Sugar Cookie Pumpkins

I relapsed this weekend but before I got sick again, I made these cute Sugar Cookie Pumpkins for my youngest's classroom party:

And, in order to keep on track with my new lease on life, I am making sure that there is always one dessert in the house. That way, we aren't jonesing for sweets. We have our reward for doing good at the end of the day:-) I made a few extra of these and without the embellishments, it is actually not that bad for you: One cookie is 133 calories and 6 grams of fat. Everything in moderation.

As for my health, I am still being tackled by my hormones. They are making me very sick and I have to be on them for another month until they can implement a permanent solution to my problem. So, send me all your positive energy. I am going to need all the help that I can get!


Playing along with Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom .

Pecan Pie Gone Wrong

What do you do when your pecan pie goes this wrong? Make ice cream topping:-)

Playing along with Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom and Wordful Wednesday on parenting By dummies:-)

Apple Pie Sundae

My MiL brought me a bushel of apples from the apple orchard. So, I spent the weekend tackling this...

...into this...

...which in turn became this:

An Apple Pie Sundae!! Vanilla ice cream with apple pie filling syrup topped with whipped cream and garnished with peanuts and Poor Man Cookie:-)

Gifts of Good Taste

I am going to take a break from gardening for a few weeks to play along with Simply Sugar and Gluten Free for her Holiday Food Fest.

Her host Cents to Get Debt Free is featuring Gifts of Good Taste and I thought it would be great to show you how I am packing my cookies for gift giving this holiday season. Here is what they look like:

And here is how you do it:

(These instructions are for 3 inch cookies)

Step 1: Get a piece of cellaphane that is 6 inches squared.

Step 2: Fold both sides 1 inch towards the center:



Step 3: Fold the bottom half way up to the center and secure with tape on both sides:


Step 4: Place the cookie face-down in the little baggie you just made for it:

Step 5: Bring the top flap down and secure it with a pretty sticker of some sort:

Step 6: Flip it over and viola! It is ready for gift giving by itself or put it with others in an attractive basket:

Pumpkin Gingerbread Cupcakes

...You got it:-) I got a bunch of requests for the recipe for my Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Thanksgiving entry . And I am obliging if nothing else so here it is:

Pumpkin Gingerbread Cupcakes

Ingredients:

3 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable

4 eggs

2/3 cups water

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin puree

2 tsp ground ginger or 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

1 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

Orange-colored sugar glaze (see recipe below)

18 cinnamon sticks

mint vines for garnish, if desired

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 12 bundt-style cupcake pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, oil and eggs. Beat until smooth. Add water and beat until well blended. Stir in pumpkin, ginger, allspice and cinnamon.

3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend just until they are incorporated.

4. Fill each cup 2/3 fill. Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

5. Dip each cupcake in prepared sugar glaze (see recipe below). Cut each cinnamon stick in half and place in the center of each "pumpkin". Garnish with mint vines, if desired.

Makes 36 cupcakes

Sugar Glaze:

Ingredients:

5 lb powdered sugar

1 tbl milk

Orange food color

Directions:

Mix all ingredients until combined.

Pumpkin Pie Cocktails

The best way to start a Thanksgiving celebration is with a great cocktail. Mine tastes just like pumpkin pie, so it's like starting with dessert!

It is made with a pumpkin-infused vodka. There are many different flavored vodkas out there and if you can find a pumpkin one, that is the easiest. If not, you can infuse your own! It takes a little bit of preparation beforehand but it is soooooo worth it:-)

Pumpkin Pie Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 part Pumpkin Infused Vodka (see recipe below)
1 splash of Cointreau
Ice
Pumpkin pie spice, for garnish
1 dallop of whipped cream, for garnish
1 cinnamon stick, for garnish

Directions:
1. Swirl Cointreau in a martini glass and then dump out.

