Creative jucies not flowing!, Pumpkin Cupcakes and Turkeys

My creative juices are not really flowing right now! You see we had a minor flood which has caused major damage to our home. I will do my best to cook, bake, post and to visit your sites, but as the jackhammers come in and the wood flooring and walls go out I'm not sure how consistent I'll be.



I did make some yummy mini cupcakes last week that I would like to share with you guys.



Pumpkin Cupcakes
adapted from Martha Stewart.
Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon coarse salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (added a bit extra) 1 teaspoon ground ginger (didn't use) 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (didn't use) 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice 1 cup packed light-brown sugar 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled 4 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. Not wanting to worry about refrigerating the cupcakes I made the following icing for the cupcakes. It didn't have the same exact taste as cream cheese icing but it was close. Ingredients Powdered Sugar 3/4 of a can of Sweetened Condensed Milk 1 stick of Butter 1 tsp Vanilla extract Directions My measurements are not exact except for the butter. I really just dumped everything into my bowl and added ingredients until it was the taste and consistency I wanted. Thanksgiving Turkeys Here is how I used the left over Oreos and Halloween candy. they are cute and easy to make.

Butternut Squash Ravioli

As most of you know, I’m a bit of a ravioli nut. I love everything about ravioli. I love it so much that it’s the one and only food that I can eat and not think once about the number of calories in each bite. I love to see flour all over my kitchen, my 7-year-old turning the crank on the pasta press, the smell of the dough, the way they float to the top of my pot and the versatility of fillings. My blog dream is 30 days of ravioli. I could go on and on but I’ll spare you the bore and get to the recipe.

Pasta

• 1 ¼ C All purpose flour
• ¾ C Semolina
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Olive Oil
• 4 tbls Warm Water
• 2 Eggs

Directions:

• I dump all the ingredients into my food processor equipped with the dough hook and let it do its thing.
• Allow the dough to sit for 30 minutes before shaping.

Filling

• 1 peeled, diced and roasted Butternut squash
• 5 –6 Cloves Roasted Garlic
• 1C Ricotta Cheese
• Fresh Sage (didn’t measure, just dumped)
• Salt and pepper

Directions

• Dump and mix.

I served the ravioli with a bacon béchamel sauce, Roasted Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, spring salad and homemade wheat rolls. YUM! I love ravioli.

You guys thought I forgot didn't you?

Ingredients:

• Marshmallows
  
• Chocolate chips
• Oreo Cookies
• Icing pen

Directions:

• Melt the chocolate.
• Separate the Oreo. Don't toss the filling side, we'll make turkeys with those.
  
• Hold the marshmallow with a toothpick, dip and cover it with chocolate.
• Place the marshmallow on the cookie.
• Cool in the freezer.
• Draw the buckle on with the icing pen.
  

Rocky Road Shortbread Cookies

My husband and our sons have been busy collecting pecans from a local park. We now have several pound in our freeze. While looking for new ways to use them I found this recipe in the latest issue of Family Circle. All I can say is YUM!This cookie will go on my favorite cookie list. The only change that I will make in the future is to omit the marshmallow. Oh, I almost forgot the original recipe calls for walnuts not pecans.

Recipe adapted from “Family Circle, November 2009 issue”

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ C All-purpose Flour
• ½ C Pecans, finely chopped
• ¼ Salt
• ½ C Butter
• 1/3 C Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• ¾ C Mini Marshmallows
• ½ C Coarsely chopped Pecans
• ½ C Semisweet Chocolate Chips
  

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease a cookie sheet or use silt pads.
• Blend all ingredients until well combined.
• Roll by the tablespoon the dough into balls.
• Gently flatten each ball to ½ - inch thickness and smooth edges.
• Bake for 16 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.
• Meanwhile melt the chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute, stirring halfway.
• Remove cookies form the oven and spread the chocolate, then sprinkle with the marshmallows and pecans.
• Return the cookies to the oven and bake for TWO minutes more or until the marshmallow become soft.

