Sick of pumpkin yet?...Never!

This picture pretty much sums my thoughts up exactly.

Pumpkin...what a wonderful gourd it is!  I once saw a girl with the name "Punkin" (not a typo), how very fortunate of a name. Cute. I'm sure she's going real far in life, too....with a name like that, how could you not?  I think by the end of November, I will be so sick of pumpkin that it will be time to smoothly transistion into Christmas goodies.....great for everyone's figures.  I read it somewhere if you eat chocolate fudge 25 out of the 31 days in December that you are guaranteed to lose 9 pounds. I also read somewhere not to believe everything you read. Also, I am known to make stats up. 65% of stats are made up. Anyways, one stat I know that is true is if you are to make this pumpkin roll, you will 100% enjoy it. Like how I did that? Smooth criminal.

Ingredients:
For the roll
1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup Pure Pumpkin


For the filling 
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese - at room temperature 
1 cup powdered sugar - sifted
6 tablespoons butter - softened
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
For the roll
-Preheat oven to 375°F.
-Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.
-Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture.
-Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.
-Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched.
-Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end.
-Cool on wire rack (About an hour and 15 minutes)

For the filling
-Beat cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth.
-Carefully unroll cake.
-Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake.
-Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if you wish!

**Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.**

Pumpkin Pound Cake with Maple Buttermilk Glaze.

I haven't blogged in a few weeks. Wah.  Halloween is in 2 days so I'll treat you all to a joke. Why did the ghost go to the bar?.....to get some BOOze. Thank you, thank you.  School has been keeping me busy with midterms and such as for the past couple weeks.  Tonight I have my cake decorating midterm. Wish me luck! I'm working on sending out my resume's for co-oping...that's always exciting. Wooooo.  I'm also working on figuring out my classes for next semester which is exciting to see everything come together....kinda.  I have no motivation to go out in this cold and windy weather so I will be sure to pack my hot tea and be on my way to class tonight. As far as this pound cake goes....delicious.  Made it yesterday afternoon while momma's chili was simmering away on the stove. Great combo. Try it sometime. .....I will also be doing my blog for my pumpkin roll in the very near future!

Ingredients: For the cake:
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin 
3/4 cup sugar 
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 
1/2 cup butter - softened 
4 large eggs 
1 teaspoon vanill
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
3/4 cup fat-free buttermilk

For the glaze: 
1/3 cup fat-free buttermilk 
1/4 cup sugar 
2 tablespoons butter 
2 teaspoons cornstarch 
1/8 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350°.

-Lightly coat a 10-inch tube pan with cooking spray; dust with 1 tablespoon flour.
-Spread pumpkin over 2 layers of paper towels; cover with 2 another layer of paper towels. -Let stand about 10 minutes. Scrape drained pumpkin into a bowl.

-Place 3/4 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 3 minutes or until well blended.
-Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
-Beat in pumpkin and vanilla.
-Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. -Add flour mixture and 3/4 cup buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

-Spoon batter into prepared pan.
-Bake at 350° for 55 minutes.
-Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack.
-Remove from pan, and cool completely on wire rack.

-To prepare glaze, combine 1/3 cup buttermilk and remaining ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil.
-Cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly; remove from heat. Drizzle cake with glaze.

Soft Pumpkin Cookies

First off, if anyone has a deep love for accounting, come on over and do my homework for me. Thanks.
This past week I had my midterm in my baking class.  We had to make soft roll dough by ourselves.  Chef was nowhere to be found while we all were in the kitchen making the bread....ironic.  My mind is so scatterbrained right now, so I don't really have anything of importance to say.  As opposed to me ever having anything important to say..... I've had 2 cups of hot tea already today trying to stay warm. It's not working.  However, these pumpkin cookies I baked yesterday go great with a warm cup of tea! Just sayin'.  
.........but really....this accounting book that is looking at me right now as I type this....it's all yours to the first person who says they love it.

