The big day is next week. That special day us lovers of food look forward to all year long. We’ve been waiting patiently to stuff ourselves endlessly with turkey and sides and of course, pie; and the special day is almost here. Now just because we’re T-minus 6 days away from over-indulgence doesn’t mean we have to stress out at all. I’m here to make sure everything goes as smooth as possible. The first piece of advice I’ll give you is that chances are things won’t go 100% smoothly and that’s totally okay. The sooner you accept this fate, the better off you’ll be. The holidays aren’t about everything being perfect. Not in the slightest. The most important thing is that you enjoy the day with family, friends (or even just by yourself) no matter what happens. The turkey isn’t cooked, the sides have burned, the pies haven’t been baked? Don’t let any of that get you down. The second piece of advice is that you shouldn’t over-extend yourself. Go the simple route and delegate the dishes to others. In my house, I always make the turkey and stuffing and then everyone else makes a side. It alleviates the pressure off of me, and it’s actually fun for us all to get in the kitchen and cook together.
My last advice, aside from just having fun and enjoying the day, is to make as much ahead of time as possible. Bake off those pies the night before so you don’t have to worry about it the day of…plus I enjoy cold pumpkin pie better anyhow. Speaking of pies, if the Pumpkin Chocolate Pie from earlier in the week didn’t convince you, perhaps this Crème Brûlée Cheesecake Pumpkin Pie will do the job? It’s a great option when you want to switch up that classic tired old pumpkin pie you make and eat year after year. Plus, it’s delicious, so there’s that as well.
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Thanksgiving Day is right around the corner and what kind of Thanksgiving would it be without a pumpkin pie? A table without this beloved pie is the most blasphemous idea I can think of on such an important day. It comes but once a year and so we need to make sure we do it 100% right. In my family, we started making a pumpkin pie and an apple or peach pie but then we quickly realized that everyone wanted to eat the pumpkin pie, so now we just make two pumpkin pies and call it a day. This year though I’ve had the great idea of making a double crust pumpkin pie with a layer of chocolate because we all know that two crusts are always better than one. You can quote me on that. It’s a great pie that can be made ahead of time, which is great because you’re always going to be very busy on the big day and the last thing you want to be worrying about is making a pie on the day of. The solution: make it ahead of time, chill until ready to eat and then sit back, relax and enjoy the day, as you should. 
A while back, I traveled to New Orleans, as I do every month, and shot some recipes with 
Last year I made this 
One of my favorite things to do is to take a classic dish and turn it upside-down, so to speak. Convert it into something that we haven’t really thought about before, but once we do we’re like “why didn’t I think of that?” Or “why didn’t I think of that sooner!” Mashing together two recipes and creating one mega super awesome dish is one of the things I live for. They’re my favorite types of recipes on this blog, and they’re the ones I look forward to the most. These Shepherd’s Pie Twice Baked Potatoes are no exception. They’re basically portable shepherd’s pie and I’m very into it and something tells me that you will be too. If you’re in need of more twice baked potato inspiration, why not give these a try with a 
I know that upon reading the title of this post, some of you were probably a little skeptical (my husband included). I mean, pumpkin and corn dogs together in the same sentence? Will the madness ever end? I would like to preface this by saying that these corn dogs are not at all sweet. Whenever we think about pumpkin recipes in general, they tend to be desserts and so because of this we associate pumpkin with sweets, but pumpkin by itself, fresh pumpkin that is, actually leans more on the savory side. There’s a tinge of natural sweetness, much like some of the other squash within the same family, but that’s about it. I had this crazy idea to make a pumpkin cornbread a couple days ago, and when I was dreaming up the recipe, the idea to turn the batter into corn dogs hit me all of a sudden, and it just might be the greatest idea I’ve ever had…or the craziest, depends who you ask. I’ve played around with savory pumpkin recipes before like this 
A while back I made these 
Today I’m sharing a simple and yet, super delicious recipe from Ashley Rodriguez’s (
It’s my sister’s birthday today and so in honor of her and her special day, I’ve decided to share this recipe for Birthday Coffee Cake Muffins. They’re basically like classic bakery-style coffee cake muffins, minus the cinnamon, and with lots of sprinkles instead. It’s the best way I know how to celebrate a birthday. The great part about it all, except for the fact that you’ll have something delicious to eat at the end of it, is that it can easily be transformed into a cake if you’d like. Just pour the batter into a bundt or tube pan instead, top with streusel, and bake a bit longer. Pop some candles on it and you’ll be good to go; ready to celebrate any birthday or special occasion that comes your way. Nothing can stop you now. 
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My husband has the biggest sweet tooth in the world, which sounds like a loaded statement, but it’s actually true. You’ll never find a bigger sweet tooth anywhere around. He specifically has a weakness for butterscotch— anything from pudding, ice cream, cookies, whatever it is it doesn’t matter as long as it’s butterscotch flavored. This Butterscotch Meringue Pie is dedicated to him because every now and then I feel like I should make him something so that he sticks around a little longer. I’m totally kidding, he’s not going anywhere. We’re currently in pie season and since we’ve already seen all of the incarnations of apple pie and pumpkin pie, I figured it was time to share something a little out of the box without getting too crazy. This is like a banana cream pie but with a caramel/dulce de leche type of twist…without bananas and with toasted meringue on top instead of whipped cream. Okay so perhaps not so much like banana cream pie but maybe within the same vein? Sort of? Just agree to make me feel better. Either way, it’s a delicious pie and a great way to spice up your autumn baking routine. 
