A Favorite Cookie Recipe of Mine

I posted on Facebook today a picture of all of the bread I made and a batch of cookies.  The bread recipe is already on this blog- here's the link to the page because it was written a long time ago: Bread recipe.  I wrote it for 2 loaves, but it is easily doubled.  I always make 4 at a time.

The cookies are a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I've perfected to my tastes, and I must say they are perfect!  (for my family anyway)
Here Goes:
Tara's chocolate chip cookies
1/2 C butter
1/2 C shortening ( plain or butter flavored is fine) ( this helps them not flatten out so much)
3/4 C brown sugar
3/4 C white sugar
2 large eggs
1 t vanilla
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
2 C whole wheat flour
1 C white flour
1 bag chocolate chips

Cream butter, shortening, and sugars.  About 3 minutes, or until it is really creamy and lighter in color.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix in.  Add the rest of the dry ingredients (flours, salt, baking soda) and mix well.  Add chocolate chips last.  Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes.

If you want an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, do the same recipe until the flour, and instead add: 1 C whole wheat flour, 1 3/4 cup white flour and 1 1/2 cup quick oats.

• Here's the Key: I love my cookies thicker, and soft in the middle so I add the shortening to help the cookie stay more round and I have more flour than other chocolate chip cookie recipes.  
• Another thing- put your cookies on the cookie sheet in a round ball and don't flatten it out.  
• Make sure you take them out at 8 minutes or as soon as you start seeing the first tiny bit of golden brown color on them.  Not all over it, but just on the highest tip of the cookie or whatever.  They wont look done, but when you take them out they will continue cooking on the sheet for a bit, so they will be perfect.  
• Transfer to wire racks after they've sat about 5 minutes on the cookie sheet.

Hey! Some food for thought!

Well, I finally got my pictures all uploaded to my home computer, and boy is this overwelming!  I have so much I want to share!  So, to make it easy on me I decided to share my favorite food adventures from our trip.  I can't believe that I didn't get a picture of it all, but it's the taste that you will miss out on most.

Since being pregnant, I have had the strongest aversion to any Mexican food.  Just the thought of it made me want to puke.  However, within the last month (basically since I started feeling better) I have been craving it.  Lucky for us, we got to get our Mexican food!  I was in heaven.  Randy's mom and step dad took us, and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.  The girls got some fried ice cream, and that's about all that they ate, but they were happy.

I think that this picture is funny cause you can see Emma teasing Randy with her ice cream.  She was going to wipe it on him, and he's ducking.

Isn't that thing HUGE?  

My next craving I got to indulge in was FRESH SEAFOOD.  I miss it so much since living in Oklahoma.  When we were at my parent's house we drove to the coast, a fishing town, and got the freshest seafood you could eat.  Oh, I'm drooling just thinking about it.  I ordered seafood chowder, and randy got fish and chips.  The girls got halibut and crab legs (kids sizes), and it was all done to perfection.  

Next, is blueberries!  My family LOVES blueberries too.  Ok, well, we love all good food.  We went picking and got 70 lbs.  They were big, and beautiful, and juicy, and we probably all ate about 5 pounds each while we were picking ( I know, bad), they were sooo good.

Here are the 70 lbs.  There are some under the van seats, if you can see them.  We froze most of them, ate a box, and then mom made a cobbler with blueberries and blackberries that we had picked.  It was the best and freshest cobbler I've had in at least 4 years.  Oh, and the blackberries were so sweet and big and juicy.  

We went on a hike and guess what I saw?!  Huckleberries.  Tons of them.  However, this was the torturous part of the trip, because they were there to taunt me but they were all green still.  Not ripe at all.  I was so sad.

BUT, we DID get fresh Washington peaches from Royal City (Randy's home town).  They have orchards like crazy there, and I PROMISE you, there is nothing like fresh produce.  Straight from the plant.  Those peaches and nectarines were so sweet and juicy and good!  It was like eating a cube of sugar, they were so sweet.  Mom and I made a batch of peach jam, and I got to bring it home with me.  I'm hoarding it.  I really miss all of that good food.  So, if you see me and wonder if I'm looking bigger because of food or pregnancy, don't worry.  It's all baby.  =)

Blueberry Torte Squares

Um, sure, I took that picture. Ok, I admit, I forgot to take one before it was gone. I got this recipe and picture off of taste of home, but of course altered the recipe a bit. YUM! I love blueberries! I loved these squares. I took these for Easter dinner and they were all gone before I left.

