Soft Pretzels

My youngest, Ella, is a terribly picky eater.  Packing her school lunch is a challenge.  One day she loves hard boiled eggs, the next she doesn't eat it.  So, I usually pack her a lot of little things, and it's anyone's guess what she will choose to eat that day.   One things she will eat every single time though is a soft pretzel.  

I usually buy a humongo box of the frozen ones from Sam's Club and then just pop one into the microwave in the morning and wrap it in some foil.  Sunday evening I just had this wild idea to just try and make some homemade ones and they were really quite easy to make.  And, you probably have everything you need in your pantry already!

Ingredients
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water (about 110 degrees F)

4-5 cups all purpose flour*
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 cups hot water
1/2 cup baking soda

Toppings of your choice
Cinnamon Sugar
Kosher Salt
Butter

In a small bowl, mix the yeast, sugar and hot water.  Let sit till the yeast and sugar dissolve and has a creamy consistency.  About 5 to 10 minutes.

In a large bowl (I use my KitchenAid mixer) mix together the flour, sugar and salt.  Make a well in the center and pour in the yeast mixture and the oil.  Mix well until all the ingredients are incorporated.  I mix it for about 3 minutes in the KitchenAid - and no kneading it required!

Your dough should be nice and smooth.  If it is too sticky, add some flour.  If it's too dry and water a teaspoon at a time.  Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise till it doubles in size.  Approximately one hour.  (I have a proof function in my oven.  You can also just turn on your oven light and place the dough in there.  This serves as a nice warm, draft free place for your dough to rise.)

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.  (425 for a convection oven)
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, or spray the baking sheets with cooking spray.  Dissolve the baking soda in hot water.

Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces.  Roll the dough out into a thin rope and shape into a pretzel shape.  I did not need to use any flour when rolling these out.  If your dough is sticky you may need to flour your surface.  Dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution** and place on the cookie sheet.

Bake for about 8 minutes until browned.

When the come out of the oven I brush them with melted butter.  At this point you can sprinkle them with kosher salt or cinnamon sugar.  

My first batch of pretzels was completely consumed by breakfast the next morning.  I made a second batch and I just buttered them and didn't add salt or anything.  I figured we can add whatever topping we want when we heat the pretzels back up.


*Here in hot and humid Florida I use 4 1/2 cups of flour.  I start out with four and then add more in to get the consistency I want.

**Dipping the pretzels into the baking soda solution gives the pretzels the dark chewy exterior we like in a pretzel.  Apparently the baking soda causes some sort of scientificy chemical reaction once you pop them in the oven.

Best Waffles Ever!!

I purchased this on Black Friday.  It's not super heavy duty or anything, but it was one of those screaming deals that I just couldn't turn down:

I immediately made a batch of waffles just using some Krusteaz Mix which is my go to mix for pancakes.  Love how the pancakes turn out, but wasn't really happy with the waffles.  They were okay.....but just okay.  I wanted something a little better.  So then I tried the Bisquick mix.  Love it for making chicken pot pie.  Waffles.....not so much.  So I headed to the internet to find a recipe.


This is the recipe that resulted after experimenting with a couple of batches. This batter is much runnier than the box mix batter, but the waffles came out light, fluffy and crispy.

Waffle Batter Recipe
1 1/3 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs separated
1/2 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Mix together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  Add in melted butter, milk, vanilla and egg yokes and mix well.

  (Doesn't look very tasty yet!)

Place egg whites into mixer and beat until they start to get stiff (almost like you are making merengue) 

Gently fold in the egg white mixture into your batter, just until you can't see them anymore.

Cook according to the directions of your waffle maker.

This makes more batter than I need for our family of five, but I usually just cook all of it and then put the cooked waffles in the fridge or freezer.  Then I can just take them out and pop them in the toaster - they crisp right back.

Enjoy!

Slow Roasted St Louis Style Ribs

I like Ribs but I don't love them slathered in BBQ sauce like most people do.  I found this great recipe for a dry rub.  The great thing is, you can slow cook them in this rub and then finish them off on the grill.  Then if you are a sauce lover, you can slather it on and they still taste great.  And the best part......the meat just falls right off the bone!

