It’s Fall…Pumpkin Dump Cake

I have been eyeing this recipe popping up all over the place in the past weeks or so.  Problem with me right now is that when I have the time to make something it seems that I never have all of the ingredients! 
Well today the clouds parted and all the stars aligned and I made it!!  And it’s good.  Really, really good!!!

Pumpkin Dump Cake (from Cookies & Cups)
Ingredients:

• 1 15 oz can Pumpkin Puree
• 1 10 oz can Evaporated Milk
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter melted
• 1 cup coarsely crushed graham crackers or pecans
• 1/2 cup toffee bits (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Spray a 9×13 baking pan lightly with cooking/baking spray
3. In a large bowl combine the pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs and pumpkin pie spice. Stir to combine.
4. Pour into your prepared pan.
5. Sprinkle your entire box of cake mix on top, followed by your nuts or graham crackers and toffee chips.
6. Pour your melted butter evenly on top.
7. Bake for 45-50 minutes until center is set and edges are lightly browned.

Pumpkin Seeds…that’s why we carve pumpkins right?

Another post for the #GreatHallowTweet!  This is the brain child of Renee from Flamingo Musings.  The widget on the side bar show everyone who is playing and makes it easy for you to “hop” from one participating blog to the next!  So from October 25th to the 31st, just click on any of these links and hop from blog to blog. Fun! Frolic! Mayhem! From ghoulish recipes to please monsters of all ages, to general insanity, make the rounds everyday to see what new surprises might be lurking around that dark corner. You know - the one with the broken streetlight and creepy shadows? BWAHAHAHAHA!

In out house on of the favorite things about Halloween is being able to carve the pumpkins.  Great scary faces, some silly, sometimes we even make them sad…but really our goal is the pumpkin seeds.  We LOVE the seeds.  Roasted up nice and crispy with a spicy and salty seasoning blend…

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Preheat oven to 425F

Ingredients:

1/2 stick of butter (melted)
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp white pepper
pinch cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp smoked paprika

Directions:

• Mix and stir in cleaned and dried pumpkin seeds and place on a baking sheet.
• Place in the oven and stir every 5-7 minutes or until brown and crisp.

Quick and Easy Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Have you noticed that pretty much the only things I do right now are things that are quick and easy?  Sad but true.  I am busy…

I went searching yesterday for a quick and easy recipe to make some pumpkin muffins.  I wanted something that used no appliances and I could whip out in a matter of minutes with minimal mess.  These were perfect and fit my criteria flawlessly!

See the crunchy cinnamon/sugar coating on top?  It absolutely made these muffins!!!

Pumpkin Muffins (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)
Adapted from the American club, in Kohler, Wisconsin via Gourmet Magazine

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups White Whole Wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15 ounce can)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice
3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

Makes 12 muffins

Put oven in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Put liners in muffin cups.

Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, and brown sugar in a large bowl until smooth.  In another bowl whish together the flour, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice.  Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and whisk until until just combined.  Be careful to not over mix .

Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.

Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake until puffed and golden brown and wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack five minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

Pumpkin Bread with Dried Cranberries

Not sure if all of you know this but we are out of town all this week. We did a marathon “Road Trip” and drove from Southwest Florida straight through to the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania. My Father-in-Law’s cancer has returned and he has been going through a rough time with the treatment and all so we decided that this Spring Break would be best spent hanging out with the family in PA.

Dakota making snow angels for us! LOL!

So far this has been a great trip. We have been able to lend a hand, a bit of moral support, and help feed the masses! Seems there is always an extra mouth for dinner. How fun is that?

Today I made chili for dinner but also wanted to make sure there was a snack ready for whoever walked in or came to eat dinner with us. There was a half used can of Pumpkin puree in the fridge so it was going to be pumpkin bread and based on all of the other ingredients I found this was the best recipe I could come up with. Turned out really good too, definitely a keeper! Loved the dried cranberries in this!