Here goes:

• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup sugar, divided
• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour ( I did 3/4 C whole wheat, and 1/2 C white flour- love the nutty whole wheat flavor it gives it)
• 1 package (8 ounces) reduced fat cream cheese (neufatchel cheese)
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 carton (12 ounces) frozen reduced-fat whipped topping, thawed (OR, whip about a cup or so of cream with 1/4 t cream of tarter (to help stabilize it) and don't add sugar. I did this because that whipped topping is made with oil and corn syrup, and I just couldn't use it this time. Plus, there is enough sugar in the recipe. Sometimes I do, but not today, and I loved it this way)
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 cup cold water
• 3 cups fresh blueberries (I used frozen berries, it made no difference)

Directions

• In a small bowl, cream butter and 2 tablespoons sugar. Gradually add flour and mix well. Press onto the bottom of a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
• In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Fold in whipped topping; spread mixture over crust. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Stir in blueberries and remaining sugar. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Cool to room temperature.
• Spoon topping over cream cheese layer. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Cut into squares. Yield: 2 dozen.

A good spring/summer recipe

My pictures never do a dish justice. In fact, I think that my pictures make things look gross. Sorry, people, but you just have to believe me, not the poor picture, when I tell you this is good. I made this a couple of weeks ago, and loved it. I've had it before, but thought that this is something I want to keep around, for when the garden is producing, and just because I like it.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds small red potatoes, quartered
• 3 cups fresh or frozen peas
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups 2% milk (or 1 % milk works good too)
• 1 cup half-and-half cream

Directions

• Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a
• boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 8-12 minutes or until
• tender. Drain.
• Meanwhile, place peas and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 3-5 minutes or until tender.
• Drain.
• In a large saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Stir in the
• flour, salt and pepper until blended; gradually add milk and cream.
• Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
• Stir in potatoes and peas; heat through. Yield: 12 servings.

Intermission- With a cupcake

I'm really into cupcakes lately. I LOVE them. I think it is my dessert of choice 90% of the time. This cupcake recipe is one of my FAVORITES! Yummm, it is so chocolatey, moist and perfect in that little cup of goodness. The frosting just adds to it's greatness. It is carmel frosting. I have made these a few times lately and I've gotten good reviews. Even a couple of "this is the best cupcake I've ever had". So, all I'm saying is, you gotta try this one.

Of course, I've altered the recipe so that I don't feel as bad about eating it. The original recipe called for 1 Cup of oil, and 1/2 Cup of butter. I used my applesauce replacement and couldn't even taste the difference. Ok, well, there was a difference. My cupcake paper wasn't oily, and my tongue didn't have a coating of oil on it when I was done eating. That's about it. This revised version has been the one bringing in all of the good reviews.

Texas Chocolate Cupcakes

2 C flour

2 C sugar

1 t salt

1/2 t baking soda

1/4 cup baking cocoa

1 C water

1 C applesauce (unsweetened)

1/2 C butter

2 eggs

1/3 C buttermilk

1 t vanilla extract

Carmel Icing (No, I didn't alter this one. I'm afraid. If you have any suggestions, I'm willing to try)

1 C packed brown sugar

1/2 C butter, cubed

1/4 C milk

2-2 1/4 C powdered sugar

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring cocoa, water, applesauce, and butter to a boil. Gradually add to dry ingredients; mix well. Combine eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla; gradually add to batter and mix well (batter will be very thin).

Fill paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

For icing, in a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter and milk. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to medium. Do not stir. Cook for 306 minutes or until bubbles form in center of mixture and syrup turns amber. Remove from the heat; transfer to a small mixing bowl. Cool to room temperature. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Spread or pipe onto cupcakes.

Yield: 2 dozen or less

Hi~ It's me again...

Well, I just wanted to do a Food For Thought, but saw all of these pictures that I've been waiting to share. So, this is a little bit of a catch-up. We've had an ice/snow storm yesterday and today, so we're all together again at home. I love these days. I am glad it happened now because I'm taking the girls with me to go visit my sister Haley and her new baby Sadie. We're leaving on Monday, so a nice long weekend with Randy is a great way to stock up on time with him.

