It's The Great Pumpkin

It's that wonderful window of the year where it is acceptable, even encouraged, to cook with pumpkin.

I have a few favorites that I made this week: Pumpkin Pasta and Pumpkin Muffins.

This pumpkin pasta is from Everyday with Rachael Ray. It's called Penne-Wise Pumpkin Pasta. It's called that because it's supposed to be cheap to make. But then I went and added grilled shrimp, so it's not cheap, but it's delicious! The pumpkin sauce is really easy to make, and then I add a few grilled shrimp and fresh sage to finish it off. Yum!
Ingredients:
Salt
1 pound whole wheat penne rigate
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
3 shallots, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, grated
2 cups chicken broth
One 15-ounce can pure pumpkin puree
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
2 pinches ground cinnamon
1 pinch nutmeg Pepper
7 leaves fresh sage, thinly sliced
Grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, to pass around the table

Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain.
2. While the pasta is working, in a medium skillet, heat the EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, pumpkin and cream. Add the hot sauce, cinnamon and nutmeg; season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the sage.
3. Toss the pasta with the sauce and pass the parmigiano-reggiano around the table.

If you buy a big can of pumpkin, you'll only use half for the pasta. Then you can use the other half to make these delicious pumpkin muffins. They are also super easy to make. I'm not the best at baking, but these came out beautifully. They are from Cooking Light, so that means you can have like 3 at a time. :-)

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 10 ounces)
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, ginger, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in raisins; make a well in center of mixture.
3. Combine brown sugar, canned pumpkin, buttermilk, canola oil, molasses, vanilla extract, and eggs, stirring well with a whisk. Add sugar mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist.
4. Spoon batter into 18 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pans immediately; cool on a wire rack.

And to end the post, here is the REAL pumpkin muffin at our house. Here he is in his Halloween costume from last year.

"Pumpkin muffins? Where? I want some."

Welcome Fall!

Now that fall has arrived (technically, at least... forget that it's 90 degrees in Houston), I decided that the Norwood Nest should reflect the change in seasons. I love fall - the cooler temperature, homey food, and looking forward to all the best holidays. Please note that I'm not decorating for Halloween, as this is an important distinction to make. I'm not a big fan of Halloween. You won't find any dancing skeletons on my front door, paper ghosts hanging from my trees, or witch hand candy dishes on my counter. (I do apologize to those of you who I just offended.) Anyway, I perused a few blogs to get some fall decorating ideas, and I came up with some things that I'm really enjoying! It is nice to come home to my fall-ish house with my Woodwick candle burning every night. Yay, home. See what you think!

Salty Sweet Goodness

Now that we live in Humble, we live right next to a Wal-Mart. I've always been more of a Target kind of girl, but I've learned to shop at Wal-Mart when necessary. On a recent shopping trip, I found a wonderful little gourmet gem amongst the 40 lb. logs of ground beef and frozen taquitos. I found the BEST ICE CREAM IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. This claim has been independently verified by my husband who agrees that the ice cream is indeed the best in the entire world.

May I introduce... Haagen Dazs "Reserve" Fleur de Sel Caramel ice cream. This is a salty ice cream. Sounds weird, but suspend your disbelief because it is ridiculously delicious. Imagine a creamy caramel ice cream with a hint of saltiness in the actual ice cream. It's salty enough that you can absolutely taste the salt, but it's not overwhelming. There is a caramel ribbon running through the ice cream with even more salt that just makes the caramel flavor come to life. It is intensely delicious. Then, as if that wasn't enough, there are itty bitty chocolate covered caramel candies throughout the ice cream. Like three per spoonful. The caramels are not frozen. They are perfectly soft. It's like a miracle.

This ice cream only comes in the small pint packages, and that's probably a good thing. I eat one small scoop a day in a small ramekin dish, and it is just perfect. You really don't need more than that.