Dry Rub for Ribs

1/2 cup sugar

1/8 cup salt

1 1/2 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon garlic powder

Mix all the dry ingredients together.  Trim excess fat of the ribs.  My favorite to use lately has been St Louis Style.  Generously pat the rub onto the ribs.  I usually use half of the above rub on two racks of ribs and just save the rest in a Ziplock bag.

If I happen to plan ahead, (Hey it does happen once in a while!) I'll put the rub on the ribs the night before and just leave them overnight in the fridge.  Or you can do it first thing in the morning if you don't plan on eating until later in the day.  I like to use those disposable foil pans.  I cut the ribs into sections of about 3-4 bones each and usually place about one rack in each pan.  (I will admit however, that I have made these without any "marinating" time.  Just put the rub on, and popped in the oven.  They were still delicious!)

About three hours before our planned dinner time, I place them into a 250 degree oven and just leave them in there for about two and a half hours till nice and tender.

Then I hand them off to the hubby and he pops them onto a nice hot grill.  Half of them get slathered in BBQ sauce.  Around here, it's just something out of a bottle, but you could whip up your favorite award winning recipe if you like.  Half of them stay plain jane!  They don't have to stay on the grill long, just long enough to get a nice crust!

Get out some napkins and enjoy!

Itty bitty Quiches

With the first day of school right around the corner, I was digging around looking for some quick options for breakfast for my picky little eater as well as some lunch options.

My little one loves quiche so I thought we would give this recipe a try.  Unlike a previous recipe that we tried that was disgusting that one came out quite yummy.  And it's fun for the kiddo's to help out with too.

I adapted this from a recipe I found on Eating Well

5 eggs
3 egg whites
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheese
8oz cubed ham and turkey
1/8 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Because I am lazy and don't like to scrub pots and pans I lined a regular muffin pan with paper liners and then sprayed them with pan.  I really don't want these quiches to stick!

In a large measuring cup, beat the eggs and milk together along with your seasonings.  I used 2% milk cause that's what was in my fridge.  You could even use egg beaters if that's what floats your boat.

In the lined muffin cups, evenly distribute the cheese and the ham and turkey.  I used some chopped fresh deli meat.  You can use anything you love in quiche here.  (Or that your picky eater kid will eat!)  Sausage, mushrooms, spinach, asparagus, bacon, green onions etc.  Use any kind of cheese that you like too.  I used a shredded cheese blend.    Next pour in your egg mixture.  I had enough for 11 mini quiches.

Pop them in the oven and bake for 25 mins until nice and golden brown.  Allow to cool in pan for about 5 minutes and then remove them to a wire rack.  Refrigerate any leftovers for up to 3 days.

If these are a big hit in your household, make a big batch of them and you can freeze them for up to a month.  Once fully cooled, wrap in plastic and place in freezer. To reheat, remove plastic, wrap in a paper towel and microwave on High for 30 to 60 seconds.

7up Biscuits

This biscuit recipe is my new favorite.  It's quick and easy and you probably already have everything in your fridge and pantry.  It makes really light and fluffy biscuits in mere minutes.

I would call this recipe semi-homemade cause it starts off with Bisquick.  I stumbled across this recipe on a blog called Plainchicken.com Such a cute name.  Her food looks yummy and her photography skills are much better than mine. 

So here's what you need:

Yep, that's all.  

2 cups of Bisquick mix 

1/2 cup of sour cream 

1/2 cup of 7Up.  

You will also need some butter for the bottom of your pan.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium size bowl, cut the sour cream into the Bisquick using a fork.  Add in the 7Up and mix until just combined.

I use a large cutting board for the next part.  Generously sprinkle your board (or counter top etc) with some Bisquick mix.  (If you barely had two cups of Bisquick mix, like I did, just use some flour)  The mixture will be pretty sticky.  I also dusted my hands with flour.  Pat the mixture flat (I don't recommend using a rolling pin) and cut biscuits.  I didn't even bust out a cutter here - I just used a glass cause it was handy.

Melt about 1/4 cup of butter in the bottom of the pan.