2. If desired, rim glass with pumpkin pie spice for garnish.

3. Shake Pumpkin Infused Vodka and ice and strain into the glass.

4. If desired, garnish with a dallop of whipped cream and a cinnamon stick.

Serves: 1

Pumpkin Infused Vodka
Ingredients:
1 can (10 oz) pumpkin puree
1 quart vodka
1 tbls vanilla
1 tbls nutmeg

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a 1 1/2 quart mason jar. Seal the jar and let stand 4 days or up to 3 months. Shake the jar every couple of days for even infusion.

2. When the infusion period is over, strain the vodka through cheesecloth into a 1 quart jar. Your infusion is now ready to serve.

Carmel Apples

This weekend, we went a Halloween party at the neighborhood fun house (you know, the one house everyone gathers at). The hostess asked me to bring carmel apples. No problem right? Wrong.

You see, it is the neighborhood fun house however, the mom is a little...shall I say scattered. In the short time I have known her, I have learned that plans have to be confirmed and reconfirmed and even then, that doesn't mean that it going to happen as we agreed. Many a play date have been rescheduled at the last minute and lately, she just doesn't even show up for them at all. It's becoming very frustrating.

So, as the day of the party approached, I still didn't know what time, how many apples to make or even if the party was still going on. So, I called and left a message. She called me back...the night before the party to confirm it was still going on. She asked if I was still bringing carmel apples and I said that I was prepared to bring a dozen. She said, "Oh no. You have to bring at least 2 dozen." Have to bring?? My annoyance grew.

After a couple minutes of bitching about how completely rude that was, I grudingly went on to make the 2 dozen carmel apples that she requested:

So, because I was doing this grudgingly and because it was last minute, they turned out less than pretty:


So, I designed a plastic wrap smoke screen to hide their ugliness.
Then, I further disguised the ugliness with this basket:

Now, I feel better.
By the way, she wasn't even expecting 24 people at the party!! She was expecting 15 at the most! After all was said and done, I left a dozen there. So, here's my question...would you have been annoyed?
Carmel Apples:
Ingredients:
12 apples
12 sticks
2 bags of carmels (approximately 40 pieces)
1 small jar of peanuts, chopped

Directions:
1. Unwrap all of the carmels and melt them over low heat.

2. Twist stems off of the apples. Insert sticks into the apples at the stem.

3. Dip apples into carmel and then the peanuts. Place the apples on waxed paper to set.

Makes 12 apples

Susie's Homemade Apple Pie

As promised, this is my apple pie.

When it comes to pies, I am more of a purest in terms of design. I really like the rustic look and the flavor speaks for itself. So, go pick some apples and try this recipe today:-)

Susie's Homemade Apple Pie
Fail Proof Pie Crust (See Recipe Below)
6 cups apples, peeled, thinly sliced
3/4 cup sugar plus additional sugar for top crust
2 tbls flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon plus
1/8 tsp nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Prepare the pie crust recipe. Line 9-inch pie plate with 1/2 the recipe.

3. In a large bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add apples and gently toss. Transfer apples to pastry lined pie plate. Cover with remaining pie crust. Brust crust with enough milk until it pools in places. Sprinkle generously with sugar and cinnamon. Cut slits in the crust for venting.

4. Shield the edges of the crust with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 25 to 30 more minutes or until top is golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Servings: 8

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour and 10 minutes

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/8 of a recipe (8.1 ounces).
Percent daily values based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 706.1
Calories From Fat (43%) 302.54
% Daily Value
Total Fat 33.68g 52%
Saturated Fat 11.83g 59%
Cholesterol 48.74mg 16%
Sodium 13.51mg <1>
Recipe Cost: $4.26
Serving Cost: $0.53

And, if you have left over pie crust, make Poor-Man Cookies. It is another recipe my mother-in-law gave me. She got it from her mother. They grow up on a farm in Kansas and nothing was wasted...NOTHING. Besides recycling pie crust, they are really good. Give this a try:
Directions:
1. Roll out leftover pie crust on a cookie sheet.

2. Brush with enough milk until it pools in places.

3. Generously sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

4. Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown.

5. Break into pieces and enjoy.