Mint Brownies from Mama

Well, my gift tins have been put together and just await delivery! The first recipe I will share is one that my mom does. She calls it Christmas Mint Brownie. It is a layered dessert that any chocolate lover will really want to eat and it even adds some color to your dessert plate. The brownie base is a dense, fudgy, cakey (I know...HOW can it be all three...I don't know, it just is!!!) brownie. The recipe doesn't say cake flour, but for some reason, I thought it did...SO I used cake flour. It turned out fine, so if you wanted to use AP flour, go for it; if you wanted to use cake flour, go for it! Just make the brownies!!!! Okay, back to this wonderful and rich dessert. After allowing the brownie to cool, you top it with a mint flavored icing type topping. This is then spread over the brownie and then cooled. After cooling, a chocolate topping is spread over and chilled again. When you cut these brownies, you have a wonderful layered brownie with just a punch of green! It's the perfect combination of chocolate and mint. Hey, it can serve as your chocolate and after-dinner mint! WooHoo! Since it's so festive and green, this is a great dessert for Christmas...so I'm sending it to FoodBlogga and her Christmas cookie event. Check out the MANY cookies and bars that are there. You may find what you want to make....if you don't make this first! :-) Christmas Mint Brownie
Cake:
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup softened margarine/butter (1 stick)
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups (16 oz.) Hersheys syrup ( this does come in a can)

Mix, beat until smooth. Pour in a greased 13X9 pan. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Cool COMPLETELY. MINT:
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup softened margarine (NOT the light version...this will NOT work, it separates!!!)
1 Tablespoon water
1/2-1 teaspoon peppermint extract
3 drops green food coloring

Mix until smooth. Spread over cooled cake and CHILL. Topping:
6 T butter/margarine
1 cup chocolate chips

Melt over low heat and let cool. Pour over filling, cover, and chill for at least an hour. After you make this, you can chill until ready to serve. Cut in small squares or even triangles for something different!

Good but a Bit of a Disappointment

You know that really yummy sesame chicken they serve at Chinese restaurants but it's really not good for you? Well, I saw a recipe for light sesame chicken. I thought...yes! Must try this. Well, it's good but it's definitely not what I expected or comparable to the restaurant-bad-for-you version. It kind of reminded me of a simple chicken and broccoli stir fry. I found this on a relatively new blog, ...and a Cookie for Dessert. I changed the recipe a little, but you can find the original version here. Another good thing about this recipe is that the leftovers a great put in a LaTortilla Factory tortilla. Yum! Try it out. This is my entry for Sweetnicks ARF Tuesday. Check out her site for more great recipes! Lighter Sesame Chicken
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons soy sauce (low salt)
1tablespoon minced (jarred) garlic
2 large egg whites
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 2-inch chunks (I just used 2 breasts, which is less than this calls for, I'm sure!)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as safflower
1 1/2 pounds broccoli, cut into large florets (I used 3 small bunches)
Steam broccoli in a large saucepan by putting broccoli in the pan, placing water (about an inch) in the pan, and bringing the water to a boil. Turn the heat down and cover with a top. Remove from heat when broccoli is fork tender. Drain.

Meanwhile, make sauce by combining honey, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and garlic in a small bowl; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites and cornstarch. Add chicken; season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add half the chicken; cook, turning occasionally, until golden and opaque throughout, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate; repeat with remaining tablespoon oil and chicken. Return all the chicken to skillet; add reserved sauce and toss to coat. Add broccoli to chicken and stir. Serve with rice and mandarin oranges.

Gingerbread House

The first week of my internal medicine rotation, we had to do this (horrible) 2-day course on how to run a code in the hospital (i.e., when someone goes into cardiac arrest). During that course, my friend Sarah and I decided to make a gingerbread house after work on Friday. That day we were at the hospital MUCH longer than we should have been but we returned to my apartment and put our frustrations to work on the little gingerbread house. I think it turned out well. Sarah was the expert window creator, I did the roof, and we even had a stack of firewood ready and waiting. Such fun...something makes me think that only pediatricians (of those in medical school) could have such a good time doing this with no kids around!!!

All Gingered Up

First of all, if you are in the Jackson, MS area and are looking for some good Christmas music I'd like to invite you to my church Christmas music...Prince of Peace. It is tonight at 7 pm and Sunday at 6 pm at Morrison Heights Baptist Church just off I-20 in Clinton! Okay, onto the baking!!!