I HIGHLY recommend you pick some up on your next grocery shopping trip. You may or may not want to hide it from your husband. Because now I have to buy twice as much. Just get past your fear of salty ice cream and try it. You will be glad you did. And if you don't like it, more for me! It is "reserve" which makes me nervous that it's a limited edition and won't be around forever. Enjoy it while you can, people!

For Salsa

I have been wanting to post about my sister for a while now, so I thought this would be a good opportunity. Julia is very sick right now. She has been sick for more than two weeks with a mystery illness that it took five infectious disease doctors a week to diagnose. She thought she had malaria, but as it turns out, she has a very rare bacterial infection called brucellosis. Apparently she got it five months ago when she went to Peru, but the symptoms are just now showing up. She's now on antibiotics that should kill the bacteria and make her feel better soon, but right now she is completely miserable. She has a fever, swollen lymph nodes, and a rash. Please pray that she will feel better very soon.

If you don't know my sister, I'm sorry. You're missing out. She is basically a genius. Graduated valedictorian from our high school and with a 4.0 from A&M in biology. Yep. You heard right. Now, at the ripe old age of 25, she is getting her PhD from the University of Virginia. In pharmacology. I don't even know what that word means. Before too long, she will be Dr. Lemmon. She's involved in her church, works in a lab, mentors high school girls, etc, etc, etc. She's basically amazing. So it saddens me that she is sick and she is halfway across the country. Poor salsa. So this post is for you, salsa, to cheer you up.

When my sister and I were kids, we used to do lots of random and totally bizarre things. Luckily, many of these random things were captured on film, and just as luckily, many of them were NOT. But, in the spirit of self deprication and for a few laughs, I thought I'd go over just a few memories that have a photo record.

When we were little, my mom used to tutor in the afternoons. We were left to our own devices in the playroom. We had a little TV in there and we would watch the daily afternoon line up: Beverly Hillbillies, I Dream of Jeannie, Gomer Pyle USMC, and The Munsters. If we weren't watching TV, I was making Julia play school and do worksheets. Or Julia would make me play policeman and lock me up in handcuffs under the table. One time I remember trying to make a playground in our play room. I'm pretty sure mom didn't know that we took her wooden chairs, laid them on the ground, and rocked back and forth on them as "see-saws" or slid down the backs as "slides". We also spent days trying to figure out how to hang something from the ceiling to make a "swing". Epic fail.

Captured below is when I was going through my "let's play doctor" phase, and apparently Julia needed some treatment.
This might be my favorite picture of all time. Picture the scene: It's my birthday. We're dressed alike for some reason. I got a jewelry box that played music and had a little bunny that spun around. Julia wanted to play with the jewelry box. I'm pretty sure you can infer the remainder of the scene.

We were always bored on Sundays. When we got home from church, we usually did random things. Here, we decided to "embellish" our panty hose.

We spent approximately 70% of our childhood at Grammy's house. Here, we tried to MAKE dresses out of old fabric Grammy had laying around. Not sure if we were going for the "Little House on the Prairie" look, but we succeeded. We didn't know how to sew, so we actually STAPLED the fabric together to fashion a dress-like garment.

Did I mention that there wasn't quite enough fabric? We made do.

OK, this one isn't funny, but this is us looking cute on Pi Phi bid day. If they only knew what we were really like, they might never have let us in!! Too late now!!!

I love you, salsa, and I hope you feel better soon!

Best.Day.Ever

Ask any of my college roommates. Every day, after class, meetings, and studying, I'd walk into 1604-E Holleman and say, "Today was the best day EVER!" I think they eventually got annoyed with my Pollyanna-like entrances, but there was just something about college life that brought me a deep, soul satisfying joy. I wasn't lying either... it truly seemed as if every day was better than the last. Since then, life has gotten a little more routine, a little harder, and sometimes (sigh) I have a little less soul satisfying joy. Part of me still craves that College Station feeling. College Station is a magical place where I am the person I am meant to be.