It's been a weird winter for us. Warm, nice weeks, with a snow storm in-between. I don't mind though. I've loved the warmer weather because it has made it easier to get myself out the door to go running. I'm training for a half marathon-hopefully the one in Dallas in Feb. I don't know, I might just do my own though. I feel a little guilty spending all that money to run in Dallas when I could run here. Anyways, last Saturday I ran around the lake. I haven't done that since my twinkie left-over 2 years ago. That's 9 1/2 miles, by the way. I was pretty happy with that accomplishment. I was going to do it again tomorrow, but with all of the ice on the ground I don't think I'll make it alive.

So, I decided to start potty training Emma one day. She was so good and never messed on the floor or anything all day. It was difficult, cause I was constantly watching her, but she did really good. She went potty and poopy (sorry guys) in the toilet and was pretty successful. Until... 5 pm when she had a little of her sickness left over I guess and she went on my carpet! So, I decided that I needed to wait until she was better to really train her. I just loved seeing her in the cute little underwear though. So cute. She still tells me "poo poo" when she has to go, and I take her. Some times we have success, and others we don't, but I haven't worked on her since the incident. I will after I get back from Haley's.

We did a fingerpainting session lateley. I think this was Emmas first time doing it all by herself. She went crazy.

I don't know why they were still in their PJ's and finger painting. Must have been a busy morning or something. Anyways, I don't know if you can see it, but Kenadi is getting more freckles on her nose. I love it. Cute little thing. She's telling me that she's Cinderella now, or Ariel, or Tinkerbell. She's been dressing up everyday to look like a princess. I enjoy her imagination.

Isn't this a funny picture? Look at Emma's hair. That was after I washed the paint out of it.

I've been enjoying this face lately. She has so many expressions.

Kissable cheeks.

We saw these lights after Christmas. I loved them.

THE MOST DIVINE WAFFLES EVER~ (and I'm not much of a waffle fan)

When I had Emma, my mom bought me this cookbook in the Denver airport. I love it, especially since I'm a huge breakfast fan. It's called, "Eating Inn Style! Colorado Cook Book". It is a cookbook from all of these bed and breakfasts in Colorado. Their breakfasts-brunch-afternoon tea-picnic-snacks-and Romantic Dinner foods. Can I say YUM?
Here you go. I've even tried similar recipes in other cookbooks, and I can say that this one is the best so far.

Overnight Yeast Waffles
Serves about 8-10

1/2 C warm water
1 pkg dry yeast
2 C warm milk
1 stick of butter, melted
1 t salt
1 t sugar
2 C flour
2 eggs, well beaten
1/4 t baking soda

Mix water with yeast in a large bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes or until dissolved. Add milk, butter, salt, sugar, and flour to yeast mixture. Beat until smooth an dwell blended. Cover and leave overnight, until doubled in volume. Just before baking, add eggs and baking soda. Stir until well mixed. The batter will be very thin. Pour 1/2 to 3/4 cup into a very hot waffle iron. Bake until golden. Remove and serve at once with a dollop of yogurt and berries. The batter will keep for several days in the refrigerator. Stir well before baking.

I loved it with the yogurt and berries on top. I didn't think it needed more sugar, but the syrup was great too. These melt in your mouth. Have I said that yet?

Oh, one more thing. Since I'm failing at producing a food for thought on FRIDAY, I'm now naming it, "Food for Thought". Forget the Friday thing. Now it's random, when I want it, or should I say, when the computer works? Don't worry, we'll get a new one soon.

Bean and Bacon Soup

Surprise! ANOTHER Food For Thought Friday! Well, I don't have the picture on the computer so I was going to wait and do this one until I did get the picture, but I decided that I will never do it if I wait, so the picture will have to come later.

My favorite soup from the can is Bean and Bacon soup. I LOVE it, and this recipe is very similar, but much better than the canned version.

This is an altered recipe of Paula Deen's. I think it works great for the season- I used leftover ham from Thanksgiving to make it, and a Christmas ham would work great for this too.

3/4 C dry navy beans

3/4 C dry red beans

1-2 C ham, or 6 slices of bacon

1 carrot

1 red bell pepper

1 small onion, chopped

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/2 t paprika

2 1/2 c chicken broth, or more to desired thickness

1 16-ounce can of crushed tomatoes

1 bay leaf

garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste

To quick-soak the beans, place them in a pot and add 4 cups of water. Bring the water to boil, and boil it for 1 minute. Remove the pot from heat and let the beans sit for an hour. Meanwhile, fry the bacon (or ham) in a pan until crisp. Crumble the bacon, and return to pan with the carrot, and bell pepper. Saute for 5 minutes. Add the onion, an d garlic and saute for 5 more minutes. Stir in the paprika. Cook, stirring, for a few minutes longer to develop the flavor of the paprika. Next, combine all of the ingredientsl in a crock pot and let it cook all day on low until the beans are as tender as you want them. About 6-8 hours. Or, simmer it on the stove in a pot for 2 hours. Thin the soup with the chicken broth. Remove and discard the bay leaf.