Pumpkin Bread with Dried Cranberries (adapted from About.com)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups AP flour
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups pumpkin pureé (15 oz can)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Preparation:

• Combine flour, spice, baking powder, and salt in bowl; stir to blend the dry ingredients well.
• Combine eggs, sugar, pumpkin, and oil in a mixing bowl, beating until smooth.
• Stir in flour mixture, then stir in cranberries. Spoon into a greased and floured 9x5x2-inch loaf pan.
• Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Maple Glazed Pork Steaks with Pumpkin Polenta

Maple Glazed Pork Steak with Pumpkin Polenta and a Side Dish of Roasted Root Vegetables! Crappy picture...I need my lights!!!

I know, I know. I am not following the herd right now. Everything is suppose to be about Thanksgiving!!! Trust me, we are all getting plenty of that and we still have to eat the other 364 days of the year. Do yourself a favor and bookmark this recipe for when you are sick of turkey or have finally run out of leftovers! For a really great site that has a ton of Thanksgiving recipes head over to see Jerry at Cooking...by the seat of my Pants!

Onto the recipe:

I saw this recipe on the Food Network site and it is from their Food Network Kitchens. When I told T. what I was making he was a bit hesitant to say the least. We don't really go in for the whole sweet tasting meat thing. But I convinced him that even that it was maple it didn't have to be really sweet. This dish had so many things going on in it that the maple was just an enhancing flavor.

Pork Chops (Food Network Kitchens)

Ingredients:

• 4 (5-ounce) boneless center-cut pork loin chops (I used bone in pork steaks)
  
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup chicken broth, low-sodium canned

Directions:

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Dry the pork chops well and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the oil to the pan and heat until shimmering. Lay the chops in the pan and cook until lightly browned on the first side, about 4 minutes. Turn the chops and cook until the second side is browned and the chops are cooked through, about 3 minutes more. Transfer the chops to a platter.

Pour off the excess oil from the pan. Add the vinegar, and return the pan to the heat and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits that cling to the pan. Stir in the mustard, maple syrup, and chicken broth, along with any juices from the pork chops. Cook over high heat until the mixture is syrupy, about 5 minutes. Season to taste.

Pumpkin Polenta (Food Network Kitchens)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 fresh sage leaves, chopped
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups 1 percent milk
• 2/3 cup quick-cooking polenta
• 1 1/2 cups canned pure pumpkin (or homemade roasted pumpkin puree)
  
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• Kosher salt and pepper

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the sage to the oil and cook until the sage is slightly crisped, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and set aside. Meanwhile, put the broth and milk in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Slowly whisk in the polenta, reduce the heat to low, and cook, whisking occasionally, until the polenta is thick and creamy, about 15 minutes. Pull the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the pumpkin, sage with the oil, cheese, salt, and pepper. Hold in a warm place.

Serve the pork chop or steak over the pumpkin polenta with some roasted root vegetables on the side. This was a great meal for a cold night! Not too sweet either just as I told T. it would be!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Paula Deen's Pumpkin Bars

Paula Deen's super moist Pumpkin Bar's with Cream Cheese Frosting!

On with my pumpkin recipes.

I've made them savory and I've made them sweet but by far this was the sweetest. Did you see Top Chef on Wednesday night when Padma used her napkin to spit out the super sweet lemon meringue martini? Well these aren't that sweet. Close, but no spitting was going on here. Just remember I warned you!

Before the recipe I wanted to do a couple of shout outs to some very kind people who have sent me a couple of things to try out...

Carr's cracker people contacted me a couple of weeks ago with some recipes that they thought I might be interested in (am and will show them later). They also asked me if they could send me some Carr's samples. Well seeing that they are my go to entertaining cracker I jumped at the chance to get some free. I thought maybe they would send me a box of crackers and that would be it. I was wrong...very wrong. The wonderful people at Carr's sent me an elegantly wrapped up basket with three boxes of crackers!!! Rosemary Crackers, Their classic Table Water Crackers w/ cracked black pepper and their Whole Wheat Crackers!!! Thanks Carr's

I was also contacted by the YouBar people. A few months back I was sent a couple of samples of their YouBars. Great idea but I am way too lazy to do it. You choose all of your ingredients in your bar and they send it to you labeled for you personally and all. Last week they contacted me and asked me if they could send me samples from their newest product line YouShake. Seeing as T. has a protein smoothie every morning I gladly accepted. So far he has only tried one but he did say that it was very, very good. It was a chocolate whey protein drink with banana. Sounded good to me. Thanks YouBar!!!