Recipe says to place in a 9 x 9 inch square pan, but I didn't have one handy, so I just placed my cut biscuits into a pie pan.

If you place the biscuits close together, they will stay nice and soft on the side.  I used a pastry brush and took a little butter out of the bottom and brushed the tops.

Bake for about 15 minutes and...........

Load them up with butter, honey, jam or whatever you like in your biscuit. 

Easy, quick and yummy!

Nutella Stuffed French Toast

My dad was here visiting from England for five weeks but had to return home today.  My four year old was a little sad when we got home from the airport and declared that we needed to have french toast for lunch.  Since the men folk are at scout camp this week, and it's just us girls now, I figured why not!  And since it's bathing suit season, lets see how we can make this a little more fattening shall we?  Since chocolate makes everything better - we added some Nutella.

I started out with my standard French Toast recipe:

3 eggs

1/2 cup heavy cream*

1/2 cup milk

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

In a bowl big enough to fit the bread you will be using, lightly beat the eggs, add in the milk, cream, salt, vanilla and cinnamon and whisk lightly until everything is just blended together.

Today, because we are making french toast on demand, we are using whatever happens to be in the breadbox, which is plain old white Wonder Bread.**   Take two slices of the bread of your choice and glue them together with some Nutella.  (Remind your four year old not to stick the knife back in the jar after you she licks it clean!)

Heat a skillet over medium high heat.  If you are like my husband or Paula Deen, or feel like this recipe does not already have enough calories for you, melt a teaspoon of butter in the bottom of the pan.  I personally just like to spray it with some non stick cooking spray.  Because the Wonder Bread is pretty thin, I pretty much just dipped each side of the Nutella sandwich in the egg/milk mixture and let the excess drip off.   If your bread is thicker, you can let it sit in the mixture for about 30 seconds.

You know the drill here right?  Fry it on each side until nice and toasty and golden brown.  If you'd like a little extra sweetness or maybe you are just trying to blow your calorie counting completely out of the water, dust it lightly with some powdered sugar.

Or, if you are a purist, (or maybe your stomach hurts a little like my nine year old today) you omit Nutella and go with Powdered Sugar and Syrup.  Whatever floats your boat - it all good!

*You can use a whole cup of milk, or a whole cup of half and half or any combination of milk and cream or half and half that you would like here.  I always have heavy cream in my fridge and I like the richness it adds.

**My favorite bread to use for French Toast is Wonder Bread Texas Toast. It's the perfect thickness while still being nice and soft.  Day old bread tends to work better because really fresh bread can get a little soggy.  You can make French Bread with any kind of bread that you love.  Try making it with Cinnamon Bread or Raisin Bread.  Yum!

Cherry Cake Pudding

When I logged on the The Pioneer Woman's website early one morning and saw a picture of this Cherry Cake Pudding, I immediately wanted to whip some up because licking my monitor wasn't working out so well for me.

This recipe is really easy to make, and of course you can see the wonderful step by step pictures on The Pioneer Woman's website.  I broke my cardinal rule and served a new recipe to guests, but she has never lead my wrong.  It was pretty delicious.  Ciara begged me to make another batch as soon as the last serving was gone.

I used a different brand of Cherries that I just love from Trader Joe's.  Maybe the syrup that came with these cherries was sweeter, but I thought the sauce was a little sweet.  I would definitely cut down on the sugar next time.  Oh, and I left out the nuts.  I love them personally, but since we had guests, I thought it best to leave them out.  I'm sure you could probably make this would whatever fruit happens to be your favorite.


Pioneer Woman's Cherry Cake Pudding

• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
• 1 whole Egg
• 1 cup All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• ⅛ teaspoons Salt
• ½ cups Whole Milk
• 1 can (15 Ounces) Cherries In Syrup (NOT Cherry Pie Filling) Drained, Juice Reserved
• ½ cups Pecans, Finely Chopped

• 1 cup Juice From Cherries (add Water To Make 1 Cup If Necessary)
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon All-purpose Flour
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• Unsweetened Freshly Whipped Cream

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously butter a square 9 x 9-inch baking dish.