[I HOPE this isn't] The Last of the Season

I found Kenadi and Emma playing so good in their room the other day. It was so cute. Emma was "reading" the Hymn book and Kenadi was "reading" the atlas. She was telling Emma about all of the places we've been, where everybody lives, and where we were all born. They were all happy and content. I loved just listening and watching them, and I got the feeling of, "I just don't want this to end. PLEASE don't grow up so fast!" I've had a few of those moments this week. I wish I could capture them all.

On an entirely different note, HAMBURGERS! Obviously I'm not a food photographer, but this helps give you the gist. We've had our fair share of hamburgers this year. We like to get out the grill a LOT. Our weather has been beautiful, and today was 77 deg., perfect grilling weather. I've enjoyed a few different burgers. So today I recreated one of our favorites. I like this one because I like a few things on my burger like onions and peppers, but I like mine saute'd first. I would rather mine not be as potent or crunchy like they are when they are raw. This is much faster and easier. I don't have to get out an extra pan, and they have great flavor!

Hope you like it as much as we do!

Favorite Stuffed Hamburgers

1 lb of lean hamburger meat

3 T BBQ sauce

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 T mustard

1 egg

1/2 C oatmeal

Salt/pepper to taste

Montreal steak seasoning- a few shakes

Well, all of these measurements are estimated, but it's close. I squish all of the above ingredients together. Divide mixture into 4 equal parts. Take one of the parts and half it, squish it into a very flat patty. Next, add what you like in the middle. I like mushrooms, onion, green or red pepper, basil, etc. Randy likes hot peppers, onion, cilantro, and green pepper. Slice all of these center ingredients VERY thin and add them to the middle of your flat patty. With the other half of your meat, squish it very flat and put on top of your fillings. Pinch edges together. Cook with grill on medium heat for 5 minutes, and flip them over for another 4 or 5 minutes. Check to see if they are done.

Chicken Alfredo Veggie Pizza

I tried this recipe off of Taste of Home this week, and we loved it! We especially loved the crust... it's definitely worth a try!

Ingredients

• 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic-herb seasoning blend
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• 1 cup fresh baby spinach
• 4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1-1/4 cups 2% milk
• 1-1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
• 1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• Dash white pepper
• 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 plum tomato, seeded and chopped
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/4 cup sliced ripe olives
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese

Directions

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the oil, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, seasoning blend, whole wheat flour and 2-1/4 cups bread flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a stiff dough.
• Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a bowl coated with cooking spray, turning once to coat the top. Cover and let rise for 20 minutes.
• Punch dough down; roll into a 15-in. circle. Sprinkle cornmeal over a 14-in. pizza pan coated with cooking spray. Transfer dough to prepared pan; build up edges slightly. Bake at 425° for 12-14 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
• Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, bring 1/2 in. of water to a boil. Add spinach; cover and boil for 3-5 minutes or until wilted. Drain and squeeze dry; set aside.
• In a large saucepan, combine flour and milk until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add the chicken, Parmesan cheese, remaining salt, pepper and reserved spinach. Cook and stir over medium heat until cheese is melted.
• Spread sauce over crust; top with remaining ingredients. Bake 10-15 minutes longer or until cheeses are melted. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 slice equals 317 calories, 9 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 40 mg cholesterol, 476 mg sodium, 38 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 22 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2-1/2 starch, 2 lean meat, 1/2 fat.

Happy Birthday Emma!

This is how most of Emma's day went on her birthday. I felt really bad for her, because she is teething, and in tons of pain. Her little mouth has teeth popping out everywhere. She has 9 teeth, and about 4 coming through right now.

Emma was scared of the candle... we didn't figure out what she was crying for for about a minute, and so I held her on my lap and she was fine while I blew out the candle

She also decided to take 1 nap that day, and was extremely exhausted. So she wasn't happy until she got a little cake in her system.
She dug right in, and was just as messy as she could get. She LOVES getting messy, so this was right up her alley.