Pumpkin Bars (Food Network-Paula Deen)

Ingredients:

Bars:

• 4 eggs
  
• 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 15-ounce can pumpkin
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I changed this to 1 tsp cinnamon)
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves (I added)
  
• 1/4 tsp ginger (I added)
  
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg (I added)
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Icing:

• 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• I also added 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
  

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.

To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Pumpkin Pancakes!

I know, I know. It's a lot of pumpkin but it is pumpkin season and I can only do this at one time of the year. I took a huge pumpkin and roasted it and pureed it and that was my inspiration for these. I basically took my regular WW pancakes and added spice and pumpkin puree instead of all of the milk and oil!

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 Cups milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/8 Cup of Canola Oil
1 Cup pureed pumpkin (canned or homemade)

Directions:

• Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix all wet ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. Gently mix the wet ingredients into the dry. Be careful to not over mix stir just til moist.
• Using a 1/4 cup measure cook on a hot lightly oiled griddle or skillet.
  

These were delicious topped with warm maple syrup! I will be making these again, next time with some spiced whipped cream!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Pumpkin Sage Dinner Rolls

I have a lot of roasted pumpkin puree. Just stands to reason that I am going to be making a lot of pumpkin recipes. Somehow T. missed that memo...

I decided the other day to test some pumpkin rolls that I had seen in this months Family Fun magazine. They turned out incredibly well and would have even been better had I followed ALL of the directions. I usually have so many things that I am working on at one time that I mess up. I am going to make these for Thanksgiving as even with the mess up they were that good.

Be sure to follow ALL of the direction and make that last split in the dough. Mine only made it halfway through the division. I realized after about the third muffin cup that I had messed up but I couldn't fix it all. I ended up with 8 HUGE rolls when I should have had 12!!! Oh well. At least it's been tested...

See the error of my ways??? HUGE ROLLS!

Pumpkin Cloverleaf Rolls (Family Fun Magazine)

Ingredients:

3-3/4 cups flour, plus more for sprinkling
1 pkg or 2-1/4 tsp instant or bread machine yeast
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup canned or frozen and thawed pureed pumpkin or squash
1 lg egg
1/2 cup water
8 fresh sage leaves, slivered (or 1-1/3 teaspoon dried leaves)
1/2 cup butter

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, yeast, and salt, and set it aside.

2. Pour the milk into a microwave-safe bowl or 4-cup glass measuring cup and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Whisk in the honey, squash, egg, and water. (The liquid mixture should be less than 110°; anything hotter might kill the yeast.)

3. With a fork, blend the squash mixture into the flour mixture until you have a soft dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

4. Two hours before baking, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead 6 sage leaves into the dough. Melt the butter and set it aside in a small bowl. Divide the dough in half, then divide each half into 6 portions. Divide each portion into 3 pieces. With floured hands, roll each piece into a ball and dip it into the melted butter. Place 3 balls in a muffin cup. Continue until 12 muffin cups are filled. (very important step unless you want really HUGE rolls!)

5. Drizzle or brush each roll with 1/2 teaspoon of the leftover melted butter and then sprinkle them with the rest of the sage. Let the rolls rise in a warm spot (at least 70°) until they're double in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The 3 balls of dough will rise together to form a cloverleaf shape.

6. Heat the oven to 350°. Bake the rolls until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Makes 1 dozen.

These were really a delicious change from just the regular yeasty rolls that are normally on my table! I can't wait to serve these!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Happy Friday!

Some weeks definitely feel longer than others! This was one of them. Not sure why and it's not even in a bad way that it's felt long. Anyway, I made us some cookies!

Remember the Pumpkin Butter that I made? Turns out a little goes a long way. Even after everyone snacking on it and all there was still about a cup leftover and it looked like everyone had had their fill.

I Googled "recipes using pumpkin butter". I was amazed by all the options I had. I settled on cookies. Fast, easy and a guaranteed hit.

Pumpkin Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe adapted from Muirhead Recipes)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 to 3/4 cup pumpkin butter (homemade or store bought)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups oats, uncooked
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla, and Pumpkin Butter. Beat well. Combine flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Mix in flour mixture, oats, and raisins. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet and flatten dough if desired. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool several minutes on cookie sheet and move to wire rack. Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.

