Tasty Tuesday

               I sincerely hope your not burned out on pumpkin posts yet?  Because if your a coffee junkie like me, you know how important it is to spike it once and awhile with seasonal treats, like pumpkin pie spice creamer! Being the tight wad that I am, and not afraid to admit it, I would rather make it than buy it, and this  goes for just about everything, so when the fall creamers hit the stores with the high sugar content and price tag to match, I surf the web for an alternative I can afford to make and feel better about digesting. I make this creamer every autumn for myself and a jar for our Sunday school class.

Pumpkin Pie Creamer

4 t. cinnamon
2 t. ginger
2 t. nutmeg
1 t. allspice
1 c. non dairy creamer
Combine all ingredients in a clean jar with a good seal, tighten and shake to blend well.  Use to taste. Enjoy!

     This also makes a nice hostess gift, wrapped in a pretty jar, personalized maybe? Best of all, it's a taste of fall to perk up your cup of joe or just a nice after dinner drink by the fire. Make some for yourself soon!

Autumn♥izing

                  I was blessed to have to the first day of fall off, so I started a tradition just for me. I stayed home and got our home autumnized, all ready for the fall season. It was a perfect day too,  seasonal scents burned in a few candles while I cleaned and arranged 4 tubs of fall goodies. I didn't use everything, even gave my new daughter in love some to start her own collection.  The crock pot was busy at work too, simmering ham and beans that would later be our fuss free supper, paired with homemade tortilla's that turned out perfect, like my day. Did I mention I had a perfect day? Such a blessing to be able to mark this special day and season by sharing my love for autumn with all who will enter our home. And now, I"m sharing it with you. Since our home has a open concept with the three major rooms, those are what was mainly hit, and heavy too. But, I just couldn't help myself, as you can see! But what fun I had and I've started a new tradition, every first day of fall shall be spent just like this one! My home has been autumnized, has yours?

Fall Food

 It's all about Autumn now, finally! I just had to share this recipe with you that I found yesterday, or should I say, found me! Again, no hunting but baking is near.  One of my favorite fall foods is pumpkin, it's so handy! But, I never thought of making cinnamon rolls with it, but why not? Head over to Good Life Eats for more yummy recipes, money saving coupons and just a neat web sight! You won't be sorry just happy like me! 

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing

roll dough adapted from King Arthur Flour
makes approximately 15-16 rolls

Ingredients:

Roll Dough:
1/4 cup warm water (not hot, about 110 degrees)
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm milk
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup pumpkin puree, either fresh or canned
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 cups (approximately) All-Purpose Flour
1 1 /4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

Filling:
1 stick butter
2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon each of allspice and ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves

Cream Cheese Frosting:
4 ounces cream cheese
1 stick (4 ounces) butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon lemon juice
2-3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

In a large bowl, stir yeast into water to soften. Let rest for 5 minutes before stirring. Add milk, eggs, pumpkin, butter, 2 cups flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom to yeast mixture. Beat vigorously for 2 minutes.

Gradually add remaining flour, a little at a time, until you have a dough stiff enough to knead. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead, adding flour as necessary, until you have a smooth, elastic dough.

Put dough into an oiled bowl. Turn once to coat entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Combine the white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and cloves in a small bowl, set aside. Transfer the risen dough to a lightly greased work surface, and pat or roll it into a 16" x 12" rectangle. Spread softened butter over dough and then sprinkle with the sugar mixture.

Roll the dough into a log the long way; it'll stretch to about 20" long as you roll. Using a very sharp knife, slice the log into 15 slices. In order to cut down on drag, it helps to rinse the blade in hot water, and wipe it off, between slices. Place slices in a greased 9x13 inch baking pan (or in two 8 or 9 inch round cake or pie pans). Cover with a towel and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 375°F oven. Bake the rolls till they're brown around the edges and beginning to turn golden brown across the center, about 20-30 minutes.

