Repeat....

Happy Friday to everyone!  The week-end is approaching.  Do you have some enjoyable activities planned?

Earlier, I mentioned that the recipe for the Pumpkin Cake had been posted on the blog.  To make it easier for you to have it - if you want it - I will post it again here.

PUMPKIN CAKE
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoon soda
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 cups pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon salt

- Mix oil, sugar, and eggs together well.  Then add remaining ingredients.  Bake in greased tube pan for 1 hour at 350 degrees F.

ICING
1 (3-oz.) package cream cheese
1/2 stick butter
- Cream together, then add:
1/2 box confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
-Spread on cake; decorate with pecan halves (1/2 c.), if desired.  Chopped pecans could also be sprinkled on the top of the cake, omitting the pecan halves, if you wish.

Everybody had a pecan half!

I usually store the cake in the refrigerator.  This recipe came from the newspaper of a town where we lived in 1972.

I believe this is actually my favorite season of the year!  Well, I find reasons for other seasons to be considered "favorites," too.:-)  Anytime we are able to have friends and family around and share food has to be a "favorite time.":-)  I have seen many blogs featuring some lovely seasonal decor.  The next post will show a bit of what we have here.

Thank you for reading.  I really appreciate your comments.

Eat your veggies....

First, I want to welcome the new follower!  Thank you for coming along!

Today, I want to share the Sweet Potato Casserole recipe from the adult day care menu.  It is actually a combination of recipes, and may not be the one that I have prepared in past years.  We prefer sweet potatoes just baked simply, whole or in wedges, with a little olive oil. 

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE
3 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes (I used canned to save time).
1/4 cup orange juice
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 can (8 1/4 oz.) crushed pineapple, drained
- Add orange juice and melted butter to sweet potatoes in mixing bowl; beat until well-blended.  Stir in pineapple.  Pour into oblong baking dish sprayed with olive oil. Add Topping (recipe below).  Bake in 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes, or until browned and bubbly.  Serves 6.
TOPPING
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped nuts
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
- Mix brown sugar, flour, and nuts together; add butter and blend.  Sprinkle over sweet potatoes in baking dish.  If you wish, you could add a little cinnamon to the Topping mixture.  I didn't but the flavor would be good with the sweet potatoes.

Reprise.

 

 

There were also Peas with Pearl Onions on the plate.  That was rather simple to prepare.  I used a bag of frozen pearl onions and sauteed them for a bit in about 2 Tablespoons of butter.  Then I added four bags of frozen peas and a little water, heating just until the peas were no longer frozen.  I delivered them still in the pan, so they were reheated on the stove top before they were served.  Oh, the peas don't have to be covered with water in the pan.  In fact, I prefer to add as little water as possible.

The recipe that I use for Cranberry Relish comes straight from Betty Crocker.

CRANBERRY-ORANGE RELISH
4 cups cranberries
1 navel orange
2 cups sugar
- Chop cranberries and orange in food chopper; stir in sugar; refrigerate three hours before serving.

So, now I'm REALLY in the mood for Thanksgiving!:-)  There will undoubtedly be some more cooking around here, plus the appearance of a turkey or two.:-)

Oh, I guess I need to review that cake recipe for some of you who have not been following very long.  That will come in the next post!

I send along wishes for a good day to each of you.

Thank you for reading.  I really appreciate your comments.

Still trying....

Good Wednesday morning to you! 

I am still trying to think of myself as a person with a camera.:-)  Although I had the camera with me on Tuesday when I was at church with the adult day care, it just didn't occur to me to take it out and take that picture of the plate as served!  Thankfully, there were leftovers, and I recreated the plate when I arrived home.

Ready to eat!

Today's recipe is TEENY'S HEN AND DRESSING.  The recipe comes from the December 2007 issue of the magazine Cottage Living

1 (3-pound) hen or whole fryer chicken
2 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper, divided
8 cups Cornbread (recipe follows), crumbled
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup finely diced celery
1 Tablespoons chopped fresh sage, or 1 to 2 Tablespoons dried sage
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped (I omitted these).
- Rinse hen under running water; remove giblets and place hen in a Dutch oven with enough water to cover.  Add 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 1 hour.  Remove hen from pot, and keep liquid warm.  Pull meat from bone once hen cools, and discard carcass.  Tear meat into small pieces (about 3 cups).
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Crumble Cornbread into a large bowl.  Add onion and celery, sage, remaining 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, and remaining 1 teaspoon pepper.  Bring reserved cooking liquid to a boil, and stir 4 cups into mixture, 1 cup at a time.  Dressing should be loose but not gummy.  Add more cooking liquid as needed.  Lightly stir in chicken and egg.
- Spoon dressing into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish, and bake at 350 degrees F. for 45 minutes or until heated through and slightly browned on top.  To make ahead, cover dressing and refrigerate up to 2 days before baking.
CORNBREAD
1 slice bacon
2 cups white self-rising cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg
2 cups buttermilk
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Place bacon in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, and place in hot oven 5 to 10 minutes or until fat is rendered.
- Mix cornmeal and next 3 ingredients in a medium bowl.  Remove skillet from oven, reserve bacon strip for another use, and stir 1 Tablespoon grease into cornmeal mixture.  Pour batter into hot skillet, and bake 20 minutes or until slightly brown on top.

