We decided to have a little pumpkin carving fall shindig.
We have never
hosted a seasonal party before, and living with my in-laws helped make it
possible with the extra helping hands (hard with me having to hold a baby full-time). It
was just twelve to fourteen people, but really fun to get together and
celebrate the wonderful fall season, even though our weather does not
feel too fall like at the present time. 
We had a potluck style food bar so people could
create whatever delicious food they wanted to share. When we had laid out everything, it looked
like a huge feast. I was very impressed with everyone's cooking! For
appetizers, we had granny smith apples with an amazing cream cheese caramel
dipping sauce, and hummus and crackers. For the main course we had roasted
carrots and asparagus, baked stuffed orange bell peppers, capresse salad with
orange tomatoes on top, a nice spinach salad, and edamame noodles with a
homemade orange tomato sauce. (Guess Halloween/fall color of choice was
orange...) And of course after all that you had to save room for dessert! From
Trader Joe's we had the pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin macaroons, and Justin
and I created a healthy gluten free version of a pumpkin pie (recipe included
at the end of this post). We were all very content after our meal (can you tell
we love and appreciate good, cooked meals?!).
Being a
pumpkin carving party, everyone got on their competitive spirits and carved
into their pumpkin of choice. All the pumpkins turned out very impressive. Once
we lit them as the sun descended, their magnificence really
"glowed". We had put together a Trader Joe's pumpkin kit prize for
the highest voted carving. It was a really close call between my mom's,
Lindsay's, and Julio&Jen's. My mom won by one vote, but being the nice lady
she is, decided to split the prizes with her two other competitors. 
Later on we played a game called seven. You bring a wrapped secret gift. It can be either something random you find in your closet, or a fun gift you bought. So the unknown is whether you are going to pick a good wanted gift or a used piece of junk (or something just clever/funny). The gifts are put in a pile and everyone sits around them. There are two dice that get passed around the circle. If you are the lucky one to roll a seven, you can pick any gift you want but can't open it. If you are continuously lucky, you could potentially have ALL the gifts. After every gift is picked, one person puts an unknown set time on a timer. Everyone keeps trying to roll sevens, but this time if a seven is rolled, you can steal the unknown package from ANYONE! Once the timer goes off, game is over, and everyone finally discovers what's inside. I'm very competitive and always end up never rolling a seven... Luckily I got one in the after round, just one, but I was content(enough).
I want to leave you will the very yummy, healthy version pumpkin pie Justin and I pretty much just came up with on our own. I was pleasantly surprised it turned out as well as it did. Maybe a little un-sweet compared to what my taste buds like... But i really like sweet things...
 |
| My Little Peter Pan... |
Healthy Pumpkin Pie (Makes two pies)
Approx. 55 mins. to prep and cook
2 cups organic pumpkin puree
4 free ranged, pastured eggs
1/2 cup canned whole fat coconut cream
1/2 cup honey
2 heaping tsp. of pumpkin pie spice
A few dashes of cinnamon
1-2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
For the top crumble:
8-10 cut up dates
1/2-1 cup almond meal
1/2 cup coconut oil
Dash of vanilla
A few dashes of cinnamon
1/3 cup gluten free oats
Set the oven for 350°
•In a big mixing bowl, blend the eggs and pumpkin puree until completely mixed. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse or blend on low until mixed thoroughly.
•Grease two pie pans with coconut oil
•In a food processor or blender, combine all the crumble ingredients besides the oats. After fully mixed, hand mix in the oats to keep their full shape.
•Pour pie filling into the pans, then crumble the crumble on top of the filling. (It's fine if it doesn't completely cover the whole surface)
•Bake for 45 minutes at 350°
*if you like a sweeter dessert, put 2/3-1cup of honey instead of 1/2 cup
This is Justin's favorite part of the year, fall. (And his favorite movie that he can
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