Ingredients:
For the cookie-1 cup butter flavored shortening
1 cup unsalted butter - softened
2 cups sugar
2 cups canned pumpkin 2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour

For the cream cheese icing-
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese - softened
2 tablespoons butter - softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

Directions:
For the cookies:
-Cream shortening, butter, white sugar and pumpkin.
-Add eggs and mix well.
-Sift together the baking soda, ground cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, salt and flour. -Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
-Drop from spoon to cookie sheet.
**make sure the spoonful is a pretty big spoon full**
-Bake 13-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

For the icing:
-Mix the cream cheese with the butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, and milk in a bowl.
-Heat in a microwave for 15 seconds.
-Drizzle spoonfuls over the cooled cookies and smooth with the back of a spoon or a spatula.

Autumn Temptation: Apple & Creamcheese Cake

Apples upon apples in this house thanks to my sister, Sam, who went to the orchard last weekend.  As described by Grandma, yep, you guessed it, "DE-licious!".  I would just like to give you all an update about my dislike of haunted houses from last post.  So, last night (Friday), I was at Brother's in Newport, and there was a group of guys for a Bachelor party there from out of town, and they told me and my friend Frannie that they were going to USS Nightmare over the hill on the river. They asked about it, and I quickly told them NOT to go there and they would hate their lives if they did. So of course, they asked me where they should go then, so I pointed them to The Banks over in downtown....not the haunted house. They listened. .....but I'm also thinking their first problem was that they were going to a haunted house for a bachelor party. Oh, sounds wild..............

Ingredients:
Cream Cheese Filling
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese - softened 
1/4 cup butter - softened 
1/2 cup sugar 
1 large egg 
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cake Batter
3 cups all-purpose flour 
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar - packed
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 
3 large eggs - lightly beaten 
 3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup applesauce 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups peeled and finely chopped Gala apples

Praline Frosting
1/2 cup light brown sugar - packed
1/4 cup butter 
3 tablespoons milk 
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar
 
Directions:
Prepare Filling:
-Beat first 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended and smooth. -Add egg, flour, and vanilla; beat just until blended.

Prepare Batter:
-Preheat oven to 350º.
-Stir together 3 cups flour and next 7 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in eggs and next 3 ingredients, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.
-Stir in apples.
-Spoon two-thirds of apple mixture into a greased and floured 14-cup Bundt pan.
-Spoon Cream Cheese Filling over apple mixture, leaving a 1-inch border around edges of pan. Swirl filling through apple mixture using a paring knife.
-Spoon remaining apple mixture over Cream Cheese Filling.
-Bake at 350º for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
-Cool cake in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 2 hours)

Prepare Frosting:
-Bring 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, and 3 Tbsp. milk to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly; boil 1 minute, whisking constantly.
-Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
-Gradually whisk in powdered sugar until smooth; stir gently 3 to 5 minutes or until mixture begins to cool and thickens slightly.
-Pour immediately over cooled cake.

It's that time...Apple Pie.

So it's that time of the year again. Summer has come and gone, and I'm sitting here in long pants again.  Have you ever noticed everything is never as it seems?  Fall for instance.  We think fall is like the greatest time of our lives "hoodies, bonfires, pumpkin patches, haunted houses, and hayrides" when in fact, when you put on a hoodie, I'm willing to bet you don't think twice about it or dwell about how fantastic your day just got because you put on a hoodie. And bonfires, sure they're great, if done properly, but 9 times out of 10 it's windy and the smoke is blowing straight into your eyes, or the guy building the fire who thinks he knows how to do it and claims he was a boy scout, can't get the fire even to spark. And haunted houses?  No. Don't even go there with me.  Because they aren't even scary, and you stand in line longer than you're actually in the "haunted house". So needless to say, fall is only good for apple pies......apples straight from the orchard, mind you. And I would take my lovely summer weather, and summer tanning, over a rainy, 65 degree fall day. Enjoy this apple pie recipe......it's simple as pie! Oh wait..... 