Cream sugar and butter. Add egg and mix well. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt then add to mixing bowl alternatively with milk. Add cherries and chopped nuts and mix gently. Pour batter into buttered pan and smooth out the surface. Bake for 40 minutes, or until golden brown on the surface and no longer jiggly.

While cake is baking, make the sauce by combining cherry juice, sugar, and flour in a small saucepan. Boil for 8 to 10 minutes, or until thick. Turn off heat and stir in 1 tablespoon butter and vanilla extract.

Drizzle 1/3 of the sauce on the cake as soon as you remove it from the oven. Spread to distribute over the surface and wait ten minutes before serving so the sauce will seep into the top of the cake a bit.

Spoon out pieces of warm, sticky cake and top with unsweetened whipped cream.

Brine for Turkey or Chicken

1/2 gallon water (8 cups)

1/2 cup apple juice

1/2 cup salt

1 clove garlic chopped

1/2 cup brown sugar

1-2 bay leafs

3/4 tablespoons black pepper

orange peel from one orange

You will probably need to double this recipe for a turkey.

I have often heard TV chefs talking about brining turkeys and about how wonderful and juicy it makes the turkey.  Brining basically means soaking in a salt water solution.  I've never brined a turkey before.  My hubby is not a turkey lover, my kids only like the white meat, we rarely host thanksgiving or Christmas day, so I usually just cook a large turkey breast on the rare occasion that turkey is cooked in our house.

But on a trip to Trader Joe's we found some really nice fresh organic turkey breast and since I love Turkey I decided to get some.  I thought I would try brining it and used this recipe that I adapted from a recipe that The Pioneer Woman uses.  Since it was just a breast, I prepared mine mid morning and only left it in the fridge till evening when we cooked dinner - not overnight as you would if you cooked a large turkey.

Basically, I just took all the above ingredients, combined them in a large pot, and brought them to a boil.  (Make sure to give it a stir once in a while to dissolve the salt and sugar)  I allowed it to boil for a few minutes.  Turn off the heat and let it cool.  Once cooled I put the turkey breast into a large ziplock and poured in the brine and just let it sit in the fridge till I was ready to cook it.

When ready to cook, remove from the brine and rinse under cold water, pat dry and then prepare as your normally would.  When I served the finished dinner, the first words out of Chris's mouth were "Wow, this turkey is really juicy!"

I will definitely try this again, maybe even when roasting a chicken.

Quiche - It's the Stuff that starts Wars!

A friend of mine asked me if I had any ideas for what she could serve for a luncheon she is hosting.  She wanted to serve something that would show off her Mother In Law's gorgeous china set.  I thought a slice of Quiche would look pretty on the plate.  Plus it's pretty versatile, one's you get down an egg and cheese mixture that you like you can add in any variety of ingredients that you like such as veggies or seafood.  So, I told her my friend I would send her over my recipe.  Then I was craving quiche so I decided to make one.

Funny thing is, no one in my house usually eats it.  On occasion my oldest daughter does.  So I made the quiche for lunch.  Gave my friend and her husband a slice each and I ate one.  The next day my incredibly picky eater son noticed the leftovers in the fridge at breakfast time and asked if he could have some and declared it the most delicious breakfast ever!!  By the next morning there was only one slice left.  My son wanted it and so did my daughter.  We were already having one of "those" morning and now they were fighting over quiche of all things!!  There was screaming, yelling, name calling.  My son was even trying to outwit my daughter with detailed "logical" arguments of why he should get to eat the quiche.  She declared possession is 9/10th of the law and ate it.  Needless to say I ended up making another quiche that evening.    Next time I just need to remember to never leave just ONE slice in the fridge!

Basic Quiche Recipe

Pastry for 9" one Crust Pie

1 1/2 cups cheese grated

4 large eggs

1 3/4 cups heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Filling of your choice*

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

Make the pie crust of your choice, or if you are like me get one out the freezer and let it defrost.  I always buy the Pillsbury kind cause I can keep them in the freezer and they taste good and I love the convenience.  Place the pie crust in your pie plate and make the edges looks fancy or rustic or however you like it.

At this point I usually pop the pie plate into the fridge while I get the rest of the stuff together to keep my crust from getting too soft.  

