Easy Spice-y Pumpkin Cake

Cooler weather makes me want to run go turn on the oven and bake something wonderful.  Something that will scent the house like Fall...and Thanksgiving...something like this:

Easy Spice-y Pumpkin Cake

1 c. white sugar

1/2 c. water

1/2 can pumpkin puree

1/4 butter, melted and cooled (1/2 a stick)

1 egg

2 t. pumpkin pie spice

1/2 t. salt

1 1/2 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1 tub buttercream frosting (or make your own!)

1/2 c. walnuts (with some extra pumpkin pie spice and a little dab of butter)

Heat the oven to 325.  Spray an 8x8 glass cake pan with Pam. Mix the first 6 ingredients.  Stir salt and baking soda into flour, then stir into wet ingredients.  Bake for 40 minutes or until cake springs back when pressed in the middle.  Cool. 

Meanwhile, toast the walnuts:  I crushed mine up a bit, added to a skillet with a sprinkle of spice and a little dab of butter.  Watch it carefully and stir it constantly over low to med heat to toast the nuts.  Cool. 

Frosting from a tub - I cheated today and it worked out beautifully!  I stored the leftover in the freezer.  After frosting it, scatter the nuts on top, perk a pot of cinnamon coffee and serve!

 Don't mind if I do.

Gina

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Boys primp, too

I remember primping for formal dances in high school.  It usually started shortly after I arrived home from school, and continued until about 10 minutes before my date arrived.  I never realized before - 

boys primp, too!

  

Oh, my!  And they like to mug for the camera, looking pretty handsome...

I think Miss A and Scout make a very attractive couple, no?

Wait!  I need to get a pic of you two together!

Or, maybe not...

All that primping and they are ready to party!

Circling the drain

Lately it seems my little family has been dealt one little tragedy after another.   Mostly small.  But really, it's the small tragedies that will get you down.

Pictured is Bubbie, on the bathroom floor, covered by his favorite quilt, toughing out a nasty stomach virus.  It has wound it's way around our group:  first, me on Sunday; then Scout on Tuesday into Wednesday, now Bubbie.  Who will it strike next?  Hopefully it will skip Firstborn who began his new job on Monday.  This bathroom is quarantined and will be scrubbed down with bleach as soon as Bubbie's fever breaks.  And I am praying for healthier days!

Gina

Mire poix

Recently I happened upon Redoux, a very cute blog.  A post that caught my eye was for mire poix - a chopped veggie blend you use in cooking as a seasoning base for all kinds of wonderful things.  She does a great job explaining it - go here.  Since I had these at the bottom of my veggie drawer I thought I would give it a try!

These veggies I need to use up since I'll be leaving the house shortly to do grocery shopping.  I hate wasting food, but this will be delicious made into mire poix.  

 I chopped two bell peppers

 almost an entire bunch of celery

 several carrots - I think I had 4 good sized ones

Two onions - I saved these for last as they were so potent!  

 I gave it a stir in a large plastic bowl. 

 Then I scooped it into ziploc bags in 1 cup portions.

And put all the little bags into one big gallon size one.  Then promptly misspelled my label. It occurred to me that mire poix is the same, basically, as the celery and onion I saute and add to my dressing each Thanksgiving.  Something tells me I'm going to love using these little bags of veggies.

Gina

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Compost Cookies

Ever have leftover cereal?  We do.  Into a large resealable cereal container it goes until it gets full and becomes a  smorgasbord of cereal that gets eaten before I will buy another box.  We have two of these now and the boys are started to campaign for "new" cereal.  So, I decided to make compost cookies.

Compost Cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 T corn syrup

2 large eggs

1 3/4 cup flour

2 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

2 t. salt

1 1/2 c. crushed cereal

1 1/2 c. chopped nuts, dried fruit, or choc chips - mix it up!

Cream the butter and sugar - add eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Sift the dry ingredients together and gradually add them into the creamed mixture.  Stir in your combo of crazy mix-in's.

You can freeze cookie dough wrapped up in the liner of the cereal box.  (Always save those - you already paid for them!)  Wet your hands to smooth out the dough into a shape you can wrap neatly.

Make little packets of a third or so of the dough.  Then freeze them. Just slice and bake at 375 for 12 minutes when ready to eat.

 Lately my pictures have been kinda lame.  But these cookies are not - buttery and somewhat crewycrunchy, depending on the mix in's, or "compost", you use.  Warm from the oven they got a big thumbs up at my house!

Gina

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Baking supply ready for the holidays

I pulled out my baking basket yesterday to make a few batches of cookies to freeze and thought I'd better get it cleaned up and see what I needed for holiday baking.  I think a basket like this is a great idea if you love to bake - it keeps you from having to fish around in your dark pantry for those little bottles and boxes.

I got this stackable basket from Wally World.  It was just the right size.  I don't put my spices in there, like cinnamon and such, since they live in the spice cabinet.  And the containers of sugar and flour are way too big.  But for the cocoa, baking powder, salt, etc., it's perfect.

I also put in a recycled container to hold the little bottles of extract. 

I'm starting to re-purpose things like that more often.

Did you know that every cereal box comes with a freebie?  Wax paper!  You can use it for storing cookie dough in the freezer.  I have also used them in place of pricey gallon size zip loc bags to marinate meat and store half cut heads of lettuce.  Something else I started doing was to mark with a sharpie on the tops of things as to when they needed to be replaced. 

The basket gets stored on the same shelf as the flour and such. I just pull the whole thing out when I want to bake.  Looks like I need to add flour and sugar to my grocery list!  What about you - got any holiday baking tips to share?

Gina

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Fair day 2011

I visited my mother in Brenham yesterday for the first time in many months. We had a nice visit and a really good surprise at the women's building:

 A blue ribbon and a Grand Champion ribbon for the "Little Red House" quilt!

 She was teary eyed for a minute or two - she really didn't expect that, but it had to feel gratifying for her.

She puts a lot of time and effort into these quilts so it's no small thing if she gives you one as a gift. 

This is the appliqued  one she entered and I can't remember the name of it.  

The flowers are more hot lipstick pink than my camera suggests and the entire thing is hand-quilted.

 

We wandered over to the livestock pens to gaze at the pretty cow ladies.  The one above is a Charolais - the type my grandmother used to raise in Azle, Texas.

 

 A tiger-striped cow.  Don't think I've ever seen one.

 

Most of them barely paid any attention to us, but one rushed the gate and almost startled my mother off her feet!  I bet she gets tired of hearing me chime "No Fally-Downie!".

Rows of cow butts. Hmmm... "How about hamburgers for lunch?"
Ha ha  Just my weird sense of humor...
 A fun day in Brenham and I'm so glad she got the ribbon she did!

Gina