Kitty Deschanel | Food, Wine, and Travel Adventures Across the USA

(A recipe for lazy people.) Have you noticed every blog has posted a Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte copycat recipe lately? This one is different. I promise! It's so good that I've been making a regular one with my breakfast each day and another decaf pumpkin latte every evening. At work, I shared the recipe with two patients last week! When those pumpkin latte recipes started popping up, I couldn't wait to try them. They all had the same problem though - too much time and effort. Ummm, I want a pumpkin spice latte recipe that I can actually pull off before work in the morning, when my brain is still mostly asleep. Have you seen what some of these other recipe creators expect you to do? Boil down 3 cups of sugar until you have a simple (yeah right) syrup, shave fresh cinnamon from the stick you got from the farmer's market this morning, and have a unicorn spit into the mixture. Who has time for all that? Easy Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (for LAZY people!)...

I looove hot apple cider! It's so easy to make, it makes your house smell amazing, and it seems fancy if you serve it to company, especially in a charming mug with a cinnamon stick. This is wonderful to drink in cold weather, which makes it perfect in our house, which I keep at a brisk 60 degrees during the winter. (Sexy Nerd adores  60 degrees - our agreement used to be 50!) I make this every time Sexy Nerd puts up our Christmas lights. He's starting early this year. It seems a bit unfair to Thanksgiving, but here we are. Our $5 Crock Pot is working hard! The Best Slow Cooker Hot Apple Cider Recipe (approximately 8 servings) Make a simple syrup by bringing 1/8 C water and a 1/4 C sugar to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and add 1/8 tsp each of allspice, cinnamon, and ginger . Whisk well and let simmer for 5 minutes before removing from heat. In a separate pan, bring the following to a boil: 2 C water , 1 can frozen apple juice , 1 cinnamon stick , 9 allspi...

A beloved annual tradition of ours is an autumn drive from Albuquerque, past golden leaves and through winding hillsides, to Breckenridge, Colorado to view the stunning dream homes on display during the Summit County Parade of Homes.  This year, there were so many great ideas for when we build our dream home (this spring, I hope!) that they couldn't possibly all fit into just 1 post. Be sure to check out the second post,  10 Decorating Ideas for your Modern Mountain Home . Bonus tip? Build your home on a lake! Can you imagine seeing this from your kitchen window? *swoon* Tip 1: For a grand, stately first impression, two front doors are better than one. Tip 2: If you can see the ceiling of your covered patio from inside, continue it in the same style for a seamless indoor-outdoor vibe. Tip 3: Sliding barn doors are in. Waaay in. Almost every house had at least one. Some were small... ...and some were huge. I really had to muster my strength to...

It's a beautiful day for a Del Taco gift card giveaway! What can you get at Del Taco? Oh, I don't know. Maybe a taco. Maybe a burrito or a breakfast sandwich. Or, just maybe, the yummiest (and actually somewhat healthy, if you can believe it!) fast food item ever, the new Del Taco Fresca Bowl. There are 3 Del Taco Fresca Bowl varieties to choose from: Southwest Chicken & Veggie, Pollo Asado, and Fire Roasted Veggie. Each is only $4 and there are coupons available to make them an even better value. There's a free drink coupon available through the Del Taco email club, an online instant win game , which is pretty much impossible to lose, and the Del Taco Facebook page. I even received another coupon for $1 off my next purchase with my receipt. But before I continue any further, take a look at this:   Bah! At my most recent Del Taco visit, it was about 1pm on a weekday and I was on my lunch break from work. The perfect time to be out in public IN YOUR PAJAMA ...

I'm here! I'm here! Apparently though, I'm jinxed. On Friday, I was going to post to LambAround at work during my lunch break. Our internet went down. No biggie, I thought. We were driving to Colorado in a few hours and I would just post when I arrived at my in-laws house in Buena Vista. Their internet was down too! Forever the optimist, I shrugged and said I would post when we got back home on Monday afternoon. Things were looking up. We spent the morning hiking Black Canyon of the Gunnison with perfect, gorgeous weather. Then, this happened: What part of IT'S FREAKING SEPTEMBER!!! don't you understand, Colorado? Our poor Chevy Volt was a trooper, but it just couldn't make it over the snow-packed mountains between Ouray and Durango. If your car slides off the icy road, it's usually an annoyance. If it slides off the road of that particular mountain pass, you plummet to a terrifying death! We turned around. 400+ miles out of our way and a day late...

Do you remember the raunchy 90s computer game, Leisure Suit Larry? He's real! I met him just the other day. Even though it's the year 2014, Larry hasn't changed a bit. He came into our pediatric dental office and he never took off his yellow (YELLOW!) aviator sunglasses, even though we were indoors, and he was constantly talking on one of those little headset thingies, even when he was talking to me, and he made sure everyone in our waiting room could hear his conversation. Apparently, he's a major player with lots of wheeling and dealing going on. There was no need to speak so loudly though. With his gold watch, polyester suit, gelled hair, and cologne that filled the room, there was no chance of possibly missing him. No one else at my office had ever heard of the Leisure Suit Larry game. It killed me!