•  1 stick butter melted
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-2/3 cups flour (I use 2/3 cup whole wheat and 1 cup all purpose)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour.
3. Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet. Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completelely
4. Spread the flat side of 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.

I got this recipe from http://www.rachaelraymag.com/Recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-search/dessert-recipes/pumpkin-whoopie-pies

When cycle is finished, turn dough out on floured surface.  Knead slightly, just enough to punch down dough.  Choose now what you want to make with your dough.  If making dinner rolls or hamburger buns, shape small sections of dough into round shapes.  This will make about 15 rolls depending on how large or small you make them.  Place rolls on cookie sheet, spray tops with oil spray.  Let rise 1 hr.  Bake at 400 for 12 min. Remove from oven.   Brush tops generously with melted butter.  Enjoy!!

Here are a few pictures of some flowers that are blooming around our house now.  I am pretty sure these are called violas.  I so enjoy their tiny bright blooms.  So cheerful.  Purple and yellow are my favorite color combinations for flowers.

Yesterday, we made strawberry rhubarb jam.  I had enough rhubarb to make a rhubard pie as well.  The recipe I use is :

1 cup rhubard- finely chopped, 1/4 cup melted butter, 1 cup sugar, 2 tbsp cornstarch and 2 eggs well beaten.  Combine all ingredients and pour into 1 unbaked pie crust.  Bake at 350 degrees until done.  It takes about 45 min in my oven.  I have made this pie for about 25 years.  It is a family favorite.

Today was friends day at church.  We had a great day.  Probably about 70 people in total.  Our numbers usually run in the 40′s.  We had some really good music, a good sermon from our pastor and  a great fellowship meal afterward because you all know how much we like to eat.  I took pinto beans, green onions and a peach sauce pie.   We won’t be having evening bible study tonight so we plan on just relaxing this evening.  The girls and I will be traveling down to Jessica’s tomorrow to watch the boys.  She will be having an ultra sound tomorrow to (maybe) discover if she will be having a boy or girl.  This all depends upon the baby’s cooperation of course.  

Enjoy your day and God bless.

This morning as Hubby and I were having our morning coffee together, we saw what we thought were tracks on the pond.  Then we thought maybe it was just where the wind had blown the snow in swirls.  Later in the day, Grace took these pictures.

They look like they are having fun!

Maybe this is a sign of early spring.  They do seem to be here kinda early this year.  Maybe it is just wishful thinking on my part.

Yesterday, for dessert I made an oatmeal pie.  This is one of my favorites, also Julie and Jess.  The recipe is:

2 eggs beaten, 2/3 cup sugar, 2/3 cup uncooked oatmeal, 1 tsp vanilla, 2/3 cup melted butter, 2/3 cup corn syrup, 1/4 tsp salt.  Mix all ingredients together and pour into uncooked pie crust.  Bake at 350 degrees for l hr. 

Okay, so my crust is not too pretty but I promise you it tasted delicious!  It tastes a lot like pecan pie.  Temperatures here are warm-mid 30′s.  We have some sun right now but a storm is supposed to be moving in.  One forecast said 4-5 in of snow.  We’ll see.  Right now though it is nice.  I have clothes on the line outside, hopefully, they will dry before the clouds come in.

Tonights menu is deer bbq, made from the roast yesterday, home fries and slaw.  We still have some pie left for dessert.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

I thought I would post a few pictures of things that are growing in our garden. 

Green beans starting to set on the vine.  I will soon be able to pick some of these and enjoy them.

Our hot peppers.  They will taste so good in our homemade salsa.

Sweet banana peppers.  YUM!  Hubby and I have had to start watering our garden.  It is so dry here.  Forecast is calling for a chance of rain over the weekend.  We really need it.  Seems like no matter how much you water, it never does the garden as much good as rain from God does.  I think I forgot to tell everyone what a nice weekend we had here-very cool temperatures.  Two mornings when we got up the temperature was 43 degrees- then up to the lower 50′s, upper 50′s and today mid 60′s.  Daytime temperatures over the weekend were great-low to mid 70′s.  Starting Monday though its been back up to HOT-not near as hot as some places but hot for us.  96 degrees yesterday when Hubby came through Christiansburg.  Upper 80′s here on the farm. 

