Blogland Creations - An Autumn Coffee Party


It's OCTOBER!
Time to grab your favorite sweater 
and start feelin' cozy!
Celebration season is upon us
and all those summer salads have us
out of practice for feasting.
So, come on!
Grab a caramel apple and start snacking...
Those pumpkin pies won't eat themselves!

Like the many bears that are wandering through our town right now, come Fall I feel the need to start eating.  Unlike the bears, I won't be melting off my fall fluff during a long winter's nap; come Spring, much like Winnie the Pooh, I will need to commit to some "stoutness exercises" to wear off my winter weight if I indulge myself in Fall yummies the way I'd like to.  With this in mind, I decided that I would share the wealth, so to speak, and host a coffee party so that I could make all the lovely Fall recipes I wanted without the danger of eating them all myself!

As you've probably noticed, there are some delectable looking Fall treats making the rounds of the blog hops and link parties!  Everything's coming up apples and pumpkin, maple and spice!  It was difficult to narrow my choices, but in the end I finalized my menu, featuring three absolutely scrumptious recipes from Blogland:

and
(both by Dawn of Beat Until Fluffy)
Tea Biscuits
Jam
Coffee
Assorted Teas

 There is always a bit of risk involved with planning a menu almost entirely out of new recipes.  However, these particular recipes looked so delicious that I just had to try them!  And, they were awesome.  

I knew as soon as I saw the picture of the Pumpkin Ribbon Bread that I would have to make it, and soon!  The ribbon of cream cheese running through the loaf was irresistible.   This recipe met with lots of compliments; the loaf was perfectly moist, the spices ideal, and the cream cheese was heavenly.  I have been following Tiffany Hewlett's blog Making the World Cuter for quite some time (don't you just love that title?!) and I particularly love her Monday hop Making the World Cuter Monday.  Tiffany has been on maternity leave, but while she's away she has arranged for a series of guest bloggers.  The guest blogger on September 22 was Colleen of And Baby Makes Five with her post Fresh Baked Fall Favorites, which included the recipe for Pumpkin Ribbon Bread.

One of my favorite blogs is Beat Until Fluffy. The blog's author, Dawn, is an incredible baker who blogs about her creations. I am always happy to see a new Beat Until Fluffy post pop up in my reader; they cheer me up and make me want to get baking!  I strongly suggest that you hop out of your reader and actually visit Dawn's blog; it's absolutely beautiful and features incredible photography of her creations.  You will feel your blood pressure drop (even as your tummy growls) while visiting this lovely blog! 
Dawn's recipes cooked up like a dream!  The Sweet Potato Cookies were the lightest, fluffiest little things, and they smelled and tasted wonderful!  And hey, they have veggies in them, so they're practically diet food, right?  I was disappointed that I couldn't find a leaf shaped cookie cutter for the Maple Leaf Cookies, but I was able to locate a pumpkin cutter so I improvised and make pumpkins instead.  These cookies were the hands down favorite with the kids who came to my coffee party...they were so bright and colourful and irresistibly sweet.  The red pumpkins disappeared quickly so there are none in my pictures, but they were cute.  I used Wilton gel food colouring, and, when mixed with the maple frosting, they created very cute country style shades, almost like milk paint.

My coffee party was a great success and everyone had a lovely time and lots to eat.  Of course, I made too much (I always do, I have a great fear of running out of food at a party!) but we had lots of tasty snacks to offer for the next few days.  

Thanks so much to Dawn, Tiffany, and Colleen for sharing their wonderful recipes and ideas on their respective blogs, and for making Blogland such a cool place to hang out! 
  
Today I'm linking to the following:

Blog Hop,Canadian,125x125




Photobucket



18 comments:

  1. Yummy look what I missed out on.. happy your coffee party was a success, and hope to catch your next one.. keep those yummy recipies coming via blogland.. I spend hours on here going thru you and checking others, its fun isn't it.. have a great rainy day Kim... Sue

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  2. Oh these look so good!! I think I might make the Ribbon cake this afternoon. I'll let you know if I follow through! xo

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  3. Cute blog! I found you from the Wednesday blog hop. New follower here! We'd love it if you'd stop on over at ours!

    www.mommyhoodmayhem.com

    Lenore

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  4. Wow, those all look delish! Now I want a snack! Thank you so much for stopping by to visit us today! =) We are already following you... Hope to see you around more!

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  5. It all looks wonderful! Sounds like it was a great time for all!

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  6. Awwww ... this post just gave me the warm fuzzies. Thanks so much!

    I'm so glad you enjoyed one of our fall favorites at your coffee party. (Love that idea!) As my mom always says, "Food is love." Especially this time of year.

    And if you're still looking for goodies ... check out my recipe index for Pumpkin Cranberry Biscotti. So easy. So good. And completely addictive...

    Just signed on as a follower too ;)

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  7. it all looks so delicious! I always make too much too when I'm entertaining but then, I'm ready with zip lock bags and disposable containers for my guests to take home. I can't wait to try out some of the recipes, I can almost smell the flavors.

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  8. Thanks for stopping by and joining in on my Weird Me Wednesday Blog Hop and for sharing the link with your followers. I am now one of your followers and I look forward to reading more of your posts. Hope to hear from you again soon
    http://shhhhhjustbetweenume.blogspot.com

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  9. Oh my gosh, wow, I'm sure they all taste good. I bookmarked this page in the hope of trying this recipe soon. I'll let you know how mine works out. I followed you in google connect today, girl friend. I like your blog. Hope to hear from you.

    http://www.heartscontentofamama.com

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  10. Thanks for following, following back!

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  11. Hi, Stopping by from the Welcome Wednesday Blog Hop. Following you now.

    Kristin
    http://www.Kristinsreview.com

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  12. Hi!! Thanks for stopping by from FMIC. Your site is lovely and I have to follow you based solely on the Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese!!

    So starving now :)

    Have an awesome day!!

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  13. Those look very yummy. At least it gives me something to look forward to in the fall. Anyway, thanks for visiting my blog.

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  14. Your pumpkin goodies look so yummy!
    We're glad we could feature you on Friendly Friday this week! Hope you have a great weekend. :)

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  15. Your pictures made me hungry!

    Stopping by to say Hi and Happy FF! Following you!
    I have a whole bunch of giveaways going on if you wanted to check them out!
    Visit Mama’s Money Savers

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  16. Happy Friendly Friday. I'm starting to look for some recipes for thanksgiving dinner. Hope I'll find some ideas in your blog.

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  17. Following via Friday Follow!
    Would love to have you stop by and check
    us out too! Lots of great family friendly
    giveaways @ www.smileadaygiveaways.blogspot.com
    Have a great day!

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  18. Hello, Everyone!

    Wow, thank you so much for all the lovely comments! And to all the new "Friends of the Nest," Welcome!

    I'm looking forward to visiting your blogs over the next few days, but I just wanted to take a moment now to thank you all for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend, and a very Happy (Canadian!) Thanksgiving!

    Kim

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I'm listening! I really appreciate when you take the time to comment, and I read every one!