Next, you'll need to grate some cheese.  The original recipe called for Swiss which is not a big favorite in my household, so I usually do two thirds cheddar and one third swiss or mozzarella.  Try to use cheeses that you wouldn't mind eating a slice of.  

In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs, add in the cream,  salt, pepper and dry mustard.  If you're the kind that like's Tabasco on your eggs and you want to spice it up a little you can add it a touch of cayenne pepper.  Give it a stir and make sure it's all mixed together.

Get that crust lined pie plate back out of the fridge and sprinkle it with the cheese and fillings of your choice.*

Pour the egg mixture over the top.  Make sure it's not filled completely to the top because it will puff up and if it's filled all the way to the top it will overflow and make a mess.

Bake for 15 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees than bake for another 30 minutes.  Knife inserted in center should come out clean.  (If your quiche starts getting too dark, cover it with a piece of foil)

Let the quiche stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.

*Bacon is a big hit in the quiche in our house.  About 8 slices cooked crisply and crumbled usually does it.    Turkey bacon works fine too.    I have put in broccoli and diced ham too which was yummy and I had a delicious quiche at a restaurant that had asparagus in it.

My favorite Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

My husband Chris was visiting a family from our church about two months ago and asked me if I had anything that he could take along as a treat.  I had a variety of cookie dough left over, one of which was Oatmeal Raisin and so I made a sampler platter.  (That sounds a lot better than "leftover platter doesn't it?")  Anyway, a couple of weeks later, one of the little boys from the family, specifically requested that next time Chris came over, could he please bring some more Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.  So just for Curtis here is my Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup  brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups oats, uncooked (not instant)
1 1/2 cups raisins

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray. 

Combine together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a mixer beat the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Increase speed to high and beat until nice and fluffy.

Mix  the flour mixture into the creamed mixture until the flour is no longer visible. (Don't over mix or your cookie will be tough!.) Stir in oats and raisins.   This is where your arm will get a little bit of a workout!

To get nice, even round shaped cookies, I like to use an ice cream scoop.  (Use a #40 size)  If you don't have a good size scoop you can make a ball with two tablespoons of dough, place on cookie sheet and flatten slightly.  Place cookies about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 11 to 13 minutes until golden, but still moist beneath cracks on top. Remove from oven; let cookies sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

 Since it's oats and fruit you can enjoy these completely guilt free!  Right?

Turkey Pot Pie Sandwich

I hardly ever watch daytime TV anymore, but I was in the living room vacuuming and one of the kids had left the TV on.  Rachel Ray was cooking something up so I stopped to take a peek.  She was making Turkey Burgers and it just so happened I had ground turkey in my fridge waiting to be turned into Turkey Burgers that very night!

But she put a little twist on the whole thing, and it looked soo yummy I thought we would give it a try.  The original recipe can be found here.

As usual I modified it according to the ingredients in my pantry and the picky eaters in my family.

Open Faced Turkey Pot Pie Sandwiches

2 lbs Jennie O ground turkey

2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard

Lawry's Seasoned Salt

Finely Chopped Parsley

Finely Minced Garlic

Ground Black Pepper

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 can chicken broth

1 can mixed vegetables, drained

Mix the first six ingredients together in a large bowl.   I didn't measure out my spices - I just eyeballed it.  I then separated the mixture into 8 patties.  (I cooked four and put four in the freezer for later)

Cook the patties in a large pan - mine took about 5 minutes on each side.   When the patties are done cooking, remove them from the pan and then add the butter to the same skillet.  Next add in the flour, whisk it together and cook it for about a minute.  (Just long enough to cook out the flour taste)  Next added in almost all of a small can of chicken broth and bring it to a boil.  Last, add in the canned veggies and cook until the veggies are heated through.

I'm sure this would be much tastier with fresh veggies or even frozen ones, but since I didn't have either, I had to go with the canned stuff.  We just used toasted hamburger buns instead of the English muffins.

This was a great recipe for our family because our picky kids were able to just take the parts they liked.  For instance Riley just had a plain turkey burger on a bun with some cheese and I didn't have to cook a separate meal for him.    And it only took about 20 minutes to get dinner on the table!