While rolls bake, prepare the cream cheese frosting. Add the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and lemon juice to a small food processor. Blend until smooth and combined. Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, blending in between, until well mixed and desired consistency is reached. (I used 2 cups powdered sugar)

Frost warm rolls with the cream cheese frosting and serve immediately.

For night before prep: Prepare the rolls up to the point where you roll and place in the pan. Then, cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, remove the pan from the fridge and proceed with the instructions where you left off. Rising time may be slightly longer than noted in the recipe due to the dough being cold vs room temp.

Tasty Tuesday

           Since Fall offically begins in 2 days, of course I'm sharing another pumpkin recipe! Have you ever had pumpkin cornbread? Neither had I till a recipe found me recently, and let me tell you, those can be the best kinds, no hunting involved!  I've got my family spoiled with my cornbread, you see and this is a secret too, I add a spoon or two of sugar to my recipe, making it johnny cake in all reality, and more like a cake too but everyone loves it this way. Recently I made some jalapeno cornbread and they knew something was missing so I had to come clean. But please use my secret just once and you'll see why it's our favorite cornbread.

        Back to this post, I got a email from one of the cooking sites I belong too and there it was, a pretty orange cornbread with a hint of pumpkin and sweet sugar, so I knew it would be good.  And it was, with a bowl of ham and beans.........yumo!

Pumpkin Cornbread

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. In a large bowl, stir flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and make a well in the center. In a small bowl, stir together the eggs, pumpkin, sugar, and oil.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture. Stir just until blended; do not over mix.  Divide the batter evenly among prepared muffin tin cups.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

     I always spread butter top while still warm so it melts all over, did I say yumo yet?  In fact, I'll be making ham and beans on the first day of fall to celebrate and I just may have to make another batch of this too!  It keeps well so that's always a plus in our house. 

     FALL APRON UPDATE: How are you all coming along with your aprons? Have you sent or recieved yet? Remember the shipping date is coming up fast again, so let's make sure all aprons are shipped by the 25th, if you need some more time please contact your partner to let her know.  I can't wait to hear all about your new treasures!  Happy sewing and baking! 

Tasty Tuesday

           I'm all geared up for fall and all that follows so I hope your ready for ALL my autumn posts and recipes? If not, just cave now! lol    This week I'm stocking up on canned pumpkin. Last year, a nasty rumor had people in panic and at one point, the shelves were low. This year, fresh pumpkins are said to be higher than last year due to the extreme summer heat. Mine died on the vine even before maturing so that's not a good sign.  Lesson learned, don't wait till the holidays to stock up!

    What comes to mind when you think pumpkins? Butter, of course! Not just any butter, but maple pumpkin butter. This is a treat on pancakes, muffins, toast or on a spoon!

Maple Pumpkin Butter

2 c. pumpkin puree
1/2 c. apple juice
1/2 c. maple syrup
2 t. Cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg ( I use more, love it)
1/2 t. ginger ( again, I use more)
Mix everything together in a food processor or use mixer. Add mixture to a large saucepan and allow to simmer on low for about a hour, till the color darkens and thickens. Store in air tight container in fridge. Enjoy!

      Your house will smell wonderful too! On a side note, if you joined my fall apron swap, I've extended the shipping date till the 25th to allow more time, so no stressing! Just sewing, swapping and making pumpkin butter!

Fall Apron Partners

        I'm sorry for taking my sweet time in getting this swap going, but I'm still waiting on one more email addy but I'll just take her too if she gets back to me. So, are you ready to get sewing and swapping? I sure am, I've been eyeing some pretty fall fabric and getting ideas front and center.  Emails are going out today so look for them, once you get your partner, email each other to find out preferences, fall or Halloween , size and mailing info. Tuck ins are always welcomed! Please try to ship your apron by the 15th, give or take a day since I'm a bit late. If you haven't heard from your partner in a few days, let me know and I'll double check.  Let the sewing begin.........have fun and HAPPY FALL swappers!