This was an excellent way to use up the leftover pumpkin butter and I think these are going with me to our 2nd monthly Friday Potluck Event...now to work on the pumpkin puree!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Pumpkin Butter and my ridiculous amount of pumpkin puree!

Pumpkin puree and all the ingredients for delicious Pumpkin Butter!

I hate to waste food.

On Saturday night T. went to the store. He came home with a huge pumpkin (one helluva an impulse buy I would say!) for $.99. His idea was that he could open the pumpkin and take the seeds and make some more roasted pumpkin seeds. What to do with the rest of the pumpkin? He wanted to throw it out! Guess what I did ALL day Monday? Roasted and pureed a great big pumpkin.

I had to do this in 3 batches as the pumpkin was soooo big! Here is what I did:

Cleaned out the guts and set them aside.
Cut the pumpkin into chunks and used a vegetable peeler to remove the skin.
Lined a sheet pan with foil and placed as many chunks of pumpkin I could fit.
Placed them in a 400 ° oven (thanks Dharm it works!)
Roasted them until they were fork tender.
Allowed them to cool and then in batches I pureed them in my food processor.
I then placed 3 cups of cooled pumpkin puree in quart Ziploc bags and plopped them in the freezer.

Today I decided to make pumpkin butter out of some of the puree. Turned out wonderful. The girls loved this on some fresh made bread for an afternoon snack!


Pumpkin Butter

Ingredients:

1½ cups (or one 15-oz can) of pumpkin puree
¼ cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp white sugar
¼ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground allspice
¼ cup water or apple juice

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients.
2. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
3. Reduce heat to low.
4. Let mixture simmer for approximately 30 minutes to an hour or until it thickens.
5. Stir frequently.

My house smelled incredible while this was cooking and the girls love it. I will definitely be making this again!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Happy Halloween!

It's a busy day in our house. trying to get 2 children dressed for school in costumes, having back up clothes, homework from the night before, and snacks for the Halloween Party! UGH!

So I leave you with this...


Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (anyone know how to do the degrees symbol?)

Ingredients:

1/2 stick of butter (melted)
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp white pepper
pinch cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp smoked paprika

Directions:

• Mix and stir in cleaned and dried pumpkin seeds and place on a baking sheet.
• Place in the oven and stir every 5-7 minutes or until brown and crisp.

Happy Halloween!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Pumpkin Pie Pudding

Pumpkin Pie Pudding!

I've made the cheesecake, the traditional pie, the bread, cookies and cupcakes. This, though, was something different. As soon as I saw I knew I had to have it. Susan of Food Blogga was the source.

Now she did all sorts of fancy stuff with it like added some incredible looking candied pecans and some freshly whipped cream. Did I bother with all of that...um, nope I ran out of time. But it was still so delicious. I will be making it again, and again, and again!


Pumpkin Pie Pudding with Candied Pecans and Freshly Whipped Cream (From Food Blogga)
Makes 4 small or 2 large servings

Pudding:
2 cups vanilla soy milk (or milk of your choice)
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch
a pinch of salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Candied Pecans:
1/4 cup unsalted pecan halves
1/8 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt

Combine sugar and cornstarch in a medium pot over medium heat. Add 1 cup of milk, whisking until the sugar and cornstarch are dissolved. Add the second cup of milk and salt, and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently. Lower the heat, cooking pudding for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove pudding from heat for 2-3 minutes. Lightly whisk one egg with vanilla extract; slowly add to the pudding, whisking constantly. (Removing it from the heat will prevent the egg from cooking). Stir in the pumpkin and pumpkin spice. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, or until thick, stirring several times. Remove from heat and place in serving dishes.

Before you make the candied pecans, lay a piece of tin foil coated with cooking spray on the counter. Also coat your utensil with cooking spray so the sugar won't stick to it. In a medium non-stick skillet over medium heat, add the pecan halves. Sprinkle sugar and salt evenly over them. As the sugar begins to melt and coat the pecans, quickly stir them until evenly coated and lightly toasted, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and slide nuts onto the tin foil, including any sugar drippings. (Avoid browning the nuts as the sugar will taste burnt.) Let cool and harden, then chop into small pieces.

