Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread

Happy November! I hope you all had a fun and festive weekend!

We spent our Halloween passing out candy to tons of tiny, adorable trick-or-treaters, including one little girl dressed as Elsa who said to me, "You know I don't like Skittles, right?" It was quite entertaining, even sans my usual pumpkin beer.

We ran out of candy so we were forced to dip into our own stash... you know, the pile of your favorites that you keep for yourself? Not going to lie, I ran out the next day and got more on sale... #notsorry

Speaking of food, I made this bread a few weeks ago when we had family visiting and it was such a hit that I wanted to share it with y'all today! I haven't done a whole lot of baking or cooking since the beginning of my pregnancy, since I was pretty turned off by most foods, so I'm glad to finally get back into it.

This recipe easily made a huge loaf of bread and about 20 muffins. I probably could have made 3 huge loaves, which means it's perfect if you're making something for a holiday bake sale or mini loaves to pass out to neighbors!

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Bread
Recipe adapted from Your Cup of Cake

Pumpkin Bread Ingredients
1 can of pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2/3 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cup sugar
3 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp.pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Cream Cheese Filling Ingredients
16 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 tbsp. milk

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a loaf pan or set up liners in your cupcake tin.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, vegetable oil, applesauce, milk, vanilla extract and sugar. (I used my stand mixer for this step because it was easy, but not necessary if you don't have one!)

In another bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix just until combined. Then stir in your chocolate chips.

To make the cream cheese filling, beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg and milk together until smooth. Top with some leftover mini chocolate chips.

For Bread: Pour a little bit of batter into the loaf pan (not as much as I did) and spoon the cream cheese mixture on top. I found it easier to do this just once, top with more of the batter, and use a butter knife to swirl the cream cheese around.  Bake for 60-80 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

For muffins: Fill each muffin tin 1/3 full, add some cream cheese filling, and then top with another spoonful of pumpkin batter. Swirl with toothpick or knife then top with mini chocolate chips. Bake for 14-18 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

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It's so easy and comes out really moist and delicious! You don't even need butter or anything on this bread when you eat it. Definitely adding this to my list of favorite pumpkin recipes!

What are some of your go-to pumpkin recipes this Fall?! I'm always up for trying new ones!

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Mini Weekend Recap + Pumpkin Spice Gobs

This weekend I experienced the hangover that no amount of greasy food, aspirin, or sleep could cure. Between cooking, cleaning, being the designated driver for the boys on Friday, and then playing one drinking game after another on Saturday, I'm finally able to function today!

On Friday night we started at a bar/nightclub/old church (weird combination, right?) and I don't think I've ever felt so old at a bar until then. You know what makes feeling like the oldest person at the bar even worse? Being 100 percent sober. ha! I did get a few good laughs at some of the inebriated college students dressed in their Halloween costumes though. My favorite was a really tall King Kong trying to shove bananas in a girl's face. Bet that worked out really well for him...

I also admit that I was terrible at taking photos of our weekend, including the intense giant jenga match that occurred in the dark, after several rounds of beer pong/flip cup. Ew, my stomach just curled thinking about it.

 

One thing we did enjoy this weekend.... Pumpkin Spice Gobs!

These are great for Halloween or Thanksgiving, and are especially cute if you use a pumpkin whoopie pie pan like this one! Mine is from Crate & Barrel but its currently sold out. These gobs are super easy to make, you basically just put all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix!

Pumpkin Spice Gobs
Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

Gob Ingredients:
1 cup Canned Pumpkin Puree
1/3 cup Butter, softened
1 package of Spice Cake Mix
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Milk

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Grease the pan if using a whoopie pie pan.

2. In a large bowl, beat pumpkin puree and softened butter with mixer on medium speed until smooth.

3. Add cake mix, eggs, and milk to pumpkin mixture and beat on low speed until combined, then on medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes.

4. Drop batter onto parchment paper or on whoopie pie pan by the tablespoon. Make sure to leave about 2 inches between each gob and bake for 15 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.