Last nights supper was grilled chicken, green beans, pasta salad and rolls.  I fixed everything on the grill so as not to heat the house up any more than it already was.  We ate outside at the picnic table.  It was really nice.  A little breeze was blowing which helped a lot .  Yesterday I got a recipe from my friend Vicki-applesauce pie.  I made it and thought it was really good.  I wanted to share it with you all.

2 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 2 tbsp flour, 1 tsp.ground nutmeg, 1 stick melted butter, 1 cup applesauce, 1 tsp vanilla.  Combine sugar, flour, and nutmeg.(You can use cinnamon instead or a little of both).  Beat eggs, add eggs to dry ingredients.    Gently combine butter applesauce and vanilla until mixed.  Pour into pie shell.  Bake at 350 for 45 min or until golden brown.   (I would recommend if your applesauce is sweet to cut down some on the sugar, I didn’t but Hubby thought it was a little too sweet.  I thought it was just fine.)

Enjoy your day and God bless.

Yes, we are getting snow!  How about that?  Well, it is March.  I thought spring was here but I guess winter is still holding on.  The snow has been gone long enough though that seeing it coming down was pretty exciting.  I have come across a really easy homemade biscuit recipe.  I have struggled for years to make good homemade biscuits and have never gotten it quite right.  I think these are pretty good.  Not as good as my grandmothers were but good.  Perhaps that has been my problem.  Too high a standard.  Anyway here’s the recipe if anyone would like to try it.  2 1/4 cups self rising flour, 2/3 cup shortening or lard, 1 cup milk.  Combine flour and shortening with pastry blender or fork until no large clumps of shortening appear.  Add milk. (Your choice sweet or buttermilk).   Stir.  Turn out on floured surface.  Add enough flour to make stiff dough.  Pat out and cut biscuits.  Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  When done, brush tops with melted butter.  I like them because I don’t have to use a rolling pin and I can use self-rising flour.  I have made some biscuit recipes that just took forever to make.  These go very fast (both in making and in eating).

Here’s a picture of how they turned out.  I think they look pretty good!  I forgot to tell you the recipe will make about 9 biscuits this size.   2 are suspiciously missing from this picture.  Well, I think it’s time to eat.  Enjoy your day, take care and God bless.

A picture of the field.  I was hoping it would show how the sun was glistening off the snow.  It was absolutely beautiful.

Our road after the tractor had made a path.

Going up the hill beside the hay barn.  Yes, that brown spot proves there is still dirt under all this snow.

Guess what?  We’re supposed to get more snow tomorrow.  Not much though-about 3″.  After all this, we probably won’t even notice 3 more inches.  Anyway, we have company coming over today.  My brother-in-law and his wife are coming.  I made homemade vegetable beef soup(cooked on the wood stove, of course)and I’m making  rolls as I type this.  I use my bread machine to mix and knead the dough.  I love this machine.  It is a Zojirushi.    

I bought it used several years ago and consider it a very valuable helper.  I put 1 cup lukewarm water into the machine, 1/4 cup butter-cut into chunks, 1egg beaten, 3 1/4 cups bread flour, 4 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp powdered milk, 1tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp yeast.  Set the machine to dough cycle and walk away.  It takes the machine l hr 50 min. to run through this cycle.  Then I take the dough out, punch it down and form the rolls.  I get about 15 rolls from 1 batch.  Then I spray them with olive oil and let them rise for about 1 hr.  Bake 12 min. at 425 degrees.  When I take them out of the oven, I brush them with melted butter(being generous with the butter).  Half of these never make it to the table.  They get eaten as soon as the butter is spread on them.  One thing I do a little different from this recipe is I put 1 1/4 cup fresh ground wheat flour and 2 cups bread flour instead of using all bread flour.  My family doesn’t care a lot for whole wheat so I mix it.  I guess I better go check on my rolls and get ready for company.  God Bless.