Adventures in Miniature Baking

I hate pumpkin. I think it tastes and smells SO GROSS. I've never had a bite of pumpkin pie in my life--because sometimes you just know that you won't like something, even without trying it. I don't like pumpkin bread either.

BUT.

This week I was on a mini-baking kick, and it's all autumnal outside, and I just couldn't help it. These were too cute. SO I had to make these mini pumpkin pies that I saw on Bakerella:

They worked! I didn't try them (because EW!) but Katy and Kyle said they were really good. I just love how adorable they look!

And with the leftover pumpkin, I made teeny little pumpkin gingerbread loaves:

I actually did try these, and LOVED it. They tasted so good. I put in a ton of spices to drown out the pumpkin and it totally worked. You can't taste any pumpkin! And they're so cute! I made one big loaf that tasted equally good, but it just isn't the same if it isn't mini.

BAKING SUCCESS. It's what I live for. Jk, Kyle is what I live for. (Oh fyi--when I write"Jk" I'm not abbreviating "just kidding"--in my mind I'm really saying "Jk". Don't know where that came from.)

Speaking of Kyle, yesterday he did something really nice. Katy and Kyle and I were jogging on the trail right by my house that goes along Hobble Creek. It's really pretty! We were exploring it so Katy and I went one way and Kyle went the other way. On our return, we were about to meet in the middle when there was a dog and its owner in the path. (Now, you probably know that I am totally scared of dogs--stemming from the almost pit bull attack when I was just a little girl. I can like dogs if I know them and they aren't evil and their owners are around, but meeting a strange big dog that's not on a leash? Terrifying.) Anyways, Kyle saw the dog and started sprinting towards it, so that it would run and bark at him instead of me and would be under control by the time I got there. Isn't that pretty sweet? I know that it's not that big of a deal, but it's just indicative of Kyle and how he looks out for me. It's little things like that that happen all the time and melt my heart a little bit every day. And being rescued? Gets me every time.