I made Emma's cake. I am taking a cake decorating class, and see what I could do just after the 1st class?! (I hope no REAL cake decorator looks at this...) This is also my food for thought Friday. I'll post more pictures of cakes as I make them.

We opened gifts. Emma loved them, and actually played with the toys more than the wrapping paper.

We went on a walk, cause Emma loves being outside, and walks too. She's been walking for over a month, but only if I stand her up and say, "walk to Daddy!". She still chooses to crawl, unless you hold her hand (or tell her to walk somewhere). She'll take a hold of your finger and walk you in circles around and around the house for as long as you'll let her.

She's also really into purses, and bags. Emma likes this little bag of Kenadi's a lot. She gets it first thing in the morning and puts it on her shoulder, or around her head, grabs her push-toy and is entertained for an hour. It's so cute.

I can't believe she's already 1...

I never understood how a family can automatically love the second kid just as much as the first, until I had Emma.
I learned how much love a heart can hold, and it has room for more!
Over the year I learned how different 2 kids in the same family can be. That is amazing.
Emma makes me laugh every day. She has the funniest grins... full of teeth. I love her smiles, and her kisses, and her rare cuddles. She likes to make us laugh and does silly noises to see our reaction. She'll say, "Thankyou!" "Uh Oh!" "Dadda", "Momma", and "Bye-Bye!" She loves her big sister Kenadi and follows her all over the house. We love our Emma!

1 Thumb UP, 2 Thumbs Down, and 1 In between...

I made Gingered Pumpkin Soup for dinner yesterday, and it did not go over well. I liked it, but soon found out that the rest of the family would not be big fans of the stuff. Kenadi was gagging on it, and Emma was spitting it out. Randy had his comments too. He likes "chunky" soup. Not pureed.

Here's the recipe in case you want to try it. I thought it had nice flavor, and I like creamy, pureed soup. I tried the recipe from the library pumpkin cookbook. It has so many great ideas, and I would like so many of it's recipe's. My family on the other hand...

Gingered Pumpkin Soup

2 1/4 lb pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped.

1 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled

1 T oil

1 large onion, peeled and chopped

2 t ground ginger

1 t ground turmeric

2 ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped

2 t light brown sugar

1/4 t nutmeg

1 strip thinly pared orange zest

2 1/2 C chicken stock

salt

pepper

1 1/4 C plain yogurt

1. Put the pumpkin and the piece of ginger in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, cover the pot and simmer for 15 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender. Drain thoroughly and discard the piece of ginger.

2. Heat the oil in a clean saucepan, add the onion and fry over moderate heat for 2 minutes. Stir in the ground ginger and turmeric, and cook for 1 minute.

3. Add the pumpkin, tomatoes, sugar, nutmeg, orange zest and stock, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool slightly. Discard the orange zest.

4. Puree the pumpkin mixture in a blender or food processor, then return the puree to the pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir in the yogurt. Heat gently. Taste, and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

5. Serve in warm bowls, garnished with grated Romano, Parmesan, or mozzarella cheese.
Serves 6

I don't think I'll do this one again. Too much work for the reviews I got. Kenadi took one bite and told me she wanted a hamburger... Hope you have better luck than I did!

I thought I'd add a few more pictures. Emma, "helping" in the kitchen. See my grocery list on the floor along with everything else she drug in there? I trip on more things cooking than I do playing soccer. (by the way, I have a game tonight and our team is severely loosing this season) I can't help but think it is so cute, though.

I finally got Kenadi a helmet so she can ride her bike that Grandpa Curtis got her. Now she feels a bit more secure riding.While Kenadi was riding the other night, Grandpa Curtis came over to give Emma a hand while she wanted to walk all over the driveway. Emma has been walking for about a month now, she'll go across the living room all by herself! However, she will only do it when Randy or I stand her up and tell her to "walk to Daddy/Mommy!". She hasn't decided to do it much on her own. I have caught her here and there doing it, but her mode of transportation is still crawling. That's ok... she's still into everything.