The pumpkins use much more batter than regular gobs

5. Place gobs on cooling racks until filling is complete and gobs are cool.

Filling Ingredients:
1/2 cup Butter, softened
1 (8 oz.) package Cream Cheese, softened
2 cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
1/2 (7 oz.) jar of Marshmallow Creme
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice

1. Beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth.

2. Add powdered sugar, marshmallow creme, vanilla, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Beat until combined, then refridgerate for at least 1 hour.

3. Match up like-sized gobs and place about one tablespoon of filling between each gob.

As far as the filling goes, this is a little more soft than I'd like for icing. You have to keep these gobs stored in the refrigerator until ready to serve so that the filling doesn't get too warm. You could also try a regular cream cheese icing recipe, which is what I might do next time!

Has anyone tried these gobs before? A lot of people I've talked to have never heard of gobs or whoopie pies before... maybe its a Northern thing? I hope you all had a great weekend!

Linking up with Ashley and Jessica today!

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Pumpkin Beer Snob

I honestly can't help eating and drinking pumpkin-flavored foods this time of year. Hopefully y'all feel the same way, but if not, just go with it today.

Our Saturday started with some pumpkin french toast, which was absolutely delicious! If you haven't noticed on Instagram, I've been trying out different pumpkin breakfast recipes. We've got two of my husband's friends coming to visit this week and I figure pancakes and french toast are easy to make in large quantities.

Recipe from Emily Bites

After watching the Gators lose (boo!) and running errands in an attempt to get our master bedroom completed, my husband and I dropped by a local brewhouse for their Pumpkinfest. I'm sure none of you are surprised that as soon as I heard about this event I knew we had to go, so I managed to talk my husband into going before the big Clemson/Florida State game started.

This place was great, no televisions so it was just us, our conversations, beer, and the annoying 21 year-old idiot in the opposite corner with his buddies. I can laugh at him now that I'm much older and wiser... ha!

We got right into it with our pumpkin beer taste testing. I like to think I've tried all of the pumpkin beers out there via the selection at World Market but I was totally wrong! Look at this list of beers they had at the brewhouse! Heaven!

I don't know all of the snooty beer tasting terms but my favorites were Thomas Creek Pumpkin Ale and Southern Tier Pumpking. Both of these happen to be pretty high in alcohol content, but you wouldn't know it because the pumpkin-flavoring and spices hide it pretty well. The Thomas Creek smells amazing. RJ Rockers and Dogfish Head were good, but a little plain compared to the others. The only one I wasn't a fan of was the Red Hook because I don't like porters.

A friend of mine said to try the Southern Tier with crushed honey graham cracker and cinnamon on the rim, which sounds amazing and is definitely on the to-do list!

After we did the taste-testing, the hubs ordered an Octoberfest beer and I went straight for the Timmermans Pumpkin Lambicus, which came with a free glass. I'm a sucker for free glasses so I ordered without realizing this was a 25-ounce beer I was about to get.

I felt like I was drinking beer out of a wine glass! The Timmermans was really good, but it had more of an apple spice taste than pumpkin. Maybe its because its a lambic, but it didn't seem like I was drinking beer. This might be a good option for anyone who doesn't like beer but wants to try something pumpkin-flavored.

Overall, my go-to pumpkin beers would have to be Saranac Pumpkin Ale, Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale, and Thomas Creek. Anyone have any other favorite pumpkin or Octoberfest beers?

I hope you all had a great Fall weekend! I can't believe we're nearing the end of October already!

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Autumn Favorites

Happy Tuesday all! I was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday but today I'm back at it and hoping you all had a great weekend! I took full advantage of the Columbus Day sales this weekend... what can I say,  I'm a sucker for a good deal! I can now blame J. Crew Factory, Pottery Barn, and World Market for our cheap dinners this week...

This weekend we made another visit to the beach with the pup and picked up some pumpkins at the lamest pumpkin patch ever, at least compared to a Northerner's standards. It was 82 degrees so the hubs and I were sweating while carrying our overpriced pumpkins back to the car. Andddd my hair got a bit out of control. Ugh! Thinking of cutting it... I'll get back to that later this week for opinions!
 