 

Extraordinary Buttermilk Biscuits

I've never had much luck making homemade biscuits so I usually just go with the canned kind.  The darn things are soo expensive though - and this particular night we were scraping the bottom of the pantry.  Also my friend Elizabeth had made some yummy ones and inspired me to try again.

I found this recipe on the back of the Gold Medal Flour bag.

2 1/2 cups Gold Medal Self Rising Flour*

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 cup butter or shortening

3/4 to 1 cup buttermilk, milk or whipping cream**

Heat oven to 450 degrees.  In medium bowl, stir together flour and sugar.  Using pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.  Stir in cream until dough leaves the side of the bowl.  (If dough is dry, stir in 1-2 tbsp additional cream)

On lightly floured surface, knead dough just until smooth.  Roll to 1/2 inch thickness.  Cut dough with floured 2 1/2 inch round cutter.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  For crusty sides place 1 inch apart, for soft sides place biscuits touching each other.  I opted for the soft sides.  I also brushed the top with melted butter which the recipe did not call for.

Bake 10-12 minutes until golden brown.  Makes about 12 soft and fluffy biscuits.  My kids gobbled them up with a little bit of real butter and some honey.  Yum - Yum!

Want a sweet biscuit?

Cinnamon Sugar Biscuits:  Increase sugar to 1/2 cup, add 1/2 tsp cinnamon to flour mixture.  After baking, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

*I actually didn't have enough flour in the bag for this recipe.  So I used some all purpose flour - for each cup of all-purpose flour, add 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

**I always have heavy cream in my fridge so this is what I used.  Plus I have an aversion to buttermilk.  I don't mind eating things with buttermilk in it, as long as I don't see it being poured in there.

Paula Deen's Pumpkin Pie

I'm always looking for a different take on Pumpkin Pie. Mainly because I don't like it - something about the texture.  I do love the smell of them cooking though!  Last year I made Libby's Pumpkin Rolls which are delicious but I didn't have a lot of time to dedicate to baking on this particular day.  I had a lot of cream cheese to use up so I really wanted to utilize that somehow.  Thanks to google, I found this recipe by Paula Deen.

Paula Deen's Pumpkin Pie

1  8oz package cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups canned pumpkin

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg plus 2 egg yolk slightly beaten

1 cup half and half *

1/4 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place dough into a 9 inch pie pan.**  Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the pie shell completely.  Fill the shell to the edges with pie weights or dried beans and place it in the oven.  Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color. ***

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer.  Add the pumpkin and beat until combined.  Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined.  Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half and half, and melted butter.  Beat until combined.  Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger if using, and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set.  Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature.

This pie was a big hit.  The texture ended up being a cross between a pie and a cheesecake.  Add some whipped cream on top and you have a delicious dessert!

* I didn't have any half and half but had some heavy whipping cream.  So I added 1/2 cup whipping cream and 1/2 cup milk.  

 ** I used a deep die pie plate.  If you are using regular pie plates/or shells you can probably make two pies from this recipe.  

*** I don't have any pie weights, so I pricked the pie crust with a fork, covered it tightly with the foil, baked for 10 mins, removed the foil and baked for another 10 mins.  It worked out fine.  Some reviews I read said you don't even need to bake the pie crust ahead of time.

Peach Cobbler

Every year Uncle Rick graciously hosts Thanksgiving.  Said Uncle Rick is my husband's aunts ex-husband.  (Follow along please people!)  No only does he invite my family of 5 but also includes my mother and stepfather.  So when he said he would like something peach for Thanksgiving dessert I was happy to oblige.

What to make though?  Obviously fresh peaches are not in season , and I sometimes find the store bought canned stuff to be too sweet,  so I decided on a Peach Cobbler.  I used some frozen peach slices and tried out this recipe from Paula Deen.

Paula Deen's Peach Cobbler

4 cups peeled, sliced peaches

2 cups sugar, divided

1/2 cup water

8 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups self rising flour

1 1/2 cups milk

Optional Ground Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat.

