Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie is about the easiest pie you can make. I always use my Betty Crocker recipe and it never fails to satisfy us. It's a simple recipe out of my first cookbook - Betty Crocker's Cooking Basics: Learning to Cook with Confidence. I received this cookbook from my parents upon moving into my first apartment and it has served me well. It would make a great gift for a high school graduate or a new bride.

Anyway, on to the recipe...

Pumpkin Pie
from Betty Crocker

1 frozen deep-dish pie shell
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 can (16oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 can (12oz) evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed milk)
whipped cream or Cool-Whip

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Set out frozen pie shell to thaw.

2. Beat eggs slightly in a large bowl with a wire whisk or hand beater. Beat in the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, pumpkin and milk.

3. To prevent spilling, place pastry-lined pie shell on a cookie before adding filling. Carefully pour the pumpkin filling into the pie plate. (There will be extra so don't let it overflow - I put the extra in a little ramekin to enjoy later.) Bake 15 minutes.

4. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake about 45 minutes longer or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Place on a wire cooling rack after baking. If after 4-6 hours the pie has not been served, cover and refrigerate.

5. Serve pie with whipped cream or Cool-Whip. Cover remaining pie up to three days.


Easy-peasy. Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

The other night I had a craving for some pumpkin and chocolate and instead of heading to Dairy Queen in this chilly fall weather I made these Pumpkin Swirl Brownies from Betty Crocker. I am a lover of all things pumpkin and this is a quick go-to recipe if you don't have time to make pumpkin pie or if you don't want to run out to DQ. :) Enjoy!

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies
from: Betty Crocker

Filling 

1 pkg (3oz) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

1 egg

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (I use fresh)

Brownies 

1 box Betty Crocker® Premium Brownies Ultimate

ingredients listed on box

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom only of 9-inch square pan with shortening or cooking spray. In small bowl, beat all filling ingredients with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Set aside.

2. Make brownie batter as directed on box, using 1/4 cup oil, 2 tablespoons water and the egg. Spread 3/4 of the batter in pan. Spoon filling by tablespoonfuls evenly over batter. Spoon remaining brownie batter over filling. Cut through batter several times with knife for marbled design. 

3. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted 1 inch from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool completely. Cut into 4 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.  

They don't make good leftovers so you'll have to eat them all in an evening - so invite some friends over to share. :)

Almond Puffs

This is a yummy Dutch recipe that my mom made when we were growing up. If only it wasn't almond extract and had actual almond paste. Yumm-O!

Almond Puffs

pastries
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1 cup flour
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp almond extract

frosting
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp butter
3/4 to 1 tbsp almond extract

Boil butter and water. Remove from heat and add flour. Beat until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat after each egg. Add almond extract. Drop by teaspoonful (no larger or they won't get done in the center) on a cookie sheet or greased mini muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool completely, then frost.

These freeze well and thaw quickly. Enjoy!!

Pudding Pops

We just made homemade pudding pops today. I remember eating them as a little girl. And boy, were they good! So creamy and delicious. So when I found this recipe I was excited to give them a try. The only hindrance was finding popcicle molds. I'd been looking for them for several months thinking that they would be more readily available in the spring/summer. But I just found them at TJ Max on Thursday evening. This morning we whipped up a batch and put them in the freezer. They were enjoyed this afternoon and were really yummy...not as good as the store-bought from the '80's but still, pretty good. I think next time I might try to do a swirl of chocolate and vanilla. Give 'em a try.

Pudding Pops
makes 6 popcicles

1 small package pudding mix
milk according to package
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk

Add milk to pudding mix according to the package instructions. Add sugar and evaporated milk to the pudding and mix well. Pour into 3 oz. paper cups or popcicle molds. Place in the freezer. When paper cups are partly frozen add popcicle sticks. Freeze until firm.

Dirt Cups

I love cooking with my boys and we had a lot of fun recreating dirt with this recipe. I know there are other recipes out there for "dirt" but I like the look of this layered dessert. And my boys liked that it was called dirt. I gave the job of crushing the Oreos to my oldest son and he had a great time. Get your kids cooking in your kitchen, you'll be surprised at how excited they are to eat something they helped make (yes, even vegetables). ;)


Dirt Cups

1 box instant pudding
20 Oreos
4 gummy worms

Put the Oreos in a zip-lock bag and crush with a wooden spoon or your hands. Mix the pudding and layer with the crushed Oreos, starting with the Oreos. Put a worm on top of each cup and enjoy!

Apple Crisp

This is the easiest recipe for Apple Crisp and I have been using it since I graduated from nursing school and moved into my first apartment. It was my "fancy" dessert when I had people over. And it's so good. Nothing really fancy about it, just yummy!

Apple Crisp
from Betty Crocker's Cooking Basics

4 medium tart cooking apples, such as Granny Smith
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats or old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup margarine or butter at room temperature
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg (I like mine fresh)

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of an 8x8-in pan.
2. Peel apples and cut apples into slices, removing the seeds. You will need about 4 cups of apples. Spread apples in the greased pan.
3. Mix brown sugar, flour, oats, margarine, cinnamon and nutmeg with a fork (I usually use my hands). The mixture will be crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the apples.
4. Bake 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and the apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm.

Enjoy!!

Brownie Bites and a Baby Shower

In February our Growth Group (couples small group Bible study) threw a baby shower for a dear friend in our group. She's the college pastor's wife so we put an announcement in the bulletin to invite the women of the church. We also sent out some invitations to special people that our guest of honor wanted to make sure were invited.

We had a lot of fun making these invitations. It's funny because at times we so focused on our task that there was silence...absolutely no talking. That's amazing considering there were three women sitting at the table together for about four hours. ;)


The shower was a lot of fun. I think the guest of honor was blessed by the 25 women that attended. Not only with their gifts, but with their friendships and their encouragement. We played a few games and ate desserts. I made Short Stop's Triple Chocolate Sour Cream Brownie Bites. They got rave reviews and they are so simple to make!! Enjoy the recipe!



Triple Chocolate Sour Cream Brownie Bites
recipe from Short Stop

One (9x13") box brownie mix, and ingredients listed on box
1 cup sour cream
1 cup chocolate chips
2 tablespoons flour
1 can chocolate frosting (I whipped my frosting first so it was a little bit lighter)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease mini muffin tins or line with mini-muffin liners.

Prepare brownie batter according to package directions. Stir in sour cream.

Pour chocolate chips and flour into a small bowl. Toss chocolate chips and flour. (This will keep the chocolate chips from falling to the bottom.) Add chocolate chips to brownie batter.

Fill mini-muffin tins 2/3 full with batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely.

Fill frosting bag or sandwich baggie with frosting. Pipe frosting in swirls onto brownies.


These are the best brownie bites and the chocolate chip tip is priceless!!