Tasty Tuesday

            Fall is near, and our apple tree is just loaded for harvesting, odd too since we had a extreme summer and heat with no rain, I'm impressed! So, this means it's time to do something with all those free apples! Of course apple pie filling is a must as well as apple butter but did you know you can make jelly from all those apple peels you will have left over?  Don't throw them out or toss them in the compost just yet, try my easy recipe for apple peel jelly and surprise yourself, just don't forget to pat yourself on the back for being so thrifty!

Apple Peel Jelly

4 c firmly packed apple peels

5 c water

1 1/2 c sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

In covered stainless steel saucepan, bring peels and water to boil. Reduce heat: uncover; simmer 20 minutes. Strain through jelly bag of cheesecloth.(Do not squeeze or you'll have cloudy jelly). Measure juice (you should have about 2 cups); return to same saucepan. Stir in sugar and lemon juice. Bring to boil over medium heat; cook rapidly, uncovered, stirring, remove saucepan from heat. Pour immediately into 2 sterilized 6 oz jelly jars. skim off foam; cover; cool;store in refrigerator. Makes 2 6 oz. jars.

       If you'd like a pretty red jelly, just add some red food coloring to the jelly when you return the juice to the saucepan, but either way, it's a good, cheap and a extra treat from  your apple harvest.  It's good to be thrifty!  Enjoy!

      

The Perfect Wedding

         My son took a wife! What a perfect wedding it was, amazing! It was a 4 hour drive away for us, but we made good time with no issues. My son put us all up in a country B&B ran by a sweet 70 yr. old lady who gave Tyler a great deal for all 8 rooms.  The Inn sat on 22 acres that Roz landscaped herself and still keeps up, alone. Walking trails ran around the Inn, doted with herbs and native flowers. Corn fields are plenty in Kentucky and the Inn had 2, keeping the deer fat and sassy, three doe's jumped out in front of us while we walked to the big barn.  I even saw a huge white owl fly out of the barn, but my camera wasn't ready and neither was I, but what a sight that was!

      I'm not sure I like the whole concept of a B&B even though I always thought it would be neat to run one, but I guess I'm just not comfortable in a strangers home but by breakfast time, I was helping Roz cook for our  clan and chatting over coffee. Still not sold on the Inn experience probably because I didn't sleep at all, but over all, it was a fun time and I  gained a new friend.

      The photo box above proves I have the prettiest grandkids around! lol  The highlight of the wedding was when Keilah sang to my son, Tyler. I was in tears, what a special tough she added and such a beautiful voice too! They rode off in a 1941 Packard, heading to New Orleans to catch a cruise ship to Mexico. I'm honored to add Keilah to our growing family, who will bless us as she has my son.

       Just a reminder that my fall apron swap ends tomorrow, say by noon so if you'd like to sign up, make and swap a fall theme apron, then scroll down to that post and leave me your name and email addy. I will then start to pair us up tomorrow so you can begin sewing up those sweet fall aprons! And don't fret, if you can't make this swap, a Christmas apron swap will take place right here! Happy sewing/swapping!

Kentucky Bound

           My son is taking a wife! The event of the year for our family all takes place Saturday, the 3rd of September in a small town in Kentucky. This wedding has taken 8 months to come to life and what a wonderful life these two kids will have!  That's my youngest son, Tyler, number 4 to get married and to bless us with another daughter in LoVe!  We just adore Keilah, I couldn't of hand picked a better lady for my son. These two were meant to share a life and a mission.

     The rig is washed and gassed up, the dog sitter is all lined up and it's time to pack! We hit the road bright and early tomorrow, but I'll be sharing photos on the other side of the weekend, we'll only be gone 2 days.  The honeymooners have a cruise out of New Orleans to catch Monday, after spending the night in a posh hotel in the French Quarter, I hope they pack a camera!  My son has put us all up in a local B&B so I'm excited about that too, it'll be my first stay in a B&B! It won't be the French Quarter but Kentucky, here we come!