Pumpkin Spice Donuts

Let's just be honest here. I am a little scared to fry things at home because hot oil is a little intimidating. However, when I found this recipe for glazed pumpkin donuts on Pinterest I started to reconsider my feelings about frying at home. I mean this is the perfect time for pumpkin recipes (which I can't get enough of!) and it's hard to turn down a donut, especially when they are homemade. So I decided to go for it and face my frying fears. I found this recipe on Barefoot and Baking (you can find the recipe here or on my Pinterest board). You start off by mixing the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and pumpkin pie spice. In a separate bowl, mix together butter, eggs, vanilla, buttermilk, and pumpkin puree.

Combining the ingredients will prove to be an arm workout. Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add in the wet ingredients. Then mix until a dough ball forms. It will take a little bit and the dough will be sticky but you will see it start to come together. Next comes the part where I had to get a little creative. You need to roll out the dough to 1/2" thick. They will get puffy and normal looking, I promise. However, I was in a kitchen with no rolling pin or cookie cutter. So we improvised... we covered a bottle of vodka with saran wrap and used a plastic cup and the lid as the cookie cutters. Once you get finished cutting everything out, you will end up with the donuts and donut holes.

Next came the scary part for me. (Fortunately, I had a helper who volunteered to be in charge of the actually frying part). Make sure you are using a big, deep pot to do the actual frying and open the windows and doors because it will smell like oil. Heat the oil on medium-low heat (it has to be this temperature. Trust me it won't be good if it's too hot!) and you'll know when it's ready when you drop a piece of dough in and it immediately starts bubbling like crazy. I put two to three donuts in the pan and then let them drain on some paper towels. While they are still hot, dip them in the glaze and then let them cool on a cooling rack. The glaze is a basic recipe of powdered sugar, buttermilk, and vanilla. Whisk together and you have your glaze.

These were so yummy and I was surprised that they were relatively easy. They just took a little bit of time because you had to roll and cut out the dough. If I had proper kitchen equipment, it might have sped up the process. However, I did have a really fun time making them. The pumpkin flavor was prominent but not overwhelming and the glaze added sweetness without being overkill. We took these super yummy treats on a breakfast picnic, along with some fresh fruit, and the pumpkin spice hot chocolate (See the post here). It was a beautiful fall morning and these donuts were the perfect way to celebrate fall. I admit that I am no longer afraid of frying (though I do want a small fryer) and am excited for my next fried adventure. Be sure you give these a try because they are beyond delicious!

Tucci

It's kind of hard to find small, somewhat casual, romantic spots these days with all the chain restaurants out there. You either get fast casual or super high end places... not very good when you are looking for something in the middle. However, we happened to stumble upon Tucci while driving down Cherry Street. This main street-esque block has tons of little shops, restaurants, and bars. During my last visit, we stopped at a really great pizza place (see my post on Andolini's Pizza), so we figured we could just try anything and it would probably be pretty good. We stopped at this little place with a patio strung with little red lights and then found it to be an Italian place. (Apparently we like to find Italian places) It smelled amazing when we walked in, so that was a good sign. It was a small place with black and white checkerboard floors and red walls. Each table had a little lamp with a red beaded shade and the walls were decorated with fun food art...definitely a fun little date night place.

I started off with a glass of Starborough Sauvignon Blanc that had aromas of melon and apple, making it easy to drink. The pizzas seemed to be the most popular item coming out of the kitchen, so we decided to try a pizza pie. It was served with a salad that had garlic crostini, kalamata olives, and parmesan cheese on it with a lemon vinaigrette. The dressing gave it some brightness and the subtle sweetness that went well with the salty olives. The pizza we opted for was a white pizza with chicken, artichokes, roasted garlic, and cheese. (The picture was more of an artsy shot.) The crust was surprisingly flavorful and actually made me want to eat it. I am not usually a crust person because it's usually just bland bread, but it was really yummy. Though the server seemed a little off during the meal, the food was pretty yummy. If you are in the area and looking for some where to go, be sure to stop by and try out Tucci.

Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate

Fall is finally here! Though the weather in Houston only hints at fall, the weather in Tulsa was the perfect indication that it was very appropriate to break out the pumpkin recipes. While on one of my pinning sprees, I found this wonderful pumpkin spice hot chocolate recipe on Pinterest via Baking with Blondie. It's super simple to make and doesn't have any extra added sugar to it. What I have found is that the best way to make hot chocolate is on the stove because the ingredients seem to come together much better than in the microwave. Don't get me wrong. I am not knocking the microwave versions because sometimes that's all I have time for, but if you have the time this is the way to do it. 

This is made with skim milk (you can use your favorite kind), hot chocolate mix, pumpkin pie spice, a pinch of salt, pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie filling), and vanilla. I guess they recommend not using the pie filling because of the added ingredients or sugar, but I may just try it one time to see what happens. You start by whisking together the milk, hot cocoa, vanilla, and salt in a sauce pan over medium-low heat. 

 Next, you add in the pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. Let it heat up and when the temperature is to your liking, start whisking away to incorporate. I started whisking as it was heating, and I think that the ingredients didn't incorporate as much as they should have. Now, I will be forced to try this recipe again to see if I can't get it down pat... oh shoot! Pour into cups and top with whipped cream and a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice and some marshmallows if you want. You can also make your own whipped cream (super simple to make), however, the kitchen I was in was definitely not equipped for that, so the store bought low-fat version had to suffice. To get the whipped cream recipe, click here.