Before you begin to make the whipped cream, consider these helpful tips: Start with a deep stainless steel bowl that has been chilled in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes. Chill the beaters of the electric mixer as well. Both will help to create more volume in the cream. Once ready beat ½ cup heavy whipping cream on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the whipped cream and beat until peaks re-form. Whipped cream can be covered with Saran Wrap and refrigerated for 1-2 hours.

Thanks for this delicious alternative to all of the other pumpkin recipes out there!!!

***I also wanted to let everyone know (brag about it...) that I was featured on a really cool site yesterday as a featured blogger on The Food Channel. Check it out!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Sugar High Friday #37 - The Beta Carotene Harvest

I have only been doing this blog for a short time and every day I seem to find something else that I would really like to add or do. Last week I stumble across a challenge called Sugar High Fridays. I have found that I really love participating in these challenges and they certainly are challenging me! If it weren't for these to challenge me and test what I can do I would probably have a pretty boring blog!



This month's Sugar High Friday was so much fun for me because I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it! You see, every month a different blog gets to host the challenge and this months challenge is hosted by an incredibly creative and funny blog called Definitely not Martha. The theme was The Beta Carotene Harvest. Now most of the things that I cook and bake my children don't like so they will taste them but not eat them. I think by now I have given away so much food to the teachers at my girl's school that they no longer bring lunch to school but count on me to feed them!!! All joking aside I knew what I would do for this one because my kids love pumpkin bread and muffins!



I made "Not your Granny's Pumpkin Muffins" - The kids and T. helped with the name!

I made them so that they were full of the rich fall spices. Even the smell to these was amazing. It lingered in my house way longer than I expected. I wish that I could make a candle that had the scent that these muffins had - and yep...the teachers loved it as well!




The recipe ended up being really long so it is in the link above or click here !

These would make a great addition to a buffet table for Thanksgiving or as a hostess gift for the host of the dinner!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
http://www.nofearentertaining.com/

Halloween Tomorrow - Pumpkin Bread

I had to make a choice today...one tat I didn't want to but I just ran out of time! I had said that I was going to make some apple snacks that I had seen but I have been going all day and that one was going to be a little time consuming. We have Karate and Ice Skating tonight so that kind of eliminates the evening hours. As it is I can't even figure out dinner!!! Rotisserie chicken from Costco will have to cover that tonight! I went ahead and made Pumpkin Bread. Still Halloweenish and seasonal but not quite as labor intensive as the apple snacks.

No Fear Entertaining Pumpkin Bread (this will make 2 loaves)

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups sugar (I used organic cane sugar)

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

2 cups canned pumpkin puree

1 cup milk

4 eggs

2/3 cup butter

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup raisins

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large mixing bowl combine 1/2 of the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, pumpkin, milk eggs and butter.

Mix with an electric mixer on low speed until blended. Turn mixer to high and mix for about 2 minutes. Add the remaining flour and mix well. Stir in pecans and raisins.

Pour batter into 2 greased loaf pans and bake in your preheated 350 degree oven for 60 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in a wire rack.

Remove bread from pans and allow to cool completely on the rack.

Cool completely before slicing and for best results wrap and store overnight before slicing.

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy

http://www.nofearentertaining.com/

Pumpkin Tortellini - Yummmm!

I made the pumpkin tortellini recipe last night. The recipe is in my post from yesterday. It was incredibly delicious. Just an amazing blend of flavors that I would never have attempted to put together myself!!! Pumpkin, goat cheese, figs, hazelnuts....The only thing that I did change was not adding the honey. I really don't like my food to be real sweet (dessert yes, but dinner no). So I omitted the honey and I thought it turned out wonderful!

I just found another little Halloween or autumn party idea. I got it off of the allrecipes.com website. Very simple but very cute! I might make it for my youngest daughter's Halloween Party!

INGREDIENTS
1 (16 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, mix together instant vanilla pudding mix, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. Fold in the thawed frozen whipped topping. Chill in the refrigerator until serving.

As Always....

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy

http://www.nofearentertaining.com/