Scary Halloween Cupcakes

I know its been months since I updated this blog. I have been cooking in that time, but I seem to have lost to motivation to get to the computer, upload pics and write about what I cook. Hopefully sometime I can jump back on the blogging bandwagon.

I did take the time to upload some pics of the cupcakes I made for a Halloween party we are hosting tonight.

Some scary goblins that made using licorice pieces for the eyes, gummy fangs for mouths and candy corns for spiky heads.


And these are the mini eyeball cupcakes I made with gummy life savers, red and black jelly beans and some red frosting for veins.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Bars

We decided to bake this afternoon, to pass some time. Sam and I are often looking for things to keep us busy when Charlie naps in the afternoons. Today, I let him pick out a cookie to make from my trusty Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. This is what he picked and Ive made them before, so I knew they would be good. They get a nice crunchy crust.

1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter
2-3 apples, peeled, cored and chopped (about 10 ounces)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
a dash of ground cloves

Make the crust by mixing flour, oats, brown sugar and baking soda. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter until coarse crumbs form. Set aside 1/2 cup of the crumb mixture for later use. Press into the bottom of a 9x9 brownie pan. To make the filling, put the apples into a sauce pan with the water, lemon juice, cinnamon and cloves. Bring to a boil and cover and simmer for 8 minutes, or until the apples are tender. Remove from heat and pour over the prepared crust. Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture over the top. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Rich Hot Cocoa

I had such a sweet tooth tonight. After going through the pantry a million times and finding nothing that suited my fancy, I finally decided to make hot cocoa from scratch. So, I found this recipe at Allrecipes.com and boy oh boy is it GOOD. Sooo rich and creamy. I served this to my parents and Carl and Sam and everyone loved it. We only had big marshmallows to put in it, but it was so yummy. I will definitely be making this in the future. Its so quick and easy.



Rich Hot Cocoa (from Allrecipes.com)

• 1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 6 1/2 cups hot water
• Mini marshmallows (optional)

In large saucepan over medium heat, combine sweetened condensed milk, cocoa, vanilla and salt; mix well. Slowly stir in water. Heat through, stirring occasionally. Do not boil. Top with marshmallows, (optional). Store covered in refrigerator.

Dixie Pie

When I was in high school, I worked at a restaurant called Tippins and they sold really yummy pies. One of my favorites, was their Dixie Pie, which is just a pecan pie with mini chocolate chips. Its really rich and so yummy. I usually make this every Christmas and Thanksgiving, as my family and Carl's family loves me to bring this for dessert. I usually use more pecans and chocolate chips than the recipe calls for, so use a heaping cup of pecan halves, and a heaping 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Dixie Pie

3 beaten eggs 3/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup light corn syrup 1/4 cup melted butter 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 heaping cup of pecans (halves) 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips 1 unbaked pie crust

Combine the first 5 ingredients and mix well, pour into the pie crust and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Blueberry Pie

We went up to my Dad's in Prescott for Thanksgiving this year. It was a nice time. I brought blueberry pie! I found these cute little leaf cutters from Williams and Sonoma. They make it so easy to dress up the pie crusts. This recipe is from my trusty Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.

Blueberry Pie (Better Homes and Gardens)

Refrigerated pie crust for double crust pie
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel
1 Tbsp lemon juice
5 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Roll out dough for double crust pie. Line a 9 inch pie plate with half of the dough.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the 3/4 cup sugar, flour, lemon peel, and lemon juice. Add blueberries. Gently toss until coated. If using frozen blueberries, let mixture stand 15 to 30 minutes or till fruit is partially thawed, but still icy.

Transfer berry mixture into pastry lined pie plate. Trim pastry to edge of pie plate. Cut slits (or use cut outs or cookie cutters) in remaining pastry, place on filling and seal. Crimp edge as desired.

To prevent over browning, cover edge of the pie with foil. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes for fresh fruit, or 50 minutes for frozen. Remove foil. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes more, or until top is golden. Cool on a wire rack. Serves 8-10.

Dump Cake

I had a sweet tooth the other night so I threw together this easy pantry dessert. I got this recipe for Dump Cake from a blog I recently found, Fancy Toast.

Dump Cake

1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple
1 16 oz. can cherry pie filling
1 package yellow white cake mix
1 stick of butter, cut into thin slices (or just melt it if you’re really pressed for time)

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Dump crushed pineapple and juices into a 13 x 9 inch baking pan.
Dump cherries.
Dump cake mix.
Dump butter slices (or drizzle the melted butter over top of the cake mix).
Bake for 30-50 minutes, until the top of the cake is golden-brown.
Serve as is, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Other variations include:
Omit the pineapple juice, use 2 cans of cherry pie filling, and use chocolate cake mix instead of yellow. Mmmmmm....that sounds delicious!
Or, sprinkle some sweetened, shredded coconut before you add the butter. You can also sprinkle chopped pecans before you add the butter.
Or, use apple pie filling and a mix for spice cake.
The options are endless!