Fall in the South is different. I'm enjoying the weather here more than I did in Florida, but I miss the crisp air, cold nights, and breezy days I grew up with in the North. I suppose that means I'll always be a Northerner at heart... even if my body doesn't think it and I freeze my pants off when visiting family in the next few months.

Between the pumpkins and the A/C running because my husband is five hundred degrees warmer than me at all times, I'm starting to get used to this "new" fall and finding ways to make it feel more like my favorite season. Here are some of my favorites so far!

1. "Pumpkin Pie" Yankee Candle: This candle is money well spent, let me tell you. I love Yankee Candles during the fall (and winter).  The whole house smells fantastic! I also like the Autumn Wreath scent for fall.

2. Essie "Carry On" Nail Color: I've been too intimidated by dark nail colors to branch off from my typical light pink or red (only during the holidays) but I'm actually really liking this color! It's got a nice burgundy, purple-ish hue and seems way more appropriate for the fall than pink!

3. West Elm Ombre Throw: I had my eye on this for a while before finally buying and adding it to my collection of like... 20 throws. I might have a problem. It's super soft and the perfect amount of warmth for chilly fall nights and times when my husband cranks up the A/C! Plus they come in a bunch of fun ombre colors.

4. Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte: I thought I'd switch it up and try the salted caramel mocha this year but I can't, I need as much PSL as I can get before they switch to the icky peppermint drinks!

5. Hunger Games "Catching Fire": The second movie comes out next month so I'm re-reading the book... so excited!

6. J. Crew Boy Shirt: I've been pretty much living in these cotton button downs (that is, when I'm not wearing my yoga pants to work... which I mentioned here) because I can just roll up the sleeves if I get warm. I'm loving the plaid flannel version at the Factory store now... might be a Thanksgiving weekend purchase!

7. J. Crew Factory Ankle Jeans: Perfect for our warmish fall weather, I love these jeans! I can throw sandals on with them and a short sleeve shirt on warm days, or throw boots and a sweater with them when it gets cooler.

I forgot to include my pearl earrings, I never go anywhere without them! What are your favorite items for fall so far? Anyone else make some fun purchases during the Columbus Day sales?!

P.S. Do you comment on posts and think I'm a total jerk for not responding? You're probably a "no-reply blogger" and its an easy fix! See these instructions from Jenni at Story of My Life. If I can't email you, I post a reply to you in the comments section! Oh and keep them coming... I love hearing from you all! XO!

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Another dose of Friday Favorites!

Happy Friday all! This week went by so fast, the hubs and I didn't really do much, which was exactly what we needed! Do you ever have one of those weeks? We're looking forward to the weekend though, which will include lots of DIY-ing (headboard, dining table and chairs, finish decorating outside with a few Halloween touches, etc!) as well as the obligatory pumpkin beer drinking. I'm also on the hunt for the ingredients for my favorite cocktail.. Liquid Apple Pie! You'll hear more about that soon!

I'm linking up against with Christina and Darci for Five on Friday.. so here goes!

ONE: More garland, of course!

{Via}

So I have seen this garland a lot on Little Baby Garvin and I have been hoping to get my hands on it since last Christmas, so what did I do when I saw it this week? Buy it in both colors with a 10% off coupon. Hells yes. You know I have a problem when it comes to garland. I love both colors though because you can use them for decorating during other times of the year, like Valentine's Day!

TWO: Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Coffee K-Cups

Ummmm these are amazeballs. The hubs picked them up yesterday for me and I couldn't wait to try them this morning. I usually just put some pumpkin spice in my vanilla coffee if I can't make a trip to Starbucks, but these are a better at-home option!

THREE: Speaking of pumpkin coffee.. Pumpkin coffee desserts?

Cupcakes | Pound Cake

Have you seen these recipes on Pinterest? I think making one of these might be on the agenda this weekend, I am really curious to see if they are as good as they sound!

FOUR: Chalk Paint Monogram Pumpkin

I painted this pumpkin this week for our outside decor with some of my leftover "Old White" Chalk Paint. I'm loving it and it was so easy! I did one coat of paint and then made a stencil of the M to trace and paint. Done!

