pumpkin pie...

I know Thanksgiving has come and gone but just had to post a homemade Pumpkin Pie recipe. It is so good and easy!

Crust:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup shortening
1 teaspoon salt
7 Tlbs ice cold water

Using a pastry cutter, blend ingredients until well blended. Roll dough out on floured surface using a roller til about 1/2 inch thick. Roll dough around roller and place in a 9 inch pie pan.

You will have a little bit of extra crust. What I like to do is roll them out again and make little strips and sprinkle cinnamon and bake in the oven until golden brown. Makes a nice treat!

Filling: (recipe is on Libby's 100% pure Pumpkin can)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 large eggs
1 can (15 oz.) Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin (don't get the brown can and the one that says "easy" on it)
1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated Milk

Mix sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a small bowl. Beat eggs in a large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spiced mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into unbaked pie shell.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake 40-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool on rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

I also make my own whipped cream. Just get 1 pint of heavy whipping cream and pour into a bowl that has been left frozen for a few hours. (This helps the cream to stay cool while mixing) Use 1 teaspoon of vanilla and some sugar to taste. Maybe about 1/2 cup - 2/3 cup. Depending on your desire of sweetness and beat with a beater until the cream thickens. Takes about 5 minutes to thicken.

Cinnamon Roasted Chicken with Pumpkin-Sage Grits

Sorry, I posted the pumpkin cinnamon rolls and mentioned another recipe I had planned to make that week... and then I got sick. Now I am better and cooking again. So here is the second pumpkin recipe I made this month. We all liked it , but the grits should definitely be eaten with the chicken. They compliment each other well, but I think alone, the grits are kind of bland. So here is the recipe, and as usual I put little side notes of changes I made...

Cinnamon Roasted Chicken with Pumpkin-Sage Grits

Ingredients

3 chicken breast halves (I then cut them in half, so into six pieces of chicken)

1 T vegetable oil (I used olive oil)

1½ t salt

1 t cinnamon

½ t black pepper

1½ c water

2/3 c instant grits

½ c canned pumpkin

1 T snipped fresh sage (I used closer to 3 T)

1/3 c shredded cheddar cheese

Sage leaves

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place halved chicken breast halves into a baking dish. Drizzle chicken with oil and sprinkle with 1 tsp. of the salt, the cinnamon, and black pepper. Rub the spices over all sides of the chicken. Bake for 20 minutes or until no longer pink and juices run clear. (I had to bake for 40 minutes for them to be fulled cooked.)

About 10 minutes before the chicken is done, in a saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in grits until combined. Stir in pumpkin, sage, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cook, uncovered, for 5 to 7 minutes or until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in cheese.

To serve, spoon grits onto dinner plates and top with chicken breast halves. Add sage leaves on top.

Enjoy!

instant potato soup.

this kept us nice & toasty during the winter storm today! i love that it doesn't require actual potatoes. i don't always have potatoes on hand, but i always have the instant variety :)

ingredients:
2 Tbsp onion, chopped
2 Tbsp butter
3 cups milk
1 can chicken broth
4 servings worth of dry instant mashed potatoes
1 1/2 tsp salt
pepper

directions:
in a saucepan, saute onion in butter over low heat. add milk, chicken broth, salt & pepper, and potato flakes. heat to almost boiling, stirring constantly. remove from heat. garnish with paprika, parsley, or grated cheese. add milk if too thick.

optional:
i added 2 cups of cubed, cooked potatoes. i think next time i'll try adding 4 slices of finely chopped bacon when i cook the onions.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup and yummy breadsticks

Soup: 5-6 chicken breasts, cubed
2 Tbsp butter
1 32 oz container chicken broth
Minced onion
1 1/2 cup baby carrots, chopped
1 1/2 cup celery, chopped
8 cubes chicken bouillon
Seasoning salt
1 16 oz. package of Grandma's frozen egg noodles (can be found in the frozen aisle)

Brown chicken tenders with butter, minced onion and seasoning salt.

In a 1 1/2 gallon pan (I think it is how big it is) fill pan half with water. Pour in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add carrots, celery, chicken bouillon, seasoning salt (to taste). (If you don't have seasoning salt, you can add celery salt and onion salt.) Add browned chicken and noodles. Cook until noodles and vegetables are soft.

Breadsticks:
I get the bread dough from Dick's bakery. Or you can use any white bread dough of your own recipe.