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, I had the good fortune to spend 24 blissful hours in College Station. My school asked me and two of my Aggie teacher friends to go to A&M to recruit some kick-a Aggies to teach the best kids in Houston. It was, in the truest sense, the BEST.DAY.EVER. Here's why:

We arrived in College Station around dinnertime on Tuesday. As usual, God met me at the intersection of Texas Avenue and Highway 6. I know - God is everywhere, but his presence in College Station is supernaturally palpable. I feel closer to him when I cross into that town. My teacher friend Rachael and I checked into our hotel and went straight to La Bodega. We sat on the patio and ate chipotle chicken burritos (which tasted exactly the same as I remembered!) It felt like old times, eating and chatting with friends. After La Bodega, we headed over to Reed Arena for Breakaway. Breakaway changed my life in college. It drew me closer to the Lord. I have not been to Breakaway in more than five years, so I was CRAVING it.

As we drove up to Reed, we exchanged disappointed glances. The arena was dark and there were like six cars in the parking lot. Never fear, a quick click on the iPhone let us know that Breakaway was at KYLE FIELD! We started walking that way along with DROVES of college students, all carrying their bibles. It was like the crowd flooding into a football game, but it was a crowd flooding in to praise Jesus. As we filed inside, we filled up the entire first two decks of the alumni side. It was an amazing experience to praise God at Kyle Field. The music was loud enough to be heard all over campus, and there were even people peeking out of the windows at the Bright Center to see what was going on. My heart was filled with so much gratitude and awe. Where else but A&M would students fill a stadium to worship on a Tuesday night? The worship and message were both amazing. At the end, we sang the Doxology with no music, for everyone on campus to hear. Praise God for the favor he has shown A&M. I was filled with joy for the things he is doing there, and to be a part of it for just one night was a dream.

The next day, we had the honor of recruiting at the Mays Business School Career Fair. Many of you know my story, but I was a marketing major at Mays when I decided in my senior year that I wanted to be a teacher. Although I would never give back my business degree, I have found satisfaction and success in teaching, and I want other business majors to know that teaching is an option! We arrived at the fair and set up our booth among accounting firms, retail stores, manufacturers, and computer programming companies, which was a somewhat out-of-body experience. I was just there five years ago!

We thought we were going to have a pretty slow day... convincing people to consider teaching and explaining to people why we were even there. We expected to be sitting down most of the day. The reality of our day was quite the opposite. Praise God for going before us and laying the foundation for so many students to be receptive to our message. We were BLOWN AWAY by the enthusiastic, genuine interest in teaching and specifically in YES. The three of us were talking the ENTIRE day. I think I sat down for like 30 seconds from 9:00 - 4:00. At most points, all three of us were talking to different students, and there were people actually waiting in line to talk to us. Can you believe it? All of these students were so hungry for something else. They felt that a business job would not fulfill them and were so grateful to know that an opportunity like YES existed. People with 4.0s in Accounting, Finance, and Marketing were interested in becoming teachers. The heart and drive of those A&M students humbled and overwhelmed me. At one point, after having a conversation where the girl wanted to hug me at the end, I just broke down and cried at our little booth as I put her resume in the folder. I couldn't believe that God was so faithful and so present. It was an amazing day. Our goal was to talk to 3o people. By the end, we got over 50 resumes and met about 6 people that we wanted to hire on the spot. It was incredibly successful, and it brought a whole new satisfaction to my career. Instead of helping kids that day, I got to help adults by letting them know about rewarding options options for their careers.

It was fantastic, and I went back to school today totally refreshed and ready to teach another day!

Spare Time

...I don't have much.

Apparently, my husband might.
Apparently, when you sleep on the same pillowcases for four years, they develop holes.
Apparently, when you wash the pillowcases every week for four years, the holes get bigger.
Apparently, these holes are just big enough for a cavapoo's legs.
Apparently, if the holes are positioned just right, you can fashion a dog toga.
Apparently, Blazer will be the best dressed dog at the next puppy frat party.

