Pumpkin and cream cheese bread

I've mentioned before that I LOVE all things pumpkin, except pumpkin pie. This Bread is SO yummy. It is a combination of a Layered Pumpkin Loaf at Kraftfoods.com and Emmy's Pumpkin Bread recipe from kingarthurflour.com. I used the cream cheese mixture from the kraft foods recipe and the bread from King Arthurs. I did add 2 t. of cinnamon to the King Arthur recipe as suggested by the girls at Little Birdie Secrets.

Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 8 oz. package or cream cheese
• 1 egg white
• 2 T sugar
• 2/3 cup shortening or 1 cup vegetable oil (I used shortening)
• 2 2/3 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups (or 1 15 oz can) pumpkin
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 1/3 cups flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 2 t baking soda
• 1 1/2 t salt
• 1 t nutmeg
• 2 t cinnamon
• 1 t vanilla
  

Directions: Cream together cream cheese, egg white and 2 T sugar and set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening or oil and the sugar. Beat in the eggs, pumpkin and water. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla, stirring to blend.

Spoon batter into the bottom portion of a greased bread pan, add a layer of cream cheese filling(this is hard to smooth evenly, I just dropped a couple of spoonfuls per pan), add more batter on top of the cream cheese. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for ~1 hour or until you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.

This will make 2 9x5-inch loaves or I made 7 little mini-loaves and 10 muffins. Make sure you only fill your bread pan to ~2/3 full. The first time I made this I used some little Christmas tree molds and they overflowed!! It only took about 50 minutes for the mini loaves.

Sweet Cereal Mix - yummy stuff!!

My sister sent me these pictures and this recipe. I can't wait to try this stuff!! She couldn't remember where she got the recipe or what it is called. This is what she said in her email...."I really don't know what this stuff is called but it is delicious. I just call it Yummy." Sounds good to me:) If any of you have made this before and know the 'official' name, please leave me a comment and let me know.

Sweet Cereal Mix

Ingredients:

• 1box Golden Graham cereal
• 1 box Rice Chex cereal
• 2 c. slivered almonds and/or pecans (chopped and toasted)
• 2 c. coconut
• 2 c. corn syrup
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 1/2 cubes butter

Directions: Place cereals, toasted nuts and coconut in a large bowl and toss to mix. In a saucepan, bring corn syrup, sugar and butter to a boil. Boil 2 minutes. Pour over cereal mix and stir until everything is well coated. Pour mixture out onto a buttered cookie sheet to cool and set.

Rolo Cookies

If you are looking for a yummy cookie to share with friends and family this holiday season, try this one! These cookies are YUMMY! Just be sure to let them cool a bit before you bite into one. I had a friend in college that grabbed on right out of the oven and was burnt by the hot caramel inside.

Rolo Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup butter or margarine (I use butter)
• 2 eggs
• 2 t. vanilla
• 1 t baking soda
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 13 oz. bag of Rolos
• sugar (for rolling the pre-baked cookies in)

Directions: Blend sugar, brown sugar and butter together in a bowl. Add eggs and vanilla to sugar mixture and blend well. Sift together in a small bowl, flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture and blend well. Take a spoonful of cookie dough and wrap around rolo. Roll into ball so that the rolo is completely covered with dough and roll in sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 7-10 minutes. I rolled half of mine in regular sugar and half in Turbinado(sugar in the raw) sugar(leftover from the honey crystal almonds)....I really like the turbinado sugar. It makes them so pretty and gives them a little crunch on the outside.

Canned Stew

Remember awhile ago, I told you about this great deal on a pressure cooker from Amazon? Well, it is still only $239.00. I ordered mine and received free shipping and received it within only a couple of days. I have used it once and I LOVE it.



I canned 14 quarts of canned stew. I got the recipe here. It is SO yummy! We have already eaten 4 quarts. I open 2 quarts and add 1 pint of chicken that I canned awhile ago. I also add about 1/2-1 pint of water. It is SO nice to have a quick, simple and delicious meal on hand when I am in a hurry. The two quarts of stew will feed my family of 2 adults and 4 kids for dinner with enough for lunch(for my husband) the next day. You can add cooked chicken, canned chicken or beef...or just eat as is. Rachel's bottles of stew look so much better than mine. I peeled and sliced my potatoes with my food processor, but next time I think I will do what she did....scrub and dice the potatoes.