I am now out of school for Christmas break!!!! SO ready for it as I've worked everyday except one since Thanksgiving. I haven't started Christmas baking, but Ive decided what I'm making....a Christmas mint brownie my mom made, Russian tea cake type cookie - except it's a Greek recipe, a fruit topped shortbread from some foreign country, and peanut butter fudge. I bought the ingredients today...so be sure to stop by over the next few weeks for the results!

Meanwhile, I have done some baking for my medicine team...the Green team! We are on a q4 call schedule which means that every fourth night, we're on call. I've baked twice for call days - when it was on the weekend. The first time I made some ginger molasses cookies. Part of my reason for making these is that my medicine partner was pregnant and had been having some morning/evening sickness, and ginger is supposed to be an anti-nausea herb. Another reason I wanted to try this recipe (from Baking Bites) is that they use oil instead of butter. I did make a couple of minor changes but they actually turned out well...not too flat or too crispy and the black pepper (in my opinion) adds a good amount of spice. Our resident really liked them and so did Sarah...I think you will, too! Spiced Up Ginger Cookies
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp each allspice and black pepper
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup sugar, for rolling
Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, spices, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, beat together sugar and vegetable oil. Beat in egg and molasses until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until well combined. Shape dough into 1 inch balls, roll in coarse sugar (or scoop the dough directly into the sugar...that's what I do) and place on baking sheet. Bake 7-8 minutes until very lightly browned. Let cookies cool for 3-5 minutes on cookie sheet, then remove to a wire rack until cool.
Makes 3 dozen.

Shrimp Florentine-ish Soup

Last week before the weather turned crazy warm, we had some great, cool soup weather. I told my internal medicine partner that I was going to go home and make soup and cornbread. I actually followed through on that! I just had to decide what kind of soup to make. I knew I had a frozen vegetable soup starter (peppers, corn, onion, and okra!!!) in the freezer as well as some spinach. Hmmmm....shrimp florentine? So, I stopped by the little grocery store near my house on the way home from the gym and picked up a can (they had no frozen except for big bags) of shrimp and a can of cannelini beans. Put all these flavors together and it's a lovely little soup! I didn't put enough chicken stock, but that's easy to fix when you warm up another bowl. Because of all the veggies, this is the perfect recipe for Sweetnicks' ARF Tuesday. Drop by her site for more great recipes. Shrimp Florentine-ish Soup

1 bag frozen veggie soup starter

1 10 oz (or half a 16 oz bag) frozen spinach

1/2-1 can cannelini beans

1 can shrimp 4-6 cups low sodium chicken stock*

1 can chopped, stewed tomatoes

1 can rotel (I didn't use this this time, but would next time)

garlic powder, to taste (I LOVE this stuff!)

salt, to taste (I didn't use any, as I'm trying to be a good example to my heart failure patients, even if they can't see me!!!)

pepper, to taste

parsley

parmesan cheese

1/4 cup quinoa, if desired (I just had this on hand and wanted to get rid of it!)

Place soup starter veggies and 2 cups chicken stock in a large soup pot. Cook until tender. Add the spinach and quinoa (if using) and cook until spinach is no longer frozen. Add shrimp, tomatoes, beans, and remaining chicken stock. Add garlic powder, salt, pepper, and parsley here. Cook until soup gently boils and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve with fresh grated parmesan cheese, if desired. Goes great with Triscuit thin crisps (LOVE these!) or cornbread.

The First Meme of the Season

This is a food free post, but I love these little questionaires. If you'd like to do it as well, feel free to copy and try it out!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper, though bags are easier.
2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial. I took the top two sections of our old tree and use it. My miniature one just depressed me!
3. When do you put up the tree? the weekend after Thanksgivig
4. When do you take the tree down? sometime soon after the new year
5. Do you like eggnog? never tried it but my guess is no!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Hmmm...I guess my bike
7. Do you have a nativity scene? I've got two...one that my mom got me and stays up all year, and another that I got at Kirklands last year.
8. Hardest person to buy for? my brother
9. Easiest person to buy for?mom
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? ummm...I can think of one but I'm not going to say what it was...I never used it, though. I can also think of my brother's worst gift, but I wont say it either.
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail if I send them
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Santa Clause
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? whenever I know what I want to get and find it!
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? don't think so
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? the wheat squares and nuts from Trash (i.e. chex mix!)...and squash casserole. BUT I LOVE baking for Christmas treats.
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Both. My tree has clear, our den tree has colored, and the themed tree has clear.
17. Favorite Christmas song? hmmm...I dont know. I like O Holy Night and Silent Night. Birthday of a Kin is good too.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Now I travel since my parents live in TN.
19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitsen, and Rudloph (!)
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel or weird Kyrgyz thing
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? lines, traffic
23. What I love most about Christmas? Of course, we celebrate because Jesus came to give us life but I'll go outside of that and say giving. It's so much fun! I just bought a lot of toys for the children at our hospital and just love it!!!

