'tis the season...

... to get engaged! Uhh, not me.. but my dear friends!

Three close friends, two engagements, all in one week. I feel a little silly saying this, but I felt a tad bit overwhelmed.. because I realized I am now at the age where friends are gradually taking their relationships to the next level by getting engaged/married. WHEN did this happen?? WHY am I getting older?

Anyway, this post wasn't supposed to be about me complaining about my age. I just wanted to share the great news of some amazing friends.. and I am incredibly excited for them!

pumpkin or pecan?

Normally I would go to the local Polly's Pies to buy dessert (pumpkin pie & my all time favorite banberry pie) for Thanksgiving dinner, but why should I do that when I can bake it myself? The biggest dilemma I faced was deciding on a type of pie... pumpkin? Or pecan? Or pumpkin AND pecan? Or should I just buy the dang dessert because the thought of baking it is stressing me out? <--- the thought I had when I couldn't decide. And then, my brilliant friend sent over a recipe for................ pumpkin and pecan crunch streusel pie! Problem solved. The recipe itself was pretty simple to follow, and it yielded one pie that had just the right amount of sugar and spice for our Korean taste buds. Now for pictures!

(pumpkin filling)

(pecan crunch streusel)

I also baked vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting (Magnolia Bakery's recipe) for the kiddies. They happily (and overly) decorated the cupcakes with Christmas sprinkles I purchased from Target.

I think I am all baked out for the year... or not. I still need to make gingerbread cookies. YUM.