The surprising thing I found was that it wasn't at all sweet except from the whipped cream. Much different from the usual sweetness of hot cocoa. It was definitely a perfect way to celebrate the start of fall and the colors and aroma were intoxicating. This is a great twist on a favorite holiday drink. Plus it gives you a reason to start drinking hot chocolate already, which is a perfect excuse for me!

Blue Rose Cafe

I wish that we had nice enough weather year round to warrant large patios and outside seating areas at restaurants. There is just something about them that seems to make time stand still. However, for the few perfect patio weather days we get here, it's not really worth it I guess. But thank goodness, that's not the case everywhere. Blue Rose Cafe in Tulsa overlooks the Arkansas River and has a huge patio and outside bar. It has a super laid back and rocker chic feel to it. The menu is fun American food, but their specialty are the burgers. I opted for the veggie burger, which was made of rice, black beans, and cheese with some other secret ingredients and was topped with lettuce and onions. The patty was well seasoned, which was nice because sometimes they can be pretty bland. The unique thing about this was the bun. Yes, it looks like a normal bun, but it is almost like a Hawaiian sweet roll... which I wasn't expecting at all. It was good but overwhelmed the more delicate flavors of the veggie burger, so I took half of it off. This way I could really taste the burger and not just the sweet bread. The bun could definitely stand up to the more robust flavors of a normal burger though. The fries were also pretty delicious. They were a bit thicker cut than fast food fries, but not like steak cut fries and had some skin still on. They had sea salt flakes on them, which gives a hint of saltiness without oversalting them. Though it wasn't the best food I have ever had, the view makes up for it. It was a perfect way to spend a lovely fall afternoon, looking at the river and enjoying the breezy, cooler weather while enjoying a good old burger.

Doc's Food and Wine

I love food and pairing it with a great wine and romantic atmosphere makes it even better. This is what a trip to Doc's Food and Wine was like. The bi-level restaurant had a warm and cozy feel to it. I started off with a Papa Doble, which was rum, lime, grapefruit, and maraschino liqueur. Don't be confused like me and think that maraschino means red and cherry flavored. It is made of cherries, but doesn't taste at all like the cherry you put on a sundae. The drink was not at all sweet, which wasn't really my style but at least I can say I tried it. Since it was part wine bar, I figured that I should try some of their wines and I have never had a wine flight before, so now was my chance. I tried the "Old World Whites" flight, which included Domaine de Salvard Sauvignon Blanc, Salneval Albarino, and Eric Chevalier muscadet. I would have to say that the muscadet was my favorite because it had heavy notes of fruit flavor and paired well with the seafood we were eating.

They served the food tapas style, with one or two portions per plate so we got a few to share. The four plates were (starting from the top left hand corner) shrimp and grits, jalapeno calamari, crab cakes, and parmesan mussels. They were all delicious! The shrimp had a bit of a kick to it and the grits were creamy and cheesy. The calamari of the day had jalapenos in the batter and then slices of fried jalapenos served with the calamari. It wasn't too spicy, but did have a great smokey flavor to it. The crab cakes were well-seasoned, the crust had a nice crunch to it, and the sauce added an extra punch of flavor. I was cautious about the mussels because I didn't have a good first experience with them. However, when you add butter, garlic, and parmesan cheese, it will make anything instantly better! They were a great introduction to mussels and had a really great flavor. Plus, they have there own little forks that you use to get them out of the shell, so what's not to like about that?! (Ok, maybe that's just me)

Last, but not least we closed the meal with a heavenly bread pudding topped with a snickerdoodle ice cream. I know it sounds a little weird, but the other flavors were things like skittle, cotton candy, and fruit punch. (I am sure that they are delicious, but none of them seemed to remotely go with bread pudding.) Ayway, the snickerdoodle ice cream was amazing! The bread pudding had a great consistency and tasted like fall. I would have to say that it ranks up there as far as the best bread pudding list is concerned. If you are ever in the area, make sure you stop in because it's a great little place full of charm and great food and drinks.

Breakfast at Cracker Barrel

Living in the South, everyone is so surprised that I have never been to Cracker Barrel before. However, after hearing that they have some fabulous Christmas decorations (yes, I did witness these first hand and they were right), I put it on my "I'll get to it eventually list". So finally I got to it and kicked off my weekend with a delicious breakfast. The other interesting thing that I have heard about the breakfasts there are that they come with a ton of food and are very competitively priced. Again, they were also right about that. Though I went a different route, you could have gotten the Sunrise Sampler, which includes eggs, grits, biscuits and gravy, fried apples or hashbrown casserole, and either bacon, sausage, or turkey sausage for about $8.00. Talk about large portions. Let me just for warn you that this isn't a super healthy place, but I don't eat breakfast like this very often, so I decided to indulge. I opted for blueberry pancakes. They were light and fluffy and filled with blueberries. They were also served with a homemade blueberry syrup. It is not like the fruit compote that has chunks of fruit or that tastes really artificial. It had a syrup consistency and wasn't overly sweet. These were really good pancakes and felt like you were in your own kitchen. It gets very crowded especially on the weekends, so be sure to get there early!