Pumpkin Pie

Okay, I know I am a little late for this year's holiday dinners but here is our favorite Pumpkin Pie recipe. It is a big hit in my extended family and a friend has asked for the recipe so here it is:

Pumpkin Walnut Pie

1 9-inch pastry shell
1/2-1 c. chopped walnuts(depeding on your taste for nuts)
1/4 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 (15oz) can pumpkin
1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
2 eggs
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground ginger

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In small bowl, combine nuts, sugar & 1/2 t. cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over bottom of pastry shell. In large bowl, combine pumpkin, sweet cond. milk, eggs, remaining 1 t. cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, & ginger; mix well. pour filling over nut mixture in pastry shell. Bake 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking 35 to 45 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean. Cool. Enjoy. Refrigerate leftovers.

Merry Christmas!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

"Mommy, my finger is stuck!"

These are the words I heard this afternoon from my Megan after I had put her down for a nap. Without seeing why her finger was stuck and in what, many thoughts went through my head as I headed to her room. As many of us know, a child's finger can fit into many things and get stuck. A nose, a door, an electrical socket are just to name a few. So I open Megan's bedroom door to find her sitting up in bed crying because her finger has become stuck in her hair to the point that it was cutting off circulation. She has a bad habit of sucking her thumb with one hand and twirling her hair with the other. Sometimes like today, there is a little too much twirling and the hair gets wrapped so tight that I have to cut her hair to free her finger! I doubt she has learned her lesson today but she may run out of hair before she gives up the habit!

Good Times

Two dollars well spent at the after Halloween sales!

Holiday Favorites

I think we all have a favorite Christmas time treat. The kind of goodie that only comes out once a year. But because it only comes out once a year, that makes it all the more special and even more tastier because you can't get it anytime you crave it. So just in case you don't already know about these two, I will show you a picture and tell you where to get them.

The chocolate oranges are fun too. You whack them on a hard surface so that they break into individual slices inside the wrapper. I found them at Target but if you live near me, I may have bought the last of the milk chocolate flavor. My sweet husband found some more for me at the CVS Pharmacy because I am giving them out as gifts to Anna's teachers. "'Orange' I glad your my teacher."

The peanut brittle is the perfect consistency and has lots of peanuts. The brand is Old Dominion and I bought it at the Wonder bread Hostess outlet store, of all places. I like Peanut Brittle but it is one of those things I would rather buy than make from scratch.

So there you have it and if you haven't tried them yet, your time is running out!

Moods

Mood(noun)-"A state of mind, emotion. An inclination; disposition."

Oh yes, I have many moods and very seldom am I in the mood to clean. It is just not in my disposition to want to clean a lot. So today I actually had the inclination to clean my kitchen top to bottom. It may have something to do with the Pine-sol smell while I am pregnant or maybe just the fact that my husband has been gone all week and I need at least one room in the house presentable when he gets home. I started right after lunch, finished up and enjoyed the clutter-free countertops and clean sink for about an hour before I decided I was in the mood to make gingerbread dough. Not as clean but I can still smell the Pine-sol. Another moment, another mood.

I used the recipe from the Scovil Bakery in Nauvoo, Illinois for the first time. I love their cookies and I am not usually one to like a gingerbread cookie. Hopefully they are as good from my kitchen as they are from theirs. If not, I will know it is the extra bit of history and years of experience there in Nauvoo that make them the best. They must sit in the refrigerator for a little while so when the time is right they will begin new lives as little gingerbread girls and boys.

Here is the recipe if you are interested, the recipe makes a lot of dough:
1 cup sugar
1 cup sorghum or molasses
3/4 c oil or lard
1/2 cup hot water

Combine the above and then add:
2 eggs

Mix together the following:
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ginger
6 or 7 cups of white flour

Combine everything together and form dough.
Refrigerate dough overnight
Roll out and cut with cutters
Bake 350 degrees for 10 minutes

To roll out the dough we (the bakery) use Pam in place of flour

Cookies freeze well and are softer and more flavorful after freezing/