Flour surface and roller and roll out dough until flat. Cut into thin short strips and put on greased baking sheet. Let rise for several hours. Spread melted butter on dough and sprinkle McCormick's Salad Supreme on. Bake at 350 degrees for about 11 minutes or until done. If you are butter lovers, you can add more melted butter to the breadsticks right after you take them out of the oven.

Warning: breadsticks are VERY irresistible!!!

Italian Tortellini Soup

I've posted a Tortellini recipe in the past - but it was more of a stew, quite a bit thicker, while this one is definitely a savory soup.  This one may trump all however.  I'm in LOVE with this soup.  Pretty sure I ate it for a week straight after I made it; not only because it makes a lot, but I really loved it!  Perfect for our cold winter days ahead.  I challenge you to cook up a savory pot of this yumminess . . .

Also, this soup would be fabulous with this Macaroni Grill bread.

(Recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!)

ingredients
1 lb hamburger
1 1/2 t minced garlic
1 onion
salt and pepper
3  14.5 oz cans Italian Stewed Tomatoes
1  8 oz can tomato sauce
1  6 oz can tomato paste
8 C water
8 t beef bullion
1 green pepper, chopped
1 C carrots, chopped
1 C fresh or frozen green beans, chopped
1 can kidney beans
1 C zucchini, chopped
salt and pepper
1 pk. Good Seasoning Italian Dressing mix
1 can tomato soup
1 20 oz pkg Cheese Tortellini (I used the refrigerated kind, but you can easily use dried. Costco has a good deal on refrigerated kind for $10)

instructions
1. Brown your hamburger in a large skillet with the onion, garlic and a bit of salt and pepper.


2. Put the canned tomatoes in a blender and blend them up nice and lovely like. Just for 30 seconds or so.

3. Put the meat mixture, blended tomatoes and all other ingredients BUT THE TORTELLINI and TOMATO SOUP into a large soup pot. Bring it to a boil then reduce the heat and let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes. I like to leave the lid partially on. Less to clean up, and it keeps the heat some what trapped.

4. In a separate medium sized sauce pan cook the tortellini according to package directions. Be sure not to over cook it. When it's done drain the water from the tortellini and add it to the large soup pot.

5. Stir in the tomato soup and let it simmer for just 5 more minutes.
 
Yields: 12 servings (lots of leftovers!  Have some people over for dinner, or freeze half)

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

So I found this yummy recipe on my friend Sarah's crafty blog, (she found it on another blog herself) and I am SO glad she shared. I love pumpkin anything (look for another recipe later this week that I am trying out with pumpkin.) Pumpkin cinnamon rolls? Frankly, you just can't go wrong with that combination. Here's the recipe. I did a tiny amount of tweeking, and then the cook time I recommend is the cook time for me here in Utah (Sarah is in DC.)

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

Dough:

¼ c warm water

2¼ t yeast

1/3 c warm milk

1 large egg, beaten

¾ c pumpkin puree

1 T melted butter

2 c white flour

1¼ c whole wheat flour

½ c brown sugar

1 t salt

½ t cinnamon

¼ t ginger

¼ t cardamom

Filling:

¼ c melted butter

2/3 c white sugar

¼ c brown sugar

2 t cinnamon

½ t allspice

½ t ginger

¼ t nutmeg

1/8 t cloves

½c chopped pecans

Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 ounces cream cheese (¼ stick)

4 T butter, softened

½ t vanilla

½ t lemon juice

1-1½ c powdered sugar

Instructions:

Dough:

Stir yeast into water and let rest for 5 minutes before stirring.

In a separate bowl, add milk, eggs, pumpkin, butter, 1¼ c whole wheat flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom. Add yeast mixture and stir for 2 minutes. Add white 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 back into bowl, cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Filling:

Combine the sugars, nuts, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and cloves in a small bowl, set aside.

Frosting:

Mix the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and lemon juice until smooth. Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, blending in between, until well mixed and desired consistency is reached.

Assembly:

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. I like bigger cinnamon rolls, so I sliced my log into 12 rolls using string. Place rolls in a greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover with a towel and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 25 minutes.

Frost warm rolls with the cream cheese frosting and serve immediately. I think the rolls are rich enough with the pumpkin flavor, and didn’t want the frosting to be to dominating taste, so my measurements above are half what Sarah used. I thought it more than enough icing to compliment the rolls.

Sorry, pretty pathetic photos, but I had a hungry crowd waiting.
There wasn't much time to take a quick snapshot.

Enjoy!