Canned Stew

Ingredients:

• carrots
• potatoes
• onions
• celery
• 1 T Pearl Barley (per quart)
• 1 T Parsley (per quart) (I used dried parsley)
• 1 T Bouillon (beef or chicken) (per quart)
• 1/4 salt (optional - I used garlic salt) (per quart)

Directions: In large bowls --- cut, chop or slice the following: Potatoes, carrots, celery, onion (A food processor works great for the carrots and celery & don't forget to keep the potatoes covered with water so they don't brown). In a clean quart size canning jar add: pearl barley, parsley, bouillon, salt (optional). Then using a LARGE handful of each, add the following: onion, celery, carrots, and potatoes.Cover all ingredients with boiling water leaving 1 inch head space. Wipe rim with clean dish cloth, top with lid & ring then process in a Pressure Canner for 30 Minutes at 12 pounds of pressure.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Spice Cookies

I LOVE these cookies! Really I LOVE anything that is baked with pumpkin(except pumpkin pie). These cookies are super simple(3 ingredients) and really...they are super yummy!!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 Box Spice Cake Mix
• 1 15 oz. can pumpkin
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions: Preheat oven to 375. Mix all ingredients together. Drop dough, by spoonfuls, onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes.

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

These Cinnamon Rolls are the BEST!! I didn't use Pioneer Woman's maple frosting, but I'm sure it is wonderful... just like everything else that she makes. I used the butter cream frosting that I use for sugar cookies. I will definitely be making these again!

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 quart Whole Milk
• 1 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 packages Active Dry Yeast
• 8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
• 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
• 3 cups (to 4 Cups) Melted Butter
• 2 cups Sugar
• Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon
  _____
  MAPLE FROSTING:
  1 bag Powdered Sugar
  2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
  ½ cups Milk
  ¼ cups Melted Butter
  ¼ cups Brewed Coffee
  ⅛ teaspoons Salt
  

Directions: Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. “Scald” the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).

When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1 ½ to 2 cups melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.
Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees (edited to say 375 instead of 400, as The Pioneer Woman now suggests) until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.
For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls.

Fettuccine Alfredo and Garlic Butter Shrimp

I can't remember where I got this recipe for Alfredo, maybe Martha Stewart.? I don't usually make it with fettuccine noodles. We like short pasta at our house, penne or farfalle. Also, when I made the Alfredo sauce, I didn't have the heavy cream....SO I used whole milk instead and used two egg yolks instead of one.

The shrimp was SO yummy with the pasta. I had my nine year old helping me fix this meal. I asked him to 'toss' the shrimp together with the steamed pasta. He proceeded to mutilate the broccoli into itty bitty pieces as he was 'tossing' them together. He had a little TOO much fun. I guess he needs a lesson on 'tossing'. It was still SUPER yummy, just not quite as pretty:) or maybe more pretty...whichever you think.

Fettuccine Alfredo

Ingredients:

• 4 T. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
• 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
• 1 pound fresh fettuccine or best-quality dry fettuccine (I used whole grain penne)

Directions: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. While you are waiting for your water to boil, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add heavy cream and cheese. When cheese is melted, add egg yolk(I add a little of the sauce to my egg yolk to temper it and then add it back to the warm sauce). Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat. Add fettuccine to boiling water, and cook until al dente, following package directions. Drain pasta, and transfer to a large serving platter. Pour sauce over fettuccine. Serve immediately.

Garlic butter shrimp

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds large shrimp
• 3 T softened butter
• 1 t. garlic powder or garlic salt. I used salted butter, so I went with the garlic powder
• 3/4 t. red pepper flakes
• 1 t. finely grated Parmesan cheese

Directions: Mix butter, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and parm cheese together well. Add mixed butter to a hot frying pan or cast-iron skillet(med heat). Add shrimp and cook ~2-3 minutes per side until cooked through.