Lots of Food for Thought

I finally cooked one of my pumpkins this week. It was the largest one and gave me over 6 cups of puree! I am so excited for all of my pumpkin recipes. I made my favorite Pumpkin Pancakes, and I tried a new recipe this week. Pumpkin bread, but I (of course) changed a few things. It was definitely a great recipe, and I will do it again many times I'm sure. Veronica asked me a question on how I cooked my pumpkin, and I will explain that one to you all first. There are a few ways to do it; boiling chunks, microwaving, and baking. I chose the baking method, but I have done all 3. This time I preferred the baking method, because I wanted the smell in my house, and I didn't want extra water in my puree from the boiling method (you can always strain it and get extra water out).

How to Bake a pumpkin

If you have a normal size of baking pumpkin, cut it in half , scoop out the goop and seeds, and lay both halves face down on a baking sheet. Cover with foil, and bake at 375 for 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Check it at an hour. For my bigger pumpkin I cut it into 8 big pieces and layered them face down on the cookie sheet and cooked it about 1 &1/2 hours.

Let the pumpkin cool so you can handle it, and then scoop out the flesh into a strainer (over a bowl). Get rid of the extra water. Put pumpkin into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. THEN, I put the puree back into my fine strainer/colander and covered it and the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit most of the day to get out more water. If you don't have a mesh strainer, you can put cheese-cloth down inside your strainer so you don't loose puree out the bottom. I strain it because most recipe's call for canned pumpkin and it is much less watery than fresh pumpkin.

Pumpkin Bread

1 C whole wheat flour

2/3 C white flour

1-1/4 C sugar

1 t baking soda

1 t ground cinnamon

3/4 t salt

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t nutmeg

1/4 t ground cloves

2 eggs

1 C pumpkin (canned or fresh)

1/2 C canola oil (my next experiment will be doing this with applesauce, and of course less sugar)

1/2 C water

1/2-1 C chocolate chips

In a big bowl combine the dry ingredients and chocolate chips. In a smaller bowl, whisk the eggs, pumpkin, oil, and water. Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Pour into a greased 9X5 loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 65-70 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it cool 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

My next food for thought: look at this spider that is hanging out between my basil and strawberries! Randy and Kenadi go out and check on it every day, so I don't think I could move it. Besides, it has a beautiful web, and it writes designs in it. It's called a writing spider, and ours does zig-zags. We have our own Charlotte's Web. But, it does make it hard to get my basil when I need it.

Kenadi has been taking walks with "Grandpa Curtis". One day after their walk he took her inside for a cookie, and she told him she didn't want cookies, she wanted a Popsicle. So, then next day he showed up for their walk with Popsicles. He went to the store and got some for her. They each had one at the beginning and the end of their walk.

The girls always like to help cook. Emma's helping involves scooping out the batter and putting it on the counter. Kenadi's helping involves lots more help, with a taste here or there. I enjoy cooking with them. They make me laugh.

Lastly, I ordered a Pumpkin cookbook from the Library, and I'm going to experiment with it this week. I also got a kids cookbook from the library for Kenadi. She reads it every day, and today I'm going to let her do a recipe from it on her own. (with me looking over her shoulder)

Pumpkins

I know... 3 posts in one week! You can't keep up with me. I'm even posting this Food for Thought Friday ON FRIDAY! That's big. But I'm just talking about food today, so, no recipes. Anyways, please don't judge my weed-stricken garden, but I just had to show you how beautiful those pumpkins are. That big vine is all ONE vine, or ONE pumpkin plant. Huge, huh? It means I'm well on my way to my dream of being a pumpkin farmer, right? I get so excited every time I see them out there. It means that fall is coming! And Halloween! And after that, Thanksgiving and Christmas! Yep. I'm definately excited for the holidays.

I picked the first one 2 days ago. It is beautiful! I have all sorts of pumpkin pies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin____ planned. This variety is supposed to be good for eating and carving. I like that it is so useful since it takes up so much room in the garden. Anyways, I will cut into it this weekend and let you all know how it tastes. I can hardly wait.

And to end this post, let me tell you about Emma. In this picture she is holding my cell phone to her ear saying, "Ellow? Loodle leedle doodle do!" She is so funny and already tries to talk on the phone! I promise, I really don't talk on the phone that much, she must get it from Randy. =) She has also started "walking" and has taken 5 GOOD steps from me to Randy, him to me, and to the couch, etc. She doesn't always walk, but is pretty good at it when I set her up and encourage her. She also says, "tankyou!" and "uh oh!". Kenadi told me today that now Emma is HER baby. I told her that Emma is her sister, and Kenadi asked me, "When can she be my baby?". We are enjoying our sweet girls.