Cornucopias

Easy to make, delicious and pretty on a plate, what more can you ask for?

Ingredients:

• Puff Pastry Dough
• Heavy Whipping Cream
• Sugar
• Cocoa

Directions:

• Wrap thawed dough around aluminum foil in the shape of a cornucopia.
• Bake according to pastry direction.
• Allow the cornucopias to cool then carefully pull them away from the foil.
• Meanwhile whip the cream, sugar and cocoa until it becomes very thick.
• Pipe into the cornucopias and serve.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our kitchen to yours!



Harry Potter!


Batman!


Rose Princess!



Spooky Guacamole!
Use a small amount of lemon juice so that the avocados still turn black!
My kids loved dipping into this web!

Roasted Cauliflower with pasta and Witch Hats

So simple, so beautiful and so tasty.

Ingredients:

• Cauliflower
• 2 Ripe Roma tomatoes
• 3or 4 links of sweet Italian sausage
• Fresh Parsley
• Fresh grated cheese
• 1LB pasta

Directions:

• Clean and remove the cauliflower florets from the stem, sprinkle with salt, pepper and olive oil.
• Roast at 400 until tender but not mushy.
• Sauté the sausage in a small fry pan while the pasta is cooking.
• Add chopped tomatoes to the cooked sausage.
• Add the roasted cauliflower to the sausage and tomato mixture.
• Toss with the pasta.
• Sprinkle with parsley and cheese then serve,

Witch Hats

Ingredients:

• 1 Package of croissant rolls
• Cinnamon sugar

Directions:

• Unroll rolls.
• Roll wide end and shape the pointed end.
• Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
• Bake according to package directions.

Cheese Soufflé and Vampire's Morning Cocktail

It’s Barefoot Bloggers time. Barefoot Bloggers are a community of bloggers that get together twice monthly to make, eat and post about Ina Garten’s recipes. Today’s recipe was chosen by Summer of Sexy Apartment. She has Chosen Blue Cheese Soufflé, which can found in Barefoot in Paris. This was my first soufflé and it was not only easy but also beautiful and delicious. My only advice is to make sure you have ALL the ingredients before you get started. I was reading as I was going and half way in realized I was short one egg white. Thank you to our wonderful friends and neighbors for coming to the rescue.


Here is Ina’s recipe.
I did make a few changes, those will be in red.
Ingredients

· 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the dish
· 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan, plus extra for sprinkling
· 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
· 1 cup scalded milk
· Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
· Pinch cayenne pepper Extra pinches
· Thyme
· Pinch nutmeg
· 4 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
· 3 ounces good Roquefort cheese, chopped 1C Bergenost
· 5 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
· 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar


Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Butter the inside of an 8-cup souffle dish (7 1/2 inches in diameter and 3 1/4 inches deep) and sprinkle evenly with Parmesan.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. With a wooden spoon, stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the hot milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, the cayenne, and nutmeg. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, for 1 minute, until smooth and thick.
Off the heat, while still hot, whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in the Roquefort and the 1/4 cup of Parmesan and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Put the egg whites, cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on low speed for 1 minute, on medium speed for 1 minute, then finally on high speed until they form firm, glossy peaks.
Whisk 1/4 of the egg whites into the cheese sauce to lighten and then fold in the rest. Pour into the souffle dish, then smooth the top. Draw a large circle on top with the spatula to help the souffle rise evenly, and place in the middle of the oven. Turn the temperature down to 375 degrees F. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes (don't peek!) until puffed and brown. Serve immediately.


Vampire’s Morning Cocktail

Ingredients:

• Orange juice
• Pineapple Juice
• Cranberry juice (the straight stuff)
• Ginger Ale

Directions:

• Fill a highball glass half full with a 50/50 mix of orange juice and pineapple juice.
• Top the glass off with ginger ale.
• Drip the cranberry juice down into the glass. It’s good for it to drip a bit on the glass for a more bloody effect.