Ringing in the Fall: Autumn Cheesecake

This was the recipe of the day on Allrecipes.com a couple days ago and I kept checking back to it all day looking at the picture. I could almost smell it from the computer screen!

I have been itching to get into some fall cooking, even though its not really fall weather here yet. Its hard when I go to the grocery store and see pumpkins and all the other fall stuff. I caved on this one though and I am so glad I did. We took a trip to Walmart yesterday so I could pick up a spring form pan. I ended up with a set of 3 for $11.00! I think that's a steal! But I'm not sure what kind of quality these pans are, but they are Wilton and the cake did turn out FAB! This made my house smell like spicy and sweet fall. We all loved it! Carl is not a huge cheesecake fan, but he went back for seconds on this one. So did I. Charlie wanted seconds, he was standing at the counter screaming and trying to climb up the side of the cabinet to get more. We decided that I have to make this for Thanksgiving this year. This was definitely a 10!

The only modifications I made was that I sliced up my apples really thin and I tossed them in the sugar and cinnamon, then microwaved them for 2 minutes, to soften them a bit. I was worried that the cheesecake would cook up but the apples would be too firm. This worked great and the apples were the perfect soft consistency for this cheesecake.

Autumn Cheesecake (from allrecipes.com)

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups apples - peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and melted butter; press into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar. Mix at medium speed until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in vanilla; pour filling into the baked crust.

In a small bowl, stir together 1/3 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Toss the cinnamon-sugar with the apples to coat. Spoon apple mixture over cream cheese layer and sprinkle with 1/4 cup chopped pecans.

Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes. With a knife, loosen cake from rim of pan. Let cool, then remove the rim of pan. Chill cake before serving.

Peach Crisp

A couple days ago, my neighbor gave me a bunch of peaches that she had shipped in from Utah. I was so excited to have something to inspire me to try a new recipe. Ive been so busy lately, I just havent had time to try out new stuff that is blog worthy. We've been eating the usual standby's, and as good as they are, I get antsy to try new recipes when its been awhile. I found this recipe for Peach Crisp in my mom's America's Test Kitchen cookbook. I like the ingredients of a crisp more than a cobbler. Im not for such a huge floury crust. So I added some granola to the topping to crunch it up even more. This was so sweet and yummy. I thought it would be hard to core and peel the peaches, but it was a cinch. This definitely would mark my first "Fall" recipe. My house smelled beautiful today...all spicy and fruity, like Fall should smell! I am so happy the weather is cooling down and my kitchen wont be so hot...I cant wait to cook more fall stuff!

From The America's Test Kitchen Cookbook

Peach Crisp

Topping:
6 Tbsp Flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans
(I added 1/2 cup granola to this)

Filling:
3 lbs peaches (7-9)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (or to taste based on sweetness of peaches)
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp lemon zest (I omitted)
2 tsp corn starch

1. For the topping: Mix the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and granola together. Add the butter and toss to coat. Pinch the butter chunks and dry mixture between your fingertips until the mixture looks like crumbly wet sand. Add the nuts and toss to incorporate, Refrigerate the topping for at least 15 minutes before baking.

2. For the filling: Adjust an oven rack to the lower middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix the peaches, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and corn starch together and place in a 9 inch pie plate. Distribute the chilled topping evenly over the fruit.

3. Bake until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is deep golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before serving.

Vanilla Chai Ice Cream

I had some Tea Masala that Carl's sister, Audrey got for me on a recent trip she took to Nepal. I added it to a few cups of tea, but really havent used it as much as Id like since the weather is heating back up. I was kind of at a loss with what to do with it when I came across a recipe for Green Tea ice cream and I thought, Chai tea ice cream would be yummy too! I took a basic vanilla ice cream recipe, then I added some black tea and the Tea Masala, which is what Chai spices are made from. The ingredients in this spice blend are cinnamon, cardamom, dry ginger, black pepper, nutmeg, mace, cloves, black cardamom, star anise, and white pepper. Well, this turned out yummy! I love the taste, as it really is like a frozen vanilla chai latte. The texture was more like ice milk. I cut back on the half and half though and added more milk with the cream to lighten it up a bit. I may follow the original recipe for vanilla ice cream more exactly next time. Also, I can feel the spices in my mouth when I eat this, which doesnt really bother me at all, but next time I make this I will definitely strain it all through some cheesecloth to make it as smooth as it can be. Either way, I think this is a yummy and different treat!