Muffins for the A-Team

A couple of weeks ago, while I was on my psychiatry rotation, we had to round earlier than normal, so I decided to make muffins to take to my team. I searched and finally decided to try a new recipe from the cookbook of the Junior League of Lynchburg, VA: In Good Company. It's a banana chocolate chip muffin. I don't really go for chocolate chips in muffins but wanted to try the recipe...so it was a great time. All the guys enjoyed them; in fact, one asked me to give this recipe along with my chocolate chip cookie recipe to his girlfriend. They came out with a nice "crisp", i.e. not mushy or sticky, top and tender inside. I'd recommend them. AND, because of the bananas and even the chocolate, these are a great entry for Sweetnick's ARF Tuesday. Stop by and check out the other recipes. Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup mashed banana (about 2)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and mix until smooth. Then mix in the banana and vanilla. Combine the flour, soda, and salt. Stir into the banana mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips but don't overmix. Spoon batter into grease muffin tins. Bake for 25 minutes or until browned.

Welcome Home, Peabody

Peabody just got a new house!!!! How exciting! I just love new houses...especially the kitchens...and her's looks awesome. To celebrate, she is hosting an open house covered dish. Typically, I 'd bring a dessert to something like this, but this time it'll be a main dish. Poppyseed chicken is one of my mom's favorite company dishes, and I enjoy it, too! However, I don't use it much because it does use two condensed soups and some sour cream...ack! Hint: be sure to put the poppy seeds on...it really does make a difference in the way it tastes! Happy House, Peabody!!! Poppy Seed Chicken

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, boiled and cubed

1 can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup

1 can 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup

16 oz low fat sour cream (I used fat free b/c that's what I had and it worked; you could also use yogurt)

2 Tablespoons poppy seeds

1 sleeve or less Ritz (or other butter style) crackers, smashed

1/2 stick melted margarine (OR just spray the top with cooking spray, this is what I do now) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare chicken as directed - I've found the best way to boil chicken is to put it in the water, bring to a boil for a few minutes (less than five), turn off the heat, and let it sit (covered) for a couple of hours; this produces a VERY tender chicken.

In a 13X9 pan, place the chicken. Stir soups and sour cream together in a bowl. Pour this mixture over the chicken. Sprinkle the crackers over the chicken. Now pour the margarine over the crackers or spray with Pam. Sprinkle the poppy seeds over the dish. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly. You can also prepare and freeze...just wait to put the crackers and poppy seeds on when you are ready to serve it!

Cooking with Kaitlyn

The Friday night after Thanksgiving, after most of the family had left, the gumbo was eaten, and the Mississippi State Bulldogs had won the Egg Bowl (!), I thought it would be fun to make cookies with my little cousin Kaitlyn. When I asked her if she wanted to help, she seemed pretty excited and kept saying, "I've never made cookies before!" So, we pulled up a stool and set to work. I had brought the "special" ingredients for the winning cookies of the Mrs. Field's cookie contest on I-Village - Oatmeal Peanut Butter Scotchies - pointed out to me by Anna.I thought they sounded good, and when I described them to Daddy his eyes got big! The interesting thing about these cookies is that they don't use any flour. I thought this might make them extra crispy, but they remained a pleasant, though slightly crispy, texture. Kaitlyn was a WONDERFUL little chef, helping me scrape the peanut butter into the bowl, pouring in sugar, turning on the mixer, and even putting (the first pan of) cookies on the stones. A good idea if you want to involve kids in baking cookies is to break the eggs into a little bowl, so that you know that there aren't any shells in there, and letting them pour the eggs in. In the end, I think Kaitlyn had a really fun time but decided that, though she liked the butter scotch chips, she didn't like the cookies...I think she didn't really taste them! :-) So much fun....I can't wait to cook with another little one! Oatmeal PeanutButter Cookies
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter (or margarine)
1 and 1/2 cups chunky peanut butter
4 and 1/2 cups rolled oats (old fashioned or half old fashioned, half instant)
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 whole eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 bag butterscotch chips (I think this is WAY too many chips...I'd use between 1 and 1 and 1/2 cups)
3/4 cups chopped pecans, toasted (you could probably increase the amount of this

