Pumpkin Pie Espresso Bars

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, but from the sheer amount of holiday commercials on television and Christmas music on the radio, you may guess it to be mid-December. My family is hosting the Thanksgiving celebration this year, as we have done many years before. My mother is already rushing around to get groceries, keep the house clean, and find enough space to seat twenty people for dinner. It can be a tight fit, but we figure it can't hurt to bring the family close together (both literally and figuratively).

Food and family go hand-in-hand. In many ways, it is a defining feature of our holidays to truly help them feel like a special moment in time.

For as long as I can remember, Thanksgiving has always held the very same routines for me. As family begins to arrive and the food slowly begins to be spread out on the table, I hover over the vegetable tray trying to steal half of the black olives without anyone noticing, starving from a lack of breakfast (Needless to say, someone always notices and I continue to sneak olives despite it). Once everyone has arrived, we say grace and dig in, always eating much more than we should.

The chorus of content, but slightly uncomfortable voices after dinner confirms this fate.

As the dishes are cleared, the televisions are quickly tuned to football games and everyone settles in for a lazy, sleepy afternoon. Without fail, someone in the family manages to fall asleep with his or her mouth hanging open, snoring softly, while the rest of the family gathers to laugh quietly and take embarrassing video footage (I desperately hope it's not my turn this year). In late afternoon, after the sun has set and the food coma is beginning to wear off, the leftovers from lunch are spread out on the tables and the second meal of the day indulgently begins before we part ways for the evening.

While my family never quite expresses our gratitude for one another out loud, it can be felt in the room. It is as real and perceptible as the scent of turkey in the air.

I've been struggling to come up with a Thanksgiving dessert menu this year, but this recipe has easily made the short list of possible contenders. These bars are a twist on the traditional pumpkin pie. The crust is made from oatmeal and almonds, providing a strong contrast in texture to the smooth pumpkin filling. The filling is spiced with the classic spices of cinnamon and nutmeg, but I added a tablespoon of espresso powder which lends a subtle, but harmonizing flavor to the finished product. Topped with whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon, these bars are truly something special for the holiday season.

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Pumpkin Espresso Bread

I am beginning to feel like a bit of a hypocrite. After spending the majority of the summer in a heat induced stupor, I was ready for fall. I was ready to embrace wearing pants and drinking hot beverages, going outside without breaking into a sweat, and sleeping under the bed covers instead of on top of them. I often whined about the heat of summer to anyone who would listen until I couldn't find anyone to listen to my grievances anymore. I secretly wished for snow and cold winds as I sat in front of an industrial fan.

And now, on the first real day of fall weather, I must eat my words.

This morning was genuinely cold. In the middle of the night, I had pulled the covers up to the tip of my nose, trapping the heat under the blankets. When my alarm went off with a loud beep, I snaked a hand out to turn it off and immediately brought it back into the warmth of the blankets. The shock of chilled air was unexpected. I groaned audibly, wanting to stay beneath the covers forever, dreading the moment when I would have to leave the sanctuary of my bed. After a few minutes of indulging myself, I finally pulled off the covers and crawled out of bed.

Breakfast has an uncanny ability to lure me out from the land of dreams.

Even though my body may not be ready for the shock of crisp air, my taste buds are more than ready for autumn to arrive. I'm looking forward to roasting freshly picked apples in the oven with a little brown sugar. I'm looking forward to devouring warm rice pudding, sprinkled with a little cinnamon and nutmeg. Most of all, I'm looking forward to eating anything and everything with pumpkin (so much, in fact, that I jumped the gun and started stocking my cupboards with cans of pumpkin early this year).

After making most of this Pumpkin Espresso Bread disappear in less than a day, I feel like beginning autumn baking early was an excellent decision.

Pumpkin Espresso Bread is the quintessential loaf of autumn. With the flavors of my favorite coffee house drink in mind, I infused espresso into pumpkin bread batter and topped the loaf with a brown sugar espresso crumble before baking. In the oven, half of the crumble soaks into the top of the bread while the other half stays sweet and crunchy on top. The pumpkin bread is incredibly moist, with a tender crumb, and strong flavors. I would be surprised if this lasted more than a day in your house.

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Mocha Granola

There is something indulgent and romantic about a hot cup of coffee. The steam swirling out of the mug creating a thin fog that hovers delicately above the liquid, only disrupted by the wafting air of a mug lifted to the lips for a hesitant, fleeting first sip. The smell of coffee is familiar, embracing the soul while sleep is rubbed away from tired eyes. The heat from the mug is a welcome touch on cold winter mornings when it feels too early to crawl out of bed before the sun.

It's an ancient drink, creating an invisible connection between people both near and far with a single, simple message.

The day is about to begin.

It was the smell of ground coffee beans that aroused my love for coffee. Long before I became a coffee drinker, I sat at the kitchen table with my grandparents during breakfast, listening to them talk over cups of coffee as the dawn light spread pastels across the sky. The coffee maker faintly dripped in the background, a simple sound in a quiet room, with a rush of steam as the last drop of water fell into the pot. There was something exquisitely romantic about the whole affair.

I wanted to capture all of these sensory moments, to keep them inside as a comforting moment for a day when the world felt bleak. I turned these moments into vignettes, of coffee and newspapers, of yawning faces and quiet moments, wanting to hold them in my mind simply because I found them beautiful.

It was a quiet morning when I made this mocha granola. I was tired, even after a long night's sleep. The sun seemed to agree as it hid behind the clouds, keeping the sky covered in a gray blanket. The warmth of the oven and the moody, shadowed lighting through my camera lens painted another Tuesday morning.

Perhaps unremarkable to another eye, it was peaceful for me. The scent of the coffee infused granola wafting through the apartment made it difficult to imagine a more tranquil morning.

Mocha Granola is indulgently moody, with an unmistakable aroma of espresso and dark chocolate. This is an adult granola, with a rich coffee flavor, almonds, and hint of chocolate for sweetness. While I enjoyed it mixed into Greek yogurt, it's not hard to imagine this granola being equally at home covered in milk or grabbed by the handful on the way out the door.

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