pumpkin eater

today i made this bread. i was trying a new recipe but, i have to say that mother really does know best and my recipe from her really does kick all other pumpkin bread to the curb.

here is the recipe:

4 cups flour
1/2 t. nutmeg
4 cups sugar
1 29 oz. can pumpkin
4 t. baking soda
1 cup oil
1 t. salt
1 t. cloves
1 t. cinnamon
(my mom puts 2 c. raisins and 2 c. nuts, but personally, i would do 2 c. chocolate chips)

mix dry ingredients into a large bowl. add nuts and raisins (or choc. chips), then stir in pumpkin and oil. beat with wooden spoon until well blended. grease and flour 2 large or 3 medium loaf pans. pour in batter and bake in 325° oven for 1 1/4 hours to 1 1/2 hours. put toothpick in center to see if bread is done.

picture time

ok, so i finally made those cupcakes and peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. and these are the photos to prove it. enjoy!


ok, so i didn't have lime oil yet for the cupcakes so i just used the zest and juice of two limes. and i didn't have a blowtorch so, i broiled them on low in the oven, which worked great and is actually probably easier and faster than the blowtorch method.



these cookies are such a great version of peanut butter cookies. i swear, oats make everything better. i did one batch, cooking them at 11 minutes, and the second batch at 12, which made for a slightly chewy/crispier texture which i love in peanut butter cookies. also, i tried 4 different ways of storing them to see what help up the flavor/texture/etc. the best. method 1: wrap cookies in towel and put them in the microwave (too dry), method 2: cookie jar (too dry), method 3: tupperware (pretty good), method 4: ziplock bag (the best). none of them kept the perfect crispy texture that you have the same day that you cook them, but the ziplock kept the chewy moisture the best.

poll, please

ok, so i'm thinking about broek's suggestion that i start selling my goodies now, i want to know how many people would really buy them before i start investing in packaging etc. and would people be more likely to buy if they live near me or would you really buy things online for me to ship? please, if you ever read this blog, let me know what you think...

thanks,
-caroline

lemon meringue with a twist

i need to make these asap. holy crap, these look so amazing.

great grandma's apple crisp

this is the recipe from the apple crisp i made last week. thanks to great grandma julia for passing this recipe down.


slice peeled and cored apples to fill a 9x13" pan (i used 6 medium sized granny smith apples.) mix together the following and sprinkle over apples:

2 c. sugar
2 c. flour
1 c. butter
4 t. cinnamon

Bake at 375° for one hour. goes well with vanilla bean ice cream.
mmmmmm, deee-lish.

try a little tenderness

i think i'll try this recipe sometime this week or weekend. it looks pretty good and i love using oats. i'll let you know what i think.

cookie monster

ok, so i made apple crisp yesterday (great grandma king's apple crisp) and will post about it soon, but in the meantime, i am wondering if any of you have a chocolate chip cookie recipe that you swear by or that you want to try. i will try any and all. i think to have a bakery, you have to have the perfect cookie, so i'm trying to try everything at every bakery and all new recipes. please help me! please send me any recipe so that i can try to perfect this classic cookie.

xoxo,
ck

gettin busy

ok, so i've been super busy lately. i've made loads of things...

granola bars
german chocolate cupcakes (modified)
carrot cake
wheat bread
banana bread
pecan pie
banana bread pudding
caramel sauce
no-bake cookies

that's all i can think of off the top of my head. but, i've been so busy baking and sharing the goods and just working a lot, that i haven't had time to take pictures or post. so... i will post the recipes of the ones you guys want the most. are there recipes you've been wanting to learn or make or find a new version of? which one(s) on that list would you like to see get the recipe for and/or a picture?

also, if anyone has a recipe they've been wanting to try but haven't, feel free to send it to me to try for you and let you know how it went. i'm sure you all do just fine by yourselves, but i'd love to be a sort of a "test kitchen" if you will.

i like you guys!
-ck

blueberry short cake

blueberries. i love blueberries. here is a delicious blueberry upside down cake. one of our family favorites. it's great for breakfast. or basically anytime.

• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
• 
  
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9 inch springform pan. In a medium bowl, combine blueberries, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest. Toss to coat berries, then pour into the prepared pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the almond extract and 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest. Stir together 2 cups flour and the baking powder. Beat into butter mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter over the berries in the pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Place serving plate over the top of the pan and carefully invert cake and plate together, so that the berries end up on top. Carefully unlock the buckle on the side of the pan and remove. Sprinkle toasted almonds on top of cake and serve warm.

won't you be my neighbor

i made amish friendship bread last week and let's just say, i think it helped me make a lot more friends. mmmmm, so yummy! thanks to big pimpin kim for the starter and the recipe. here it is:

this is after someone gives you a start. you can make your own and there are tons of recipes online telling you how to do so. you can freeze the start once it's made if you are not ready to use it.

****do not use any metal! do not use any type of metal spoons or bowls for mixing. do not refrigerate. when air builds up in the bag, let it out. it is normal for batter to raise bubbles and ferment.*****

day 1: do nothing. this is the day you receive the batter. make sure the bag is dated.
day 2: mush the bag
day 3: mush the bag
day 4: mush the bag
day 5: add to the bag: 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of milk, then mush the bag.
day 6: mush the bag
day 7: mush the bag
day 8: mush the bag
day 9: mush the bag
day 10: mix and divide the starter

pour entire contents of the bag into a non-metal bowl, add 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 1/2 cups of milk, and 1 1/2 cups sugar. mix together. separate mixture into 4 separate gallon ziplock bags and one non-metal mixing bowl (about 1 1/4 cups per portion). keep one ziplock for yourself and give away the other three to friends with a copy of the recipe.

preheat oven to 325 degrees. add to the remaining batter in the mixing bowl.

3 eggs
1 cup oil or 1/2 cup applesauce
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 3/4 - 2 cups flour
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 large box of instant pudding mix (any flavor -- i used chocolate)

**optional: 1 cup of nuts and/or raisins and/or chocolate chips -- i used chocolate chips

grease 2 large loaf pans or you can use pam cooking spray. mix in a small bowl: 1/2 cup sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon. dust the greased loaf pans with the cinnamon mixture. pour the batter evenly into the 2 greased pans and sprinkle the remaining cinnamon mixture over the batter. bake 55-60 minutes. cool until the bread loosens from the pan (about 10 minutes). Turn out onto serving dish.

**note: if you have time restraint problems with any of the days, just put bag of starter in freezer and resume the day count where you left off when you take it out again.

at the end you get this! so good. however, i did have a hard time taking it out of the pan without all the cinnamon topping coming off, so we just served it straight out of the pan. if anyone has any suggestions for this sort of thing... let me know.