Adapted from Allrecipes.

2 cups half-and-half cream
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup strong black tea
1 1/2 tsp Tea Masala spices

In a medium sauce pan, combine the half and half with the sugar, vanilla and Tea Masala spices. Cook on medium heat until bubbles form around edges, but do not boil. Be sure to stir it a lot so that all of the sugar dissolves. When hot enough, take off the stove and let steep for a few minutes. Add the milk and heavy cream to the half and half mixture whisking it together. Cover and put in the fridge for 3-4 hrs until very cold. When cold, freeze in an ice cream maker using manufactures directions.

Home Made Vanilla Honey Ice Cream

We decided to get out the trusty Cuisinart ice cream machine over the weekend. It's so easy to make ice cream or frozen treats. I also just bought a ice shaver so we can make snow cones. Here in the hot weather, we need all the cold stuff we can get our hands on. Anyways, I found this recipe for vanilla bean ice cream sweetened with honey and brown sugar on Allrecipes.com. The result is a rich, creamy ice cream that tastes like dulce de leche! It had the best caramel taste. After I made this ice cream, I had the worst time trying to get a decent picture of it. It was not cooperating with the scoop at all.

• 2 cups milk
• 1 (7 inch) vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 5 egg yolks
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup half and half

In a medium pan, heat the milk and vanilla bean to simmering. Do not boil. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, brown sugar, honey, and salt until light colored and frothy. While whisking constantly, slowly combine the hot milk with the egg mixture. Transfer the mixture back to the sauce pan. Cook and stir almost constantly over medium heat until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes.

Remove the vanilla bean from the mixture and reserve. Strain custard into a large bowl. Scrape seeds from the vanilla bean into the custard. (Vanilla bean pod may be used again to make vanilla sugar.) Stir the heavy cream and half and half into the custard. Cover the surface of the custard with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

When cold, freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

Big League Brownies

This afternoon, Sam and I were sitting around kind of bored while Charlie was taking his afternoon nap. Since Sam loves helping me in the kitchen, I decided we should bake something together. So I decided we would make these brownies that Id seen on the brownie box mix. Yes, I used a box mix. Its the easiest way when Im busy with my kids. We doctored these up though with a nice peanut buttery cheesecake filling. YUMMY. I wanted my filling to be more like cheesecake, so I subbed in some cream cheese for 1/2 of the butter. Also, I didnt realize it until after these babies were in the oven that this was a family size mix for a 9x13 pan. I poured it into a smaller pan, so we ended up with some THICK brownies. They were really yummy. And even with the cream cheese, the texture was still like peanut butter brownie. Please excuse Charlie's hand as he is reaching for the brownie. Its not always easy to photograph food and watch kids at the same time.

Big League Brownies

1 box Pillsbury Brownie Classics mix prepared and set aside

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup margarine or butter

1/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp flour

2 eggs

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare brownie mix and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine peanut butter and margarine. Beat until smooth. Add sugar and flour, beat until mixed. Add eggs, blend well.

Spread half of the brownie mix in bottom of a greased pan. Carefully spread peanut butter mixture over brownie mixture in pan. Spread remaining brownie mixture over peanut butter mixture. Bake for 30-33 minutes. Cool 1 hr before cutting.

PB&J Cookies

From Everyday with Rachael Ray April 2006
I just had to try this recipe since I love peanut butter cookies and PB & J sandwiches. What a great combo! These turned out sooo good. I followed the instructions exactly and they came out chewey, but crispy on the bottom. Perfect!

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temp

3/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

3 Tbsp plus 1 tsp strawberry jelly (I used raspberry because its what I had)

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp confectioners sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder and set aside. In the bowl of a mixer, blend 3/4 cup of the peanut butter with the butter on medium speed. Add the white sugar, then the brown sugar. Continue to mix until well blended. About 5 minutes. Beat in the egg until incorporated. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Using a Tablespoon, drop the dough 2 inches apart on 2 ungreased baking sheets. Using the back of your thumb, press a small indentation into each cookie. Spoon about 1/2 tsp jelly into each cookie. Bake until lightly golden, about 12 minutes. In a small bowl, beat together the remaining 1/4 cup peanut butter and the confectioners sugar. Whisk in the milk, alittle at a time, until the frosting reaches a good consistancy for piping. Using a ziploc baggie with the corner cut off, pipe the frosting onto each cookie.