Put the butter in a 3 quart baking dish and place in the oven to melt.*

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour and milk slowly to prevent clumping.  Poor mixture over melted butter.  Do not stir.  Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup.  Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon if using.**  Batter will rise to the top during baking.  Bake for 30 to 45 minutes. (Took a full 45 minutes in my oven)

Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream - Yummy! 
(Note to self:  Can some peaches when they are in season next year!)

*I made this again a few days later with apple instead.  I sprayed the baking dish with Pam and reduced the butter in half.

**I also added some freshly ground nutmeg.

Bacon and Chicken Farfalle

One time when I was sick, my dear friend Lynzee brought us some delicious pasta for dinner.  Everyone gobbled it up!  I asked her for the recipe and being the good friend that she is, she emailed it right over.  It's one of our favorites now.

I did adapt it a litte from the original recipe.  Originally it called for the chicken to be cooked in a mesquite marinade.  My kids thought the chicken tasted a "little weird."  The other thing I did is double the amount of sauce, cause around here a certain someone likes his pasta super saucy!  Also just for fun for the kids, I use the Piccolini Farfalle, which is basically just a mini bowtie pasta.  You could really use any pasta you have in your pantry.

Chicken and Bacon Farfalle

1 Box Farfalle Pasta
1 pound cubed cooked chicken
1 package bacon

2 tablespoon's flour
4  tablespoon's butter
3 cloves garlic finely minced
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup parmesean cheese 
salt
pepper
nutmeg




Cook the bacon - We like it crispy and cut into bite size pieces.  You could even use cubed ham if you had leftovers you wanted to use.  Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box.  While pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce.

Over low heat, melt the butter.  Sprinkle in flour and stir continously with a whisk.  You want the butter and flour to make a smooth paste.  Add in the garlic and then the heavy cream.  Bring to a boil and then lower the heat.  Add in the parmesean and stir until melted.  Add salt and pepper to taste and a dash of nutmeg.  Simmer for a few minutes.

At this point, I have to make a plate for my little one.  She likes chicken, bacon and pasta but doesn't like them all mixed up together.  

Drain the pasta, add in the cooked chicken and the bacon and pour in the sauce.  Mix it all up,  add a side of garlic bread and dinner is served!

This makes quite a lot of pasta.  Four of us all had generous portions, followed by seconds for the hubby and son.  There is probably still enough for two people to have lunch tomorrow.

Quick and Easy Spanish Rice

Dinner tonight was tacos.  My kids love tacos cause you pretty much get to build your own plate, definitely a bonus when you have three kids that like completely different things to eat!

I often make rice as a side for tacos or fajitas, and I have to admit I usually just make the boxed kind.  But I didn't have any on hand today and little time to go to the store so I decided to just make some.  It was so quick and easy, and I had all the ingredients right in my pantry so I think I will ditch the boxed stuff from now on.

(Could you just imagine Gordon Ramsey telling me to wipe the sides of that bowl?)

Quick and Easy Spanish Rice

2 tablespoons Oil

3 cloves Minced Garlic

1 1/2 cups White Rice

2 1/2 cups Chicken Broth

8oz can Tomato Sauce

1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder

1/2 teaspoon Chili Powder

1/2 teaspoon Cumin

In a large skillet, lighty saute the garlic.  (If you want to use diced onion instead of onion powder, throw in about 1/4 of one here)  Add in the rice and saute until light golden brown.  (About 5 minutes)  Remove from the heat and add in the tomato sauce and the chicken broth as well as your spices.  (If I was making this just for adults I would have thrown in some cayenne pepper)  Bring to a boil then cover and reduce to a simmer and cook for about 20 mins.   Top with some Chopped Parsley, Cilantro or some Shredded Cheese.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

I was cleaning out pumpkins in preparation of carving and my daughter asked me if we were going to keep the seeds.  I first I wasn't going to bother but one of the pumpkins had seeds that were practically sitting on top of the rest of that pumpkin goo so my daughter started collecting them.

Ciara loves doing anything in the kitchen so we washed the seeds and dried them.  We put a small amount of olive oil on a cookie sheet and then spread out the seeds on it.  Sprinkled them with some fresh ground sea salt and put them into the oven.  We baked them for 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven until they were crisp and golden.  (Give them a little stir about halfway through.)

