September Recap

Pretty much every month I can’t believe it is over. September was fun and full. Work is pretty busy gearing up for our big Thanksgiving event.  Mr. J and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary on the 17th! I’m so thankful that I no longer have to travel for work. I’ve been home the whole month of September which I haven’t been able to say in 5 years! It’s been great to hit the Big E and the farmer’s market, and some of the open studios.

How good does a deep fried Oreo look from the Big E?
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Mr. J has been full steam ahead on house projects. I just keep seeing them coming off the list and I know the baby nursery will be soon! The front step was redone and Mr. J installed a new vanity in the bathroom.

I really loved embracing the best time to cook with seasonal produce. I found fantastic heirloom tomatoes and corn for a puff pastry tart that was simply perfect. Puff pastry with tomatoes, corn, and Seriously Sharp Cabot Cheddar went together perfectly.
Tomato & Corn Tart - The Three Bite Rule
I messed around with polenta paired with shrimp and tomatoes which reminded me how fast, cheap, and easy it is to work with.
The Three Bite Rule - Polenta & Shrimp
I did some Hawaiian hot dogs with teryiaki and pineapple that were fun. Those flavors are so good together. I should use them more often.
The Three Bite Rule - Hawaiian Hot Dog
I’m not sure what’s on top for next month. I hope to go apple picking and a friend’s pear tree is about ready so I want to get some of those. I’m thinking it is time for everything apple and pumpkin flavored!

Let’s check on my goals:
The Year of the Flower is going strong! this month clipped some hydrangeas from my parents’ tree
send more mail – Gram got a birthday card, so that counts
make some Pinterest pins a reality – I didn’t really make any but have one for next month!
cook with yeast (yikes!)
try a spin class – um nope. I’m not sure I’m adding in any super new exercises at this point. I’m all about zumba now that my gym fall classes have increased. Zumba is now 3x a week! I’m aiming for zumba once or twice and some other workouts each week. So far so good!
make more cocktails – umm no cocktails for me until January ;) but I did get a lemonade served out of a lemon stand at the Big E! Next month should be good for fall fun drinks.

Bump Update: 
I’m beyond halfway! I can’t believe it. I’m just over 6 months along. There’s not much time now! I feel like I doubled in size the last few weeks! Getting dressed takes a lot more creativity but I’ve gotten some clothes to give me enough options. I hadn’t really thought about gym clothes and pjs not fitting so I’ll likely have to invest in those & something dressy. The baby is the size of cauliflower now! There’s been a lot of kicking lately.

Next month we’ll keep brainstorming names and get started on the baby’s room. We have a meet the delivery team & tour of the maternity area. Registering can’t be too far behind either.

I’ve been feeling great and trying to do as much as I can whenever I’m up for it. I’ve been very into zumba at the gym so I’ll try to keep that up as long as I can. I don’t remember any cravings this month…well, one night I had to try a caramel apple sundae. One take-out Chinese night I couldn’t even fathom biting into a crab rangoon. Other than those, no real cravings or aversions.

What I Ate: Honey Cinnamon Butter on Corn Muffins

What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with you for the idea or inspiration.

I whipped up this jazzed up butter after making corn bread muffins. I was thinking these flavors would be really good in corn bread, but since I’m not much of a baker I decided not to mess with the muffins. Messing with the butter seemed like like a safer option. Don’t ya think.

The Three Bite Rule - Honey Cinnamon Butter

Ingredients:

4 tbs butter, or butter substitute
1 tbs honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Mix room temperature butter, honey, and cinnamon together.
The Three Bite Rule - Honey Cinnamon Butter
Chill until serving to solidify until serving.
The Three Bite Rule - Honey Cinnamon Butter
I loved this. It tasted like fall! I had tons leftover and it was so perfect on toast. These cool mornings and the honey and cinnamon flavors made me so happy. I should junk up the butter more often! This one wasn’t beautiful but the berry ones on french toast….come on. So pretty!

The Three Bite Rule - Honey Cinnamon Butter
check out these 6 fancy flavored butters
Pinterest has lots of compound butters
of course Martha makes fancy butter

food for thought

I feel like an old person, but what will they think of next…ummm no thanks.