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; mix until smooth. Stir in oats, soda, chips, and nuts until well combined. Drop by spoonful onto a baking stone or cookie sheet. Place stone/sheet in oven and bake for 12 minutes or until the bottom is brown and there is some browning on top. Cool on sheet for about 5 minutes and then put on cooling rack. This makes about 6 dozen cookies.

Semi-homemade Fiesta Green Beans....or Not

I happen to live with a roommate who, for some reason, doesn't like tomatoes. However, she does like green beans. What to do when I decide that I want tomatoes in my green beans? Stir in some salsa to my serving. It's a great idea for those families with picky eaters and members with different tastes. So, there you have it...semi-homemade fiesta green beans! Because of all the anti-oxidants in the tomatoes AND the healthfulness of green beans, this is a great, easy dish for Sweetnicks' ARF-Tuesday! Check out her site for more great recipes. Easy Fiesta Green Beans

1 can no salt added french style green beans

garlic powder

Mrs. Dash seasoning

your favorite salsa

Pour green beans (half drained) into a skillet. Place skillet over medium heat. Season beans with powder and Mrs. Dash. Cook beans until tender and hot. Take out the amount you want and scoop a generous tablespoon or so onto the green beans. Stir and enjoy!

You Say Po-tay-to, I Say Po-tah-to

Well, not really...I say po-tay-to...but this month's Daring Baker's challenge gave room for different versions of the same thing...potato bread! I've never made potato bread but make bread quite often. I knew that this would be the perfect bread to make for my family Friday to go with our newly traditional gumbo on the day after Thanksgiving. Since my parents moved last year, our house has become the location for Thanksgiving, which is the big holiday for my dad's side of the family. We had 23 people there...not including the little kids. So, I had lots of samplers for this challenge. The entire morning as people began arriving from their respective hotels the question kept being voiced, "Whacha making?" When I told them potato bread, I think their mouths becan salivating. In this recipe the amount of flour you use is dependant upon how much potato you use and how much liquid is produced. I think I ended up using 6 and 1/2 cups of flour (out of a possible 8 and 1/2) and my dough was fairly sticky; however, I didn't want to jeopardize the tenderness of the bread by adding too much flour...SO, I just worked with the stickiness! Tanna gave us the option of doing loaves, rolls, focaccia, breadsticks, really whatever shape bread floated our boats as long as it was savory. I decided to do a focaccia an some rolls. When I pulled out the rolls, I was concerned. They felt really hard on top...THEN I tried to get them out of the pan. AHHHHH...stuck! I didn't spray the pan and they were very stubborn coming out. I'm not a big roll fan, so I didn't taste these and was extremely disappointed with them until my Aunt said that they were perfect. She described them like a baguette...crispy on the outside and melts in your mouth once you get inside. I think that's a pretty good roll! The focaccia bread was by far the more popular version (except with my 15 month old cousin...she's really into bread right now and loved the rolls!) with my family. I used waxed paper to put the dough on and, again, didn't spray it. When I tried to pull the paper off, any dough that had not been on flour was stuck! It took some TLC to get it off, but it was worth it. This had the perfect texture. It was so soft and flavored nicely with olive oil, rosemary, thyme, and parmesan cheese. Overall, this was a good challene. A nice little change from all those sweets! The bread was fairly simple to put together and quick for a yeast bread (I started at 8 am and was finished by around 12:30). Check out the other Daring Bakers and their bread here. This is the recipe with instructions for rolls and focaccia.

Ingredients:
8-16 oz. floury (baking) potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

4 cups(950 ml) water, reserve cooking water

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

6 ½ cups to 8 ½ cups (1 kg to 1350g) unbleached all-purpose

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

1 cup (130g) whole wheat flour

Making the Dough (Directions will be for making by hand):
Put the potatoes and 4 cups water in a sauce pan and bring to boil. Add 1 teaspoon salt and cook, half covered, until the potatoes are very tender (this doesn't take long!). Drain the potatoes, SAVE THE POTATO WATER, and mash the potatoes well. Measure out 3 cups (750ml) of the reserved potato water. Add extra water if needed to make 3 cups. Place the water and mashed potatoes in the bowl you plan to mix the bread dough in. Let cool to lukewarm (70-80°F/21 - 29°C) – stir well before testing the temperature – it should feel barely warm to your hand. You should be able to submerge you hand in the mix and not be uncomfortable.