Now, I made some adjustments to this recipe and directions when I was preparing this dish.  I purchased rotisserie chickens rather than cooking my own.  Also, I have made my own recipe for cornbread when I have prepared this for the family before.  I need to add as well that I didn't use bacon in the iron skillet, but substituted healthier canola oil.  I used organic, low-sodium chicken btoth.

The participants - and staff - at the adult day care were very appreciative of the lunch.  The next date for me to provide lunch is Tuesday, December 4. 

There are other recipes that I will be sharing.  Hopefully you will return!

Thank you for your visit.  I appreciate  your comments.

This is the day....

....for that lunch at the adult day care at our church!  I worked on Monday putting everything together.  It is ready to go!

On the menu this time:  Teeny's Hen and Dressing
                                       Sweet Potato Casserole
                                       Peas and Pearl Onions
                                       Cranberry Relish
                                       Pumpkin Cake

Earlier in October, I posted the recipe for the Pumpkin Cake, along with a picture, if I remember correctly.  I mentioned that it was going to the freezer and would be featured again as I finished it.

So - here it is!

Recipes for some of the other foods on the menu will be posted during this week, and a picture of the plate as served will be coming up on Wednesday!  Hopefully I will remember my camera!

This is also the day we, as citizens of the United States, may exercise our right to vote.  I hope you will find time in this day to vote - if you haven't already. 

Thank you for reading.  I appreciate  your comments.

It's a LEGO!

Happy Monday to everyone!  I hope you have had a good week-end. 

I believe I failed to mention earlier that Boy Munchkin's ninth birthday was on November 2.  That was last Friday, and we of course had to help him celebrate.   He had requested a LEGO party, so the pictures below illustrate some of the arrangements Munchomom made.

Giant LEGO cake!

Card and display.

Cute LEGO banner!

Munchomom used giant marshmallows which she frosted to create the effect on top of the cake.  Boy Munchkin had requested a blue LEGO cake, and that is what he had! 

The first sets of LEGOs feature the primary colors of blue, red, green, and yellow, and the cute little Lego people in the banner looked just like the ones in the play sets!  Of course, now Boy Munchkin has "graduated" to those sets that have a jillion tiny pieces.  He received a few gifts that should keep him busy quite sometime with assembly.

The Husband helped by inflating balloons and hanging crepe paper streamers.  I wanted to show a picture, but couldn't find the right angle to show off his handiwork.:-)  I "helped" by counting the Legos in the jar for the guessing game! 

Do you see the jar on the table?

There were 216 LEGO pieces in that jar!  The goldfish crackers were multi-colored, and the M&Ms were brightly colored, carrying out the primary colors of LEGOs.

I send wishes for a good Monday to everyone!  Mine will be busy as I will be assembling the lunch for the adult day care at our church.  I provide lunch for 20 on the first Tuesday of the month.  That will be the subject of the next post - hopefully!

Thank you for reading.  I really appreciate your comments.

Words of wisdom....

                       A smile costs nothing but gives much.

                                  It enriches those who receive, without making poorer those who give.

                       It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes last forever.

                                                                                      - Source Unknown

May this be a day filled with smiles for you!

I extend a welcome to the new follower! 

Thank you for reading.  I appreciate your comments. 

Let them eat pie!

In the fall in several locations around our area, there are gatherings for "old-fashioned apple butter making."  One of the activities of the youth from our church on their fall retreat involves making apple butter to sell to earn money for youth missions.  We think apple butter is best atop a good biscuit.:-)

Cooking.com, however, has paired apple butter with that other fall favorite - pumpkin - and come up with an Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie.  There may be those of you who receive these recipes regularly, so you may have noticed it during October.

The "after" picture.

The copy, as I printed it off, indicates a source to be Cooking at a Glance - Pies & Pumpkins, and as I mentioned earlier, Cooking.com reprinted it by permission of Weldon Owen.

APPLE BUTTER-PUMPKIN PIE
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup apple butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 eggs
One 5-ounce can evaporated milk (2/3 cup)
1/2 cup milk
Pastry for Single-Crust or Double-Crust Pie
Whipped cream (optional)

- In a large mixing bowl combine pumpkin, apple butter, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.  Add eggs;  beat lightly with a rotary beater or wire whisk till combined.  Gradually stir in evaporated milk and milk; mix well.

Prepare and roll out pastry as directed.  Line a 9-inch pie plate with pastry.  Bake in a preheated 375 degree F. oven for 45-50 minutes, or till a knife inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool on a rack for 1 hour.  Chill 3-6 hours before serving.  Store in the refrigerator.  If desired, store with whipped cream.

My thoughts and prayers continue to be with those who are recovering  from the effects of Sandy.

Wishes for a good week-end to everyone!

Thank you for reading.  I appreciate your comments.