You think I'm kidding... This is how Blazer pranced into the living room tonight.

All Hail the Miracle Candle!

Y'all. I am not one for infomercials or quick fix ANYTHING. But, I have found the miracle candle and scent that I believe will cure just about anything that ails you. It is the Woodwick Candle in the scent "Fireside". About a year ago, we went to dinner at my cousin Melissa's house. She had one of these candles burning, and I fell in love. The scent is ridiculously wonderful. It literally smells like fall, Christmas, comfort food, baked goods, and a roaring fire all in one. What's more to love? AND, as if that wasn't good enough... it's called "Woodwick" because it has a wood wick. Brilliant. When you burn this wood wick, it sounds like a fire in a fireplace. It actually crackles!! After I experienced this candle, I went out the next day and purchased one at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I don't know how much they cost and I really don't care, but I think they are under $20. I burned two of them last fall and winter, and then I stopped buying them for some reason. Well... yesterday, I went over to Melissa's house (she now lives right down the street from me, but that's a story for another time). When I walked in, I immediately recognized the scent: Woodwick Fireside!! I was hooked, once again. So today I went right back out to Bed Bath and Beyond and bought one.

Sundays for me are usually full of stress, to-do lists, and thoughts of the impending work week. But today.... oh, today. I burned the Woodwick all day. And I am not exaggerating.... it was the best.day.ever. There is something about the fireside scent that makes me happy, calm, and content. It's like watching the leaves fall while baking a pumpkin pie and cuddling up next to a fire with a book and a fluffy puppy all while listening to Christmas music. No lie. Now I can't guarantee the results, but it did make my day/month/year. I strongly recommend you hit up your nearest B,B, & B and get one. It doesn't even matter if you have a 20% off coupon or not. Just do it. You'll be glad you did. Woodwick, if you're reading this, can I please have a lifetime supply for free? I'll be your spokesperson and happily peddle these around the neighborhood in my spare time. (Never hurts to ask.)

Workout Jams

I recently joined a gym less than five minutes from our house at the entrance to our subdivision. I am loving having that convenient access, and now I work out more often. I am trying to do an hour long workout three to five days a week. We are going to Hawaii in March, so that's my "big goal" if you will. I figure that's enough time to actually make a difference.

I love the elliptical, and I can crank out 45 minutes no problem with the right music. I was obsessed with Pandora on my iPhone for a while there, but then I got kind of tired of it. I have an iPod shuffle which I LOVE because it is so tiny and light, you can wear it to do ANY kind of workout and never even know it's there. My shuffle playlist has been getting a little stale lately, so I was getting bored at the gym. An hour seemed like an eternity. Today before I went to the gym, I did a little research and spent about $15 on iTunes. The result was a spiced up playlist that I am now obsessed with. I knocked out my entire workout and was kind of sad to leave because I wasn't all the way through my playlist. I found some pretty good sites with workout playlist suggestions:

• http://www.runhundred.com/ (They list songs by beats per minute so you can correlate the music with the intensity of your workout!)
• www.fitnessmag.com/workout/music (They have playlists from trainers and celebrities. I enjoyed Elizabeth Hasselback's playlist.)
• http://www.self.com/ has tons of playlists to browse through.
• I also love the "Genius" feature on iTunes that makes suggestions based on what you buy.

I love that no one can make fun of me for my workout music at the gym. Sometimes I think, "If the person next to me could hear the song I'm jamming to right now, they would laugh so hard!" But they can't!! Y'all are my friends, though, and I know you won't judge me for my song choices. (Right?) Here are my top 25 workout songs right now in no particular order. You will notice a strong tendency towards the 80's. If you know me, this will not be surprising. My list is VERY random. I usually laugh out loud when the shuffle plays David Crowder right after Usher. There is something just wrong about that. Anyway, I hope my list inspires you to download some new (old) songs. I highly suggest them for a great workout!!