 

Ingredients:
1 refrigerated pie crust (from 15-ounce package)
1 egg white, lightly beaten
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 cups thinly sliced peeled apples (about 4 medium)
1 teaspoon sugar

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 425°F.
-Prepare crust as directed on package.
-Place on foil-lined 12-inch pizza pan.
-Brush crust with about 1/2 of the beaten egg white.

-Mix 3/4 cup sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon in medium bowl. Toss with apples.
-Spoon into center of crust, spreading to within 2 inches of edges.
-Fold 2-inch edge of crust up over apples, pleating or folding crust as needed.
-Brush crust with remaining egg white; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar.

-Bake 20 minutes or until apples are tender.

Enjoy!

Lemon Lime Sugar Cookie Truffles! Yeehaw!

Talk about being late on this blog.  I made these back in Vietnam.  And when I say Vietnam, I really mean back in May.  My bff Frannie had the picture on her laptop, and I never got around to getting it off her laptop until the other day.  As I sit here on my last day of summer vacation, drinking on my strawberry & banana smoothie I just whipped up for my post work out snack, looking back on this summer, it was a helluva lot of fun. Helluva. I said it, Mom. Helluva!!  I can't even think of 1 thing that was bad about this summer, except that it is ending. I could literally cry myself a river right now thinking about it.  *Cue the music*  As for right now, I am a bit distracted with my dad and the dog running around in circles in the family room screaming.
Sarah- "Dad, can you be quiet? I'm blogging."
Dad- "Blogging? What does that mean?"
*sigh* Dads these days.

Ingredients:
-1 batch of sugar cookie dough (I used a store-bought mix...I know...so sacrilegious!)
-zest and juice of 1 large lemon
-zest and juice of 1 large lime
-1 1/2 blocks cream cheese (12 ounces) at room temperature
-1 package white chocolate candy coating
-colored sprinkles or coarse sugar, for garnish

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Prepare the cookie dough as directed on package or recipe
-Add in the zest and juice of the lemon and lime and mix well.
-Spread the cookie dough in a greased 9×9 baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until cookies are fully baked.
-Cool completely.

-When cookies are cooled, using your hands, remove from the dish and crumble into the bowl of a stand mixer or food processor (small chunks are fine).
-Add in the cream cheese and mix until the cookie crumbs and cream cheese are completely mixed together.
-Roll into 1-1 1/2 inch balls and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

-When the balls are thoroughly chilled, melt the white chocolate candy coating in the microwave, or over a double boiler.
-Carefully dip each ball into the white chocolate and turn to coat.
-Remove with a tooth pick and set on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.
-Top with sprinkles. 
-Repeat until all the balls are coated. Store in the refrigerator.

**These are a delicious summertime treat and if you use the appropriate amount of lemon and lime juice and zest, it is the perfect combo and not too overwhelming, like some lemon/lime recipes tend to turn out! Enjoy! :)

Meltaways....exactly that.

You know those Busken Bakery tea cookies with the dollop of colored icing on top? Yeah, well these are those.....but on steroids and better!  Yes, I just compared myself to Busken Bakery, and yes I said I was better. Trying to stay humble, but I am just too fabulous to do so.  Mind you, these were very simple to make and called for very few ingredients.  And like myself, you'll probably have to go to the store and buy a new jar of cornstarch because the recipe calls for 3/4 cup of cornstarch. WHAT?! Normally a recipe called for like 1 teaspoon. Shoot. Anyways, I'm keeping this short and sweet. Enjoy these bad boys!
                                              
Ingredients:
For the cookie: 

1 cup butter 

3/4 cup cornstarch

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon vanilla
 

For the frosting: 

3oz. cream cheese - softened 

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
For the cookie: 
-In a medium bowl, cream butter until fluffy.  
-Add cornstarch & sugar and blend well.  
-Beat in flour until thoroughly mixed.  
-Drop by small teaspoons onto baking sheet & flatten out with the bottom of a class. (Dip glass in powdered sugar to prevent sticking).  
-Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.  

For the frosting:
-Mix all ingredients together.  Color with food coloring if desired.