The chilly nights and mornings are here and with that, we’re noticing the climate change as it becomes Fall here. Fall is my favorite season; the leaves change and everything is just beautiful and I tend to get in the mood for fall a lot sooner than I should. I’m already thinking of pumpkins, pumpkin patches, and children trick or treating. It’s just a beautiful time and the weather is perfect. So while I’ve been ready for fall since August, it is finally time to really get in that spirit and it’s time to mix things up a little bit and get your taste buds in the mood too!

Here is a fabulous recipe for pumpkin butter; perhaps a recipe to save for after Halloween and you have all of those extra pumpkins laying around. Don’t throw them away, use them in your cooking!

You will need:

• 2 pounds peeled, seeded, and diced sugar pie pumpkin (substitute canned if needed)
• 1/4 cup turbinado sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• Pinch of salt

1. In a stainless steel pot, combine pumpkin, sugar, brown sugar, and salt; bring to a simmer. (If using fresh pumpkin, stir until it’s tender, about 20 to 30 minutes.)

2. Continue simmering until the mixture starts to thicken, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a blender; blend until smooth. Return mixture to pot and heat for 10 minutes on low until it reaches desired thickness. Remove, cool, and serve.

And that’s it! You can do a few things with this butter and probably a lot more if you start to think out of the box a little. Of course it can be used on top of breads and toast and also on top of bagels, muffins or even in muffins or in between layers of a vanilla cake; just cut the pastry in half, layer pumpkin butter on the bottom and put the top back on! Have fun!

In the land of calorie counting, watching your figure and the latest diet trends, indulging your sweet tooth can prove to be an impossible challenge. Luckily, there is a way for you to let yourself indulge a little bit and not have to worry about a thing.

You will need:

• 1 pint vanilla, peach, and/or mango ice cream
• 24 1-oz. disposable plastic shot glasses

1. Line 15x10x1-inch baking pan with waxed paper. With miniature ice cream scoop, scoop ice cream and place in prepared pan (you should have 24 small scoops). Cover loosely; freeze at least 2 hours. Prepare desired combinations below. Serve at once. Makes 8 servings (3 treats per serving)

• Peach: Peel, pit and coarsely chop 2 small peaches; toss with 1 tablespoon sugar. Divide mixture among 8 plastic shot glasses. Top with scoops of vanilla ice cream and toasted coconut chips*.

• Popcorn: Divide 1/2 cup popped popcorn among 8 plastic shot glasses. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons purchased caramel ice cream topping. Top with peach or mango ice cream and additional popcorn.

• Pear Ginger: Divide 3/4 cup coarsely crushed sugar cookies among 8 plastic shot glasses. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger. Top with vanilla ice cream and slivers of fresh pear.

You can make these mini treats with any combination you desire, whether it be a brownie, chocolate ice cream and chocolate fudge or vanilla ice cream, sugar cookies and caramel sauce. Let your imagination run wild.

These treats can be made for entertaining guests at a summer luncheon, a chance to make delicious treats that the kids can help with and enjoy, or any other event you have in mind. Enjoy!

Eating well is definitely a must and a big trend now among people is eating naturally. When you’re in the mood for something sweet, instead of breaking out the chocolate, it would be much better for you to indulge yourself with some fruit. Fruit is not only all natural and very good for you, but it has also been proven to making a person happier.

Here is a great recipe for all natural, Mango Banana soup.

You will need:

• 1 large ripe mango, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 cups orange juice
• ½ cup plain nonfat yogurt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup (optional)

Add all the ingredients to a blender or food processor, and puree. Test taste and add more sweetener if desired.

This is not only delicious, but during the winter months we tend to be attracted to the hot dishes and the filling stews and rolls. This will perk up your spirits as well as make you think it’s spring.

If there is one thing that I am absolutely crazy about, it’s coffee. This love of mine started at a very young age and has fueled two prior full-time jobs of mine in cafes as a barista and the greatest caffeine tolerance I’ve come to know. I love coffee in all of it’s precious forms, flavors, consistencies and blends and am always interested in new flavors and concoctions that can be made from the comfort of my own kitchen. When a friend of mine hooked me up with Senseo, I was ecstatic, to say the very least.

Senseo is a sub-company of Sara Lee and makes an excellent coffee pod system that literally transformed the way I have my coffee every day.

The Senseo system makes absolutely delicious (and delightfully strong) single serving amounts of coffee with their innovative system that is so easy to use that once I took it out of its box, I was using it within minutes. While brewing my first cup of coffee, I realized that the Senseo actually made foam each and every single time automatically, which makes the coffee that you are brewing at home stand out even more so than a regular cup of coffee you would purchase at any coffee shop.

The coffee that the Senseo produces is also quite different than your average cup of regular coffee. The Senseo cup seemed to go down a lot of smoother than normal coffee does, even my boyfriend, who usually can’t stand coffee and its gritty behavior going down, will drink it if it is made with this machine!

One of the best things about the Senseo that I was also surprised to find is that the entire thing is set up so that it is an absolute dream to clean. There are no small crevices that you simply can’t get your hands into to clean, the back of the system comes right off so you can fill it up with water and sits right back onto the machine with ease. Best of all, the system uses individual coffee pods that the water goes through so they have completely eliminated the horror of coffee grounds winding up in your mug and also the grounds that tend to go everywhere during the cleaning process. Within just a short amount of time using the Senseo, I gave my fully-functional, almost brand new typical coffee pot to a friend of mine because I hadn’t used it once since using this this machine.

There are a variety of different coffees and even teas that are made specifically for the Senseo coffee pod system, so each and every coffee and/or tea drinker out there will benefit from this machine. You can order the Senseo coffee pod system as well as coffee and tea pods at their official online store, Target, Walmart, or even Amazon.

Special Promotional Offer

There is a special promotional offer going on with the Senseo machine right now. At Share Senseo, they are giving people the chance to receive a free Senseo single serve coffee pod system just by filling out a questionnaire; the only sum of money you will be responsible for, for this machine that is regularly over $70, is the shipping and handling of just $15.

What are you waiting for? Share a Senseo today.

*This is a limited time offer and is open to US residents only. Promotion ends June 30, 2008 or while supplies last.