Mix & stir yeast into cooled water and mashed potatoes & water and let stand 5 minutes. Then add 2 cups of flour to the yeast mix and allow to rest several minutes. Sprinkle in the remaining 1 tablespoon salt and the softened butter; mix well. Add the 1 cup whole wheat flour, stir briefly.
Add 2 cups of the unbleached all-purpose flour and stir until all the flour has been incorporated (now you have used 4 cups of the possible 8 ½ cups suggested by the recipe). Turn the dough out onto a generously floured surface (I used a really big bowl, so I just left it in the bowl) and knead for about 10 minutes, incorporating flour as needed to prevent sticking. The dough will be very sticky to begin with, but as it takes up more flour from the kneading surface, it will become easier to handle; the kneaded dough will still be very soft. Place the dough in a large clean bowl or your rising container of choice, cover with plastic wrap or lid, and let rise about 2 hours or until doubled in volume.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead gently several minutes. It will be moist and a little sticky.

To make rolls: Butter a 13 x 9 inch sheet cake pan or a shallow cake pan. Cut the (1/3 is what I used) dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape each into a ball under the palm of your floured hand and place on the baking sheet, leaving 1/2 inch between the balls. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 35 minutes, until puffy and almost doubled.

To make focaccia:Flatten out the dough to a rectangle about 10 x 15 inches with your palms and fingertips. Tear off a piece of parchment paper or wax paper a little longer than the dough and dust it generously with flour. Transfer the focaccia to the paper. Brush the top of the dough generously with olive oil, sprinkle on a little coarse sea salt, as well as some rosemary leaves, if you wish and then finally dimple all over with your fingertips. Cover with plastic and let rise for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 450°F(230°C)

For rolls: Dust risen rolls with a little all-purpose flour or lightly brush the tops with a little melted butter or olive oil (the butter will give a golden/browned crust). Bake rolls until golden, about 30 minutes. Transfer the rolls to a rack when done to cool.

For foccaia:Place a baking stone or unglazed quarry tiles, if you have them, if not use a no edged baking/sheet (you want to be able to slide the shaped dough on the parchment paper onto the stone or baking sheet and an edge complicates things). Place the stone or cookie sheet on a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450°F/230°C.
If making foccacia, just before baking, dimple the bread all over again with your fingertips. Leaving it on the paper, transfer to the hot baking stone, tiles or baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack (remove paper) and let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Because Thanksgiving is Thursday...a Casserole

I don't make casseroles that often because they tend to be sauce laden, but I went to a Thanksgiving party last Friday where there was lots of good food. I decided to take a broccoli casserole. This is super easy, pretty good, and kid friendly. I did make a slight change in the recipe that makes it not quite as bad for ya. Originally, it calls for a 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) of butter to be stirring into the broccoli with the cheese, but I've found that it really doesn't neet this extra butter, the cheese is enough. Doing this does make it a bit more creamy and thick, but it's still yummy and I guess cheesier tasting. Anyway, this is a casserole I grew up eating and enjoyed making. Because of the broccoli, this is a Thanksgiving worthy entry for Sweetnick's ARF Tuesday. Stop by and check out the other great recipes. Broccoli Casserole

2 bags of broccoli (15 oz bags)

1/2 stick margarine (I left this out!)

1/2 lb Velveeta (8 oz., 1/4 bar)

30 Ritz crackers

1/2 stick margarine, melted

Cook both packages of broccoli as instructed. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Drain broccoli and return to warm pot. Stir in cheese (and if using, 1/2 stick of margarine). Put broccoli in a casserole dish. Crush crackers into small crumbs and stir in 1/2 stick melted margarine. Sprinkle this over the broccoli. Place casserole in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.