A healthy little snack among all those sugary Halloween sweets!

Fall Traditions, Apple Picking and Apple Pie Filling!

Every single year we have lived here, without fail, rain or shine we head out to Grafton to go pick apples and pumpkins at Eckerts.  We love the atmosphere of this farm.  We love taking a hayride into the apple orchards and out to the pumpkin patch.  The kids can pick out any pumpkin they want as long as they can carry it.  They love the fresh apple cider and of course funnel cake and kettle corn.  Yum!

Our youngest was a little cold when we got there and she didn't seem very enthusiastic.  As soon as we got out to the apple orchard and she realized she could pick apples (which she loves to eat) straight off the tree, she got super excited.

So we ended up with a bunch of apples.  More than we could possibly eat.

So I decided to make a batch of Apple Pie Filling and can it.

I washed, peeled and sliced all the apples.  If you are making a huge batch of this, a peeler and/or corer would probably come in handy, but being part irish and pretty handy with a paring knife I did mine by hand.  I like my apple to have a little bite to it and not be mushy so I cut mine in fairly large slices.  I also mixed up the two different varieties of apples we had.  I really like the end result of tart and sweet mixed together.

If you have never canned before take a visit to the USDA's site.  Some recipes may contain outdated or inaccurate information so check them against the guidelines provided on the site.

I used the following recipe:

9 cups water

1 cup cornstarch

4 1/2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

Peel, core and slice your apples.  I'm not sure how many pounds of apples I had.  I put the apples into a bowl of water with about a tablespoon of lemon in to keep them from going brown.

In a large pot mix together the water, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and bring to a boil.  In a separate bowl mix together the cornstarch and 1 cup of water.  Slowly add to the syrup mixture while stirring.  

Tightly pack your hot sterilized jars with the apple slices.  Pour the syrup over the apples.  You may want to use a flat utensil to scrape around the jar to get the syrup flowing and eliminate air bubbles.  Leave an inch of headspace at the top of the jar.  Seal your jars and process in a hot water bath for 20 mins.

 I was able to can 12 - 1 pint jars full of pie filling.  (I did have some syrup left over)  I think quarts would have been more practicle for my family of five but I only had pint jars on hand.

Hmm, Is it time to make pie yet?

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

It was time for our annual Fall Festival at church where they serve baked potatoes and chili and I needed a sided to go with that.  I always try to fix something that my kids like cause they are picky eaters and that way I can guarantee that there is at least one thing they can eat.  I thought Mac and Cheese would be a good accompaniment but didn't want to take the boxed kind.  So I went online to find some recipes.  I love to read comments, but the problem is there are always mixed reveiws.  So I then decided to take key components from a different bunch of recipes and try that.  I would have to say that the end product resembles Paula Deen's recipe a lot.

4 cups cooked elbow macaroni  (2 cups uncooked)

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

4 oz velveeta cheese (melted)

1/2 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 cup milk (I used 2%)

1/2  tsp ground mustard

4 tablespoons butter cubed

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Cook macaroni according to box instructions.  (Do not overcook)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish.  In a large bowl mix together milk, sour cream, beaten eggs, butter, mustard, salt and pepper.  When macaroni is cooked, drain, return to pan and stir in shredded cheese right away. (You can save a little of the cheese to put on the top.)   Stir in the melted Velveeta cheese.  (I cubed the velveeta and then melted it in the microwave for about 1 minute)  Add a small amount of the hot macaroni mixture to the milk and egg mixture.  Stir and then add a little more.  Stir again and then add in all the rest.  (Not sure if this is necessary but I did it to temper the eggs mixture so it wouldn't break.)  Pour the mixture into the greased pan and bake for about 30 minutes.

My kids loved this.  I do not like that famous mac and cheese that comes in a box but I really like this.  That being said, this is nothing like that famous boxed mac and cheese.  This is a southern style baked Macaroni and Cheese that is creamy but resembles more the consistency of a quiche.  (Hmmm quiche, I love quiche!)

You could try this recipe with your favorite cheese or combo of cheeses.  You could even add in bacon, cubed ham or chopped broccoli to make it more of a meal instead of a side.