This eating all the emoji article cracked me up. I had no idea what some of the food was, or why they were important enough to have an emoji but this was so fascinating. She didn’t count the animals and stuck to actual food pics. It wasn’t a stunt to lose weight, just out of interest. Apparently it lacks bfast and there’s tons of alcoholic options and desserts.
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I’m ready for all the fall things and for some reason, all the fall/harvest-y/seasonal decor has glitter. Why all the glitter? Pumpkins are so dang cute. Candy corn, delicious with no sparkle necessary. I open greeting cards carefully when I can tell there will be glitter. There’s no way I’m putting a wreath celebrating pumpkins and lovely colored leaves on my door if it’s covered in glitter. That means everytime I open the door I’ll encounter THE GLITTER. Of all holidays I think glitter is not necessary for halloween and I think Thanksgiving is about so much more. I just want it all to smell like apples, cinnamon, and pie.
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I want to make this pumpkin coffee cake
and I might try my hand at a better caramel apple cider than this one I tried
it is time to go apple picking
easy pumpkin muffins are in order, or maybe pumpkin bread french toast
this year might be right for apple week since last year I did pumpkin week
there might be a pear picking party at Mrs. M’s house. What should I make featuring pears?

S’mores Fudge

I just whipped up some fudge upon request from my dad and I wanted to go crazy with it, or just make some I hadn’t done before. Since it was his bday  I figured I’d stick to chocolate and find out what other flavors would pass muster for the future. I added a few colored sprinkles on top and poof, it was birthday fudge.

I still wanted to jack up some fudge. I thought about cookies & cream, but I seem to always have mini marshmallows around so this proved timely.
The Three Bite Rule - S'mores Fudge

Everyone loved the half chocolate half peanut butter one I did. Dad liked the mocha fudge I gave him for Christmas last year. I messed around making this s’more fuge and figured Mr. J would eat it since I had made some but given it all away.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1/2 container Fluff
1 small can evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter (I used a butter substitute and the texture was off, don’t do this)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 mini marshmallows
4 graham crackers, crumbled

Directions:

Over medium heat, melt sugar, fluff, milk, butter, and salt together. Some bubbles will come up when the air is coming out.
Bring to a boil and boil, stirring consistently for 5 minutes.
The Three Bite Rule - S'mores Fudge
Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate chips until melted and mixed through.
The Three Bite Rule - S'mores Fudge
Pour into a 9×9 baking dish that you’ve buttered, sprayed, or lined with parchment paper.
Top with marshmallows.
The Three Bite Rule - S'mores Fudge
Top with graham crackers.
The Three Bite Rule - S'mores Fudge
Let cool for at least 2 hours.

It gets firmer in the fridge, but then the marshmallows get a bit weird. They don’t seem to like life in the fridge. I made this a while ago…it was hot and also because I made the mistake of using a butter substitute it didn’t quite harden enough. It tasted great though. It is definitely “never fail fudge” if you follow the instructions. I had gotten as far as melting the marshmallow so it was too late to turn back, or I’d be figuring how to dispose of sticky melted marshmallow which seemed more challenging than taking the risk with not-real butter.

Garlicky Mussels

I love ordering mussels at restaurants. The freshness of the mussels and the flavorful broth with some kind of bread to sop it all up. I never made them because it seemed like one of those foods that you just get at restaurants, not something I’d make myself.

Spoiler alert: they were so easy and cheap.

Garlic Mussels - The Three Bite Rule

Ingredients:

1 pound Mussels
2 tbs garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
1 tbs butter
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs cream
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbs fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

Rinse and debeard the mussels.
In a large pan over medium heat, add the garlic, broth, wine, butter, lemon juice, cream, and garlic powder.
Garlic Mussels - The Three Bite Rule
Then add in the mussels and cover for 8 minutes.
Stir the mussels and check for any that didn’t open, discard those.
Serve them in a bowl and top with parsley and some crusty bread.
Garlic Mussels - The Three Bite Rule
They were so good. I’d say they rival any restaurant I’ve had them in. It takes a lot to feel full so while they were my meal, that’s precisely why they’re always on the appetizer section of a menu.

What do you think of as a “restaurant food” that you have been hesitant to make yourself?