FIVE: Furball play date

This is Ruby's "please don't make me go outside" look. She was being super lazy after we had a friend and her pup over yesterday. Her doggie friend didn't really run around with her too much, but Ruby took the liberty to sprint multiple time in giant circles and run enough for the both of them.

That's all that happened here this week folks! I hope you all have a great weekend and enjoy this cooler weather! :)

11

Fall Mantel & Felt Foliage Garland

Now that it's officially Fall I thought I'd finally share some of the spaces in our house that I've been decking out in Fall colors! First up on the Fall house tour: our fireplace mantel.

I'm such a traditionalist when it comes to decorating for the holidays, so it's hard for me break from the pretty Fall colors and natural accents. You'll notice I'm the same way with Christmas decorations in a couple months! Also, in case you're new here, I'm waiting on Santa for my big girl camera so I have to work with crappy morning lighting and iPhone pictures for now!

Ruby's toys photobombed this pic! ha!

When we were looking for a house to rent, I was really pulling for something with a fireplace so that I could have a mantel to decorate for the holidays. It makes it feel more like home to me. My husband didn't really get it at first, but now he feels the same way. At least he says he does... in which case I've trained him well.

Of course I had to have a monogram... this one was purchased from Life's a Stitch on Etsy. You can't really tell in these photos but the monogram came cracked in the middle of the M. Luckily the tape held this one together long enough for me to hang it and take some photos until the replacement comes!

The candlesticks are from Ikea and were already a part of our mantel decor. The battery operated candles are from Hobby Lobby and the orange vase is from TJ Maxx. I already had the branches in a different arrangement, so I just re-purposed them in the vase.

After sharing this Halloween bunting tutorial and tissue paper garland, I'm sure you can all tell by now that I love bunting or basically any kind of garland. I've seen a lot of adorable felt foliage garlands popping up on Etsy and considering felt is so cheap, I thought I could make it myself. See the end of this post for details on how I made it!

This basket is from Target. We keep a couple blankets in there as well as our Pittsburgh Steelers Terrible Towel. We've been throwing that one at the TV a lot lately...

This pillow is my first attempt at making a pillow since that same 7th grade home economics class I mentioned here. By no means is this pillow perfect, which is why I didn't do a tutorial. I was too lazy to change the bobbin so I handstitched the felt leaves on. Its acceptable enough for the fireplace decor as long as you don't look too close...

All in all, just adding a few fall touches to the fireplace cost me about $25, including the pumpkins. I didn't count the monogram since I'll be using that for other holiday decor...I think it would look perfect in the center of a Christmas wreath with a big plaid bow!

I mentioned earlier that I'm pretty new to the sewing machine and I actually couldn't find a good tutorial on how to make the felt foliage garland so I just had to wing it! This is a classic case of do as a say, not as I do :)

I bought 2 pieces of felt per color, each at 34 cents (plus a 15% off coupon) and since I only used one piece of felt per color this ended up costing me a little over $1! I googled "fall leaves" and found a free printable with various leaf shapes so I pinned those onto the felt and started cutting. That was probably the most annoying part of this project!

After your leaves are cut, pick a neutral color of thread and start sewing! I used a standard stitch (not even sure if that is the right wording.. see how new I am at this? ha!) and backstitched on the first and last leaves to keep the thread in place.

The major lesson I learned doing this without a tutorial was to stitch towards the top of your leaves. I sewed in the middle and because some of the leaves are top heavy, they flip over even though I wanted them facing the other way. I also wasn't entirely consistent with the space in between each leaf so just keep that in mind. Other than that, its super simple and cheap which is perfect in my book!

If you're new to Home Sweet Ruby, don't forget to check out my 5 favorite Fall DIY projects and my $16 Fall wreath!

Anyone else decorating with the traditional Fall colors or are you mixing it up a bit?!

Linking up with Thrifty Decor Chick

22

Five on Friday!

Hello Friday :) As usual I'm linking up with the fabulous ladies of Carolina Charm and The Good Life for another Five on Friday!

