Pumpkin Spice Cake

1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix

1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

1 cup mashed cooked fresh pumpkin (I used store bought canned pumpkin)

1/2 cup oil (I used 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup applesauce)

1/2 cup water

3 eggs

1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice

HEAT oven to 350°F.

BEAT first 7 ingredients with mixer until well blended. Pour into 13×9-inch pan sprayed with cooking spray.

BAKE 32 to 35 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely.

SPREAD with Cream Cheese Frosting; Keep refrigerated.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

How to Cook Fresh Pumpkin

Cut a 4- to 5-lb. pumpkin in half with a large knife. Scoop out seeds and stringy fiber. Save seeds for roasting, if desired. Cut pumpkin into 1-1/2-inch cubes. Place pumpkin in large saucepan. Add water to 1-inch depth. Bring to boil; cover. Reduce heat and simmer 25 to 30 min. or until pumpkin is fork-tender. Drain well; cool just until pumpkin is easy to handle. Remove peel. Mash with potato masher for a chunky mixture. For a smoother consistency, process pumpkin in a food processor. Drain mashed pumpkin in sieve for about 20 min. to remove excess liquid. Store in refrigerator up to 5 days. Cooked pumpkin can also be frozen up to 6 months in resealable freezer-weight plastic bags.

Cooking Know-How

Mashed, cooked fresh pumpkin might have a higher moisture content than canned pumpkin purée. For best results, do not substitute canned pumpkin purée in recipes calling for homemade mashed cooked pumpkin. (I used canned pumkin and it worked just fine)

I got this recipe from http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/pumpkin-spice-cake-62402.aspx

January 21, 2012 0

Buttermilk Chocolate Cake

2 cups flour (I use whole wheat)

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup cocoa

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup applesauce

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup boiling water

1. Preheat oven to 300ºF (this is a slow bake chocolate cake recipe)

2. Grease and flour a 9 in x 13 inch baking dish

3. Place all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix at medium speed until all the ingredients are blended and smooth.

4. Pour into the greased and floured pan and bake for 1 hour, or until done.

5. Frost as desired with your favorite frosting.

Recipe for homemade buttercream frosting

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 cup butter softened, 1 tsp vanilla, 3 tbsp evaporated milk. Combine all ingredients and enjoy. I got this recipe from a blog friend https://holcombfamilyrecipes.wordpress.com I am not a big fan of chocolate but this cake is really good.

January 13, 2012 1

Oatmeal Muffins

Oatmeal Muffins

1 cup oatmeal
1 cup buttermilk (or sour milk)
1/3 cup applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup raisins

Mix all ingredients together. Stir in nuts and raisins last after everything else is mixed. Put into muffin tin and bake at 400º for 20 25 minutes

November 25, 2011 0

Our Big Surprise

Remember a while back I said we were working on a big surprise. Well, here they are. We have baby chicks!!!!! Aren’t they sooo cute? The girls and I are so excited. Hubby is a little more reserved but we know he’ll come around. Our friends, the Horns, gave us the red ones. The others came from Tractor Supply. We got them Saturday. They spent the weekend inside as it was extremely cold here. We moved them out to their coop yesterday. We pulled a quilt down over the roost and put a light inside so they stayed nice and warm. I will be posting more pictures all along to let you all know of their progress.

It is a little warmer here today. At least no snow or ice. Hopefully, we will be able to hang clothes outside to dry. Today is supposed to be our warmest day of the week. Colder with rain for the remainder. Oh well, this is the last week of March. In April, things start warming up more. We will be doing school as usual today, with breaks to go check on the chicks. The girls have already been out once this morning. They want them to be used to them and not be afraid.

I made a new recipe yesterday for pumpkin muffins. They turned out pretty good. The recipe I used is:

Original Recipe Yield 1 dozen muffins

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup golden raisins (optional)
1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups, or line the cups with paper muffin liners.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice; set aside. Combine the brown sugar, white sugar, oil, applesauce, pumpkin, buttermilk, and beaten eggs and mix until well blended. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the raisins and pecans, if desired.
Divide the batter evenly in the prepared muffin pan. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops spring back when lightly pressed, 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the muffin pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes before removing the muffins from the pan.

Footnotes

Cook’s Tip
If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, add 1 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice to 1/3 cup milk; let stand for 5 minutes before using in the recipe.

I got this recipe from www.allrecipes.com It is definitely worth making again (in my opinion). Enjoy your day and God bless.

March 29, 2011 3

White Christmas

Well, the snow did come yesterday-about 4″. So no family coming today. Hopefully, Dave, Jess and the boys will get to come about the middle of the week. I’m not sure when Chuck will come. The girls are excited today. There is enough snow to make snow cream, which is a favorite around here. There probably will be some sledding today too. The winds are supposed to start later today so we’ll just have to see how everything goes. The cows don’t seem to mind the snow at all.

I took these pictures from our dining room window. Later today, we will be going down to the barn to get milk. I will try to take more pictures then.

Hubby completely surprised me yesterday morning. We very seldom get each other gifts at Christmas but this year he got me this wonderful mixer. He even braved Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve to get it for me. Complete surprise! I got up yesterday morning, went to turn the coffee pot on and there it was. I squealed out loud and he just smiled that beautiful smile of his that always says “I love you”. He said with all the cooking and baking I do, he thought it would come in handy. Well, it certainly will. I made a batch of banana nut muffins in it this morning. I used a different recipe than I normally use and I think I like it much better. The recipe is:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I used whole wheat), 2/3 cup sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/3 cup applesauce, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. allspice, 2/3 cup mashed bananas, 1/3 cup chopped walnuts. Combine all ingredients. Pour into muffin tin. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 min. I used my large muffin tin and got 6 muffins. Very good.

No church today because of the snow. I sure am glad we got to go Friday night to the candlelight service. Enjoy your day and God bless.

December 26, 2010 4

Garden Enjoyment

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.

July 7, 2010 1