1. Stronger (Britney Spears)
2. Toxic (Britney Spears)
3. Just Like Heaven (The Cure)
4. P.Y.T. (Danny Gokey from American Idol)
5. Maneater (Daryl Hall & John Oates)
6. Our Love is Loud (David Crowder Band)
7. September (Earth, Wind, and Fire)
8. Glamorous (Fergie) (clean version... hello)
9. Canned Heat (Jamiroquai)
10. Together Again (Janet Jackson)
11. Empty Me (Jeremy Camp)
12. One Step at a Time (Jordin Sparks)
13. Stronger (Kanye West) (yep... clean one)
14. Fresh (Kool & The Gang)
15. Just Dance (Lady GaGa)
16. Human Nature (Matt Giraud from American Idol)
17. Billie Jean (Michael Jackson)
18. Fame (Naturi Naughton - from the new Fame movie)
19. Together Forever (Rick Astley) (this one's for you, TheLoj)
20. Part Time Lover (Stevie Wonder)
21. Yeah! (Usher)
22. So Emotional (Whitney Houston)
23. Uptown Girl (Billy Joel)
24. All For You (Janet Jackson)
25. Come Clean (Hillary Duff)

Don't judge. :-) Maybe you could comment and tell me your best workout songs! I'm jammin' right now, but I'll need a refresher soon.

Summer Lives!

Believe me when I say... the days of sitting around and doing nothing are officially over. However, summer lives in the Norwood household through our nightly dinner of tomatoes. Well, we don't JUST have tomatoes for dinner, but we definitely could. We have tomatoes every night because they are still good, and I don't want to miss one day of goodness. Lately I've been making a simple panzanella salad I found in Cooking Light. There is some sort of magical synergy in this dish. It comes together super quickly with very few ingredients, but the taste is incredible. You have to try it before the tomatoes are gone!!

Panzanella Salad
From Cooking Light, August 2009

Ingredients
3 ounces sourdough bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (2 [1 1/2-ounce] slices)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped pitted kalamata olives (about 8)
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
1 tomato, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 English cucumber, halved and thinly sliced (about 1 cup)

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Place bread cubes in a jelly-roll pan; bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until crisp, stirring once. Cool completely.
3. Combine vinegar and next 4 ingredients (through garlic) in a large bowl. Add bread cubes, onion, and remaining ingredients, tossing gently to coat. Serve immediately.

P.S. Sorry I've been M.I.A. You know the drill. Eat, sleep, teach. But, we are going to A&M tomorrow for opening weekend. I am SO excited! I'll be back soon with some Aggie stories and pictures for you.

The First Day of School In Pictures

It's August 12th. The first day of school! That's right people... it's still 100 degrees outside. Whatever it takes!!!

This was the mass chaos after breakfast when we opened up the floodgates!

Our wonderful, amazing seventh grade team - best people ever!

These two cuties came to day one of seventh grade with their writer's notebooks already decorated with glitter, stickers, and rhinestones. They are girls after my own heart.

This picture may or may not make me tear up a bit. These are two girls I taught in seventh grade my first year of teaching. They are now SENIORS set to graduate and go to college in 180 days! So fun to see them all grown up.

Look at all those 12 year olds. They just look so eager to learn, don't you think?

Part of my classroom, all cute and ready for lessons!

I love this quote we have on the wall in the stairway.

Time to go home!

So... I'm implementing a new library system this year. I recruited three sweethearts to help me organize the books after school today. I gave them some directions and went to a teacher meeting. When I came back thirty minutes later, I found.........this. O.M.G!!!!
They assured me that there is a system and they have it under control. Um.... yeah. I'll let you know how that turns out!!

Ready.... Set... Go!!!! The year has officially begun. Talk to you in June.

Just kidding! (maybe)