Normally I would be excited for another weekend but this week it just means our visitors are heading home and it will be quiet around here again. Well, it won't be quiet because we have about a million things on our to-do list and lots coming up the next 2 weeks on the blog! I'm so sad my family is leaving but looking forward to seeing them for Thanksgiving in T minus 2 months or so. Yay!

Speaking of how fast the time is going...

ONE: Less than 100 days until Christmas

I'm trying not to get ahead of myself because we have lots of fun planned for this Fall, but I saw this the other day and got so excited about the holidays!

TWO: Pumpkin spice pancakes

This week I made breakfast for my parents using this recipe. It was SO yummy, especially topped with cool whip and cinnamon! I used pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon instead of the other spices and would probably double the recipe for more than 3 people but it was so.darn.good.

THREE: DIY headboard progress 

Here is a sneak peak at the shape we are making our headboard! I'm so excited to share how it turns out so keep an eye out for the full tutorial and master bedroom progress! You can see my fabric choices in the photo too. The grey will be the headboard and I can't decide if I want the geometric print for the euro pillows or the floral. Whichever I don't use for the euro shams will be used for a throw pillow. What do you think?

FOUR: Fall decor complete!

I'm finally done putting the finishing touches in our fall decor, although I still need some damn real pumpkins! Our pumpkin patches don't open until October so I guess I'll have to keep my pants on until then. Boo. All of the fall details around our house will be on the blog next week!

FIVE: Target Halloween decor

We're thinking of having a Halloween party and let me tell you Target has some really cute decor and food serving items on the cheap! I'm talking nice platters, skeleton arm food servers, cheap skull decor, and creepy baking supplies. I'm totally adding candy eyeballs to my Halloween cupcakes this year. 

Thanks for sticking around this week while I was busy entertaining family and being a tourist with them! It was weird only posting 3 times, I'm loving this blogosphere and my wonderful readers! I hope you all have a great weekend! Xoxo

15

Chocolate Chip Cookies, of the Pumpkin Variety

I swear I eat other things besides sweets. And pumpkin-flavored things. But if you'd look at these cookies and my newly updated Recipes page, you probably won't believe me.

Here is a little fun fact about these cookies... This recipe is from my 7th grade Home Economics class. That's like... 13 years ago. Whaaaaat?! Seriously, I remember the paper the recipe was printed on and it had little hand drawn jack-o-lanterns on it. So if you think this recipe is too complicated, remember that my 13-year old self managed to make it work.

You will eventually see other interesting recipes here, but humor me while I literally "feed" my pumpkin dessert obsession. These cookies are so light and fluffy, I can't pass them up. I make them a few times every Fall, and unfortunately now that I'm working from home, I can't pass them off to coworkers.  I have a feeling I'm going to have to actually hit the gym again so I don't look like a disgusting slob in my black leggings this fall...

Ingredients:
3/4 cup Sugar
1 cup + 2 tablespoons Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree
2 Eggs
1/4 cup of melted Margarine (mine is obviously not melted in this photo!)
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Chocolate Chips (you can add more if you like)
1/2 cup Walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon together into a large bowl.

I have this sifter. It's so easy to use and worth it if you bake often!

In a smaller bowl, mix together sugar, eggs, and melted margarine until creamy.

Add half of egg mixture to flour mixture, then half of pumpkin. Mix until just coated, then add the remaining egg mixture and pumpkin puree.

Note: Dough will be much more sticky than you are used to for chocolate chip cookies. Just go with it.

Stir in vanilla, chocolate chips, and nuts.

Drop by the spoonful (for the love of God, do not try to use your hands) onto greased cookie sheets. I've gotten into the habit of using parchment paper on my cookie sheets and it makes cleaning up a breeze. Also, make small cookies. These expand a lot and you will probably end up with mammoth cookies if you use more than a tablespoon of dough per cookie!

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until cookies are browning on edges. Place on cooling racks immediately.

So there you have it folks, easily one of my favorite recipes of the Fall season. Who would have thought I'd be making these over a decade later?! Eeks I'm feeling old.

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