool for 5 minutes before serving. Top with a splash of milk and raisins, if desired.

Scott and I followed the recipe exactly, except we used two souffle dishes instead of four smaller ramekins. Overall, we really loved the oatmeal and found it to be sweet and extra filling. Neither Scott, nor I could finish our entire souffle dish full of oatmeal. Next time we bake it we plan on using our smaller ramekins so that we can save the extra two for later, or share with others.
(Don’t forget, no breakfast is complete without some coffee or tea!)
Do you ever cook with ramekins or souffle dishes? What do you bake in them?
-Chelsea
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Sweet Pea By Kaelah Bee Giveaway!

09.27.10

Hello everyone! Today we have a super sweet giveaway from Kaelah Bee. Kaelah runs an amazing style/personal blog, tweets her heart out most days, and also owns an Etsy shop called Sweet Pea.

Kaelah has been kind enough to offer one lucky Tea Talk reader:
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling me your what your favorite item is in Kaelah’s shop! If you would like a chance at a second entry, you can become a follower of Kaelah’s blog, but be sure and leave a separate comment letting me know that you did so.
The winner will be announced one week from today on Monday, October 4th!
Kaelah is one sweet lady, and I hope you all check out her inspiring blog!
-Chelsea
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A Night in Downtown Mesa

09.26.10

Friday night Scott and I went on a little adventure to downtown Mesa. We went there with the hope that something would be going on i.e. street fair, art showing, etc., however we went got there all we found open was The Underground where some hardcore show was going on, a local bakery/frozen yogurt shop called Sweetcakes, and of course the Mesa Arts Center.

Since there wasn’t much to do we decided to take a little walk through the arts center and snap a few pictures.
The Mesa Arts Center was built when I was still in high school and holds monthly art classes, plays/concerts, and gallery showings. I feel like we are pretty lucky in this area to have an arts center in almost every surrounding town (the Tempe Arts Center is about a ten minute drive in the other direction for me), and hopefully soon Scott and I will be able to participate in an art class or two.
The arts center is made up of a few different buildings, with a courtyard area in the middle. I thought the above view of a hanging sculpture in one of the art galleries was just too pretty. Hopefully soon we’ll be able to go to the arts center during the day and check out all the different shows going on there right now.
The arts center is filled with all different kinds of designs, and interesting lights. This staircase is by far one of my favorite features of the center, and is so fun to climb up.
One of the arts center’s most popular features is the color changing light walls that are placed throughout (courtyard and street view areas). I remembering coming to the arts center when I was younger and taking pictures with old friends in front of the light walls. This time around Scott and I couldn’t really resist taking a few fun photos:
Lately we’ve been trying to figure out some new fun activities to do on our nights off, and visiting the Mesa Arts Center was definitely a good pick (and somewhere we hope to visit again soon).
-Chelsea
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Go Diamondbacks, Go!

09.24.10
Thursday night Scott and I attended a Diamondbacks VS. Rockies baseball game at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix.

The game was overall a lot of fun, and we enjoyed talking about the goofy pictures of the players, how fast the balls were going, and how well the Dbacks were doing. We’re pretty happy that we went, and now are planning on going to a Suns game when basketball season starts.
Do you ever go to sporting events? What’s your favorite part about them?
-Chelsea