Pumpkin Season

Well, I think that one of my favorite baking items during this holiday season is pumpkin. I don't know why but it's true! At the grocery store I was planning on buying the "normal" 16 oz can of pumpkin, but the larger size was SO much cheaper...and I'm cheap! Thus, I bought the larger can. I just decided that I could put it back in the refrigerator in between uses. What recipe to use? I decided on one from my newest cookbook, Fresh Every Day by Sara Foster. I really like the cookbook and wish that I could spend more time cooking "real" food from it! Maybe one day, just not right now. Everything has it's season...including pumpkin. SO, I picked out a pumpkin muffin recipe and started. YUM! These were really good muffins. I changed just a little bit...the recipe below is with my changes. Because of the pumpkin and cranberries, this is a great recipe for Sweetnick's ARF Tuesday. Stop by and check out the other great recipes. Pumpkin Muffins
3 cups AP flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar (I think I used a bit less)
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (originally six...I did this on accident)
2 large eggs 15 oz pumpkin puree (1 1/2 cups)
1 cup milk
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup white chocolate chips Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray muffin tin* with cooking spray. Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, stir the sugar, butter, and eggs together. Stir in the pumpkin puree, milk, and raisins and chips. Pour into the bowl with the flour miture. Stir until the dry ingredients are just moistened - be careful not to overmix. Scoop batter into the muffin tins using a 1/3 cup measure. Bake for 25-30 minutes...I think I actually cooked mine for around 22 minutes. Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes in the tin before removing them. *This says it makes 12 large muffins, but I got 12 regular sized muffins, 12 mini-muffins, and 6 muffin tops. Maybe I just didn't fill the tins enough, but I still would have gotten more than just 12.

Caramel Blondies

A few weeks ago I was asked to make some sort of dessert for the college choir at my church. I decided to pull out a quick, easy favorite. It is a simple brown sugar blondie. The recipe is from my mom's best friend...her desserts are always great! I've discovered that you can do a couple of variations on this. The original recipe calls for pecans. However, if you don't like nuts or don't have any on hand, you can replace the nuts with oatmeal. Either way is good but has it's own unique flavor. So, if it's chilly outside...gather the kids together (or yourself like I would!) and make some blondies. This is a simple recipe and would be GREAT for letting kids help. Caramel Blondies

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 stick butter or margarine

2 eggs

1 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons vanilla

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix sugar and butter together. Add eggs and vanilla. When smooth add dry ingredients and nuts. Mix until just blended. Spray a 13X9 pan. Pour the batter into this pan and place into the oven. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

A Marriage Made...in the Oven

This past Sunday, my Sunday School class - dubbed the GAP class for Graduates And Professionals - had a lunch after church. Because I'm not very picky about what I take, I decied to tell the hostess to let me know what she needed. I was told to bring a vegetable. Hmmm...green bean casserole was already coming, there were going to be salads...I need to take something that's not green. I've taken roasted squash before plus that costs too much right now to take a lot of fresh squash (yellow, mind you!). What's in season, I ask myself. The only thing I can think of is winter squash and sweet potato. Well, I've recently discovered that, although I CANNOT eat a baked sweet potato, I do like roasted sweet potatoes. So, at the grocery store, I picked up a HUGE sweet potato. Honestly, I felt a little bad for the thing. It was going to end up being picked up and thrown to the side because it was so big...too big to bake and, honestly, that's what most people get fresh sweet potatoes to do. Anyway, I brought the little guy home, chopped him up, and put him in the roasting pan. But he looked a little lonely. What can I put with Mr. Sweet Potato. Ah HA! I think the he would very much like to spend his last days with Miss Fuji Apple. So, out came Miss Apple (actually two)...they were chopped and mixed with Mr. Sweet Potato. It was a beautiful marriage melded together with some cinnamon (the spice of their lives), thyme (what marriage survives without that!?), and allspice (um...a little twist to make things interesting?). I think all the flavors worked well together. My class members enjoyed it as well. In fact, I told several of them the "recipe." I think the apples added a lot. Because of the health benefits from sweet potatoes AND apples (they're a healthy couple too!), this is my entry to Sweetnicks' ARF-Tuesday. Check by and see all the other wonderful recipes. Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples

1 LARGE sweet potato, cubed

2 medium Fuji apples, cubed (probably could add one more)

1/2 onion, chopped

1 teaspoon dried thyme (not rubbed)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

sprinkle all spice

1 Tablespoon olive oil

cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Put potatoes, onions, and apples in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil (probably 1 Tablespoon) and then "top off" with some cooking spray. Toss this around the pan. Sprinkle the thyme, cinnamon, and allspice over the veggies and toss. Place pan in oven and bake for 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender. Check at 10 minutes to stir. After 20 minutes, be sure the potatoes are tender...if not, keep going.