An uneventful Halloween

I had such big plans for Halloween this year as it is one of my favorite holidays. My parents always made Halloween so  much fun for me growing up. These were back in the days when you were allowed to wear your costumes to school and actually call it Halloween instead of "Harvest Celebration" I remember doing the "costume parade" on the black top at Teach School in San Luis Obispo. My Mom was always the room mother and the class parties were always so fun too. My Mom always made my brothers and my costumes, we would carve pumpkins as a family and my Dad would take us out trick or treating. Then I remember afterwards we would end up over at my Grandparents where I would dump out all my candy and sort through it. I was organizing even back then at 7 years old...the smarties in one pile, the chocolate bars in another. I have the BEST memories!

Once I grew up and had my own family I carried on the Halloween traditions I grew up with. Although I never made any of my kids costumes, I made sure they were decked out in cute costumes they picked out. When Kate was little my parents would drive up and go out trick or treating with us. We've always carved pumpkins as a family. I was room mom for both kids all through their Elementary School days and had so much fun planing the "Harvest Parties". Another tradition that we started was visiting the Pumpkin Patch. When we lived in Northern California there was two fabulous pumpkin patches to choose from along with Apple Hill which was a family favorite.
                    
                    (pics of our outside Halloween decorations that I put out for Halloween night only)

Ahh...the memories. Things started changing however when Kate went away to college. Last year and the year before that Kyle would dress up and the three of us would take a trip to the pumpkin patch. This year however....it was the Halloween the "wasn't" and I was SO sad! Kyle was sick the whole week leading up to Halloween and the day of. So our trip to the pumpkin patch never happened and the Spaghetti dinner I was planning on making for him and his friends to eat before they went out trick or treating in our neighborhood was cancelled. Even with all of that I was determined to at least decorate the outside of the house and pass out candy to all the darling kids in their costumes. Being our first year in this house I wasn't sure how many kids to expect. I was a little concerned because of how our house is situated. We are in a cul de sac across the street from the Golf Course Club house and it's about a 1/4 mile walk up a hill to the next cul de sac with houses. I proceeded to buy A LOT of candy, "just in case" we had a big crowd. The "big crowd" of kids consisted of all but 4 trick or treaters, all of which were teen agers and only one cutie patootie small child in her Tinker bell costume!  So needless to say it was an uneventful Halloween. However on the bright side..we had lots of yummy candy left!

 I love how creepy this gate looks with the Cemetery sign on it! Normally I'm not for "scary" Halloween things, but Kyle gets a big kick out of it so I'm OK with putting out a few creepy things.

Here's hoping next year Halloween will be a litle more eventful...

Recipe: Caramel Apple Squares

                                                Check out these little yummies!

These Caramel Apple Squares are another pastry I baked for my women's bible study group recently. They are moist, have chunks of apples in them and are sprinkled w/cinnamon sugar and drizzled with homemade caramel.  What could be better for a fall morning treat? The recipe is below.

Ingredients

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla extract
1 cup peeled and chopped apple (I used Granny Smith)
1 c. finely chopped walnuts

For sprinkling on top of batter:
1/4 c. white sugar
1 T  ground cinnamon

For homemade caramel drizzle:
1/4 c. whipping cream
1 c. brown sugar
1 stick un-salted butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10x15 bar pan. (I like using Baker's Joy non stick spray...it has flour in it and works well) Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and 1/2 t. of cinnamon, set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together melted butter, brown sugar and  cup of white sugar on low until just combined. Add in the eggs and vanilla. Blend in the flour mixture until combined, then stir in the apples and walnuts with a wooden spoon or spatula.
3. Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared pan. In a cup or small bowl, stir together the 1/4 c. white sugar and 1 T. ground cinnamon; sprinkle over the top of the bars until a even light dusting of cinnamon sugar is covering the batter. (I discarded some of the cinnamon sugar as there was too much)
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes in preheated oven, finished bars should spring back when lightly touched. (mine were done in 22 minutes...cooked quickly). Cool in pan, and when completely cooled cut into squares and place on wax or parchment paper in preparation for drizzling with caramel.
5. In a small saucepan melt 1 stick butter on low heat. Add in 1/4 c. whipping cream and 1 c. brown sugar. Stir constantly over low heat with a wooden spoon until the caramel thickens and begins to start a small rolling boil. Remove from heat and cool for 3-5 minutes. Stir again and then pour into a zip lock bag. Seal the bag shut being sure to get the air out before you do. Then, snip a SMALL little bit off one of the bottom corners of the bag and hold the bag over the bars and carefully drizzle back and forth across the bars. Careful as the bag will be hot with the caramel inside. If you are familiar with my blog then you have seen tutorial pics of me using this drizzle technique for my Sunshine lemon cookies and Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
6. Let the caramel cool and harden and serve the squares. Enjoy!!

Recipe: Pumpkin squares with cream cheese swirl

I was so honored a few months back when I was approached by the Women's Ministry at our church and asked to do the baking of pastries for our Thursday morning Women in the Word bible study. I love to bake, but because I'm always watching my calories I don't bake around here unless it's the holidays. This has given me the outlet to make goodies, sample ONE and take the rest to my church girlfriends! I've had lots of requests for my recipes so I'm going to take it one at a time starting with what I brought today. This recipe reminds me of this awesome pumpkin roll cake my Mother n Law makes. You know the kind that is filled with cream cheese? This however is much less time consuming...yet it has the same taste. Enjoy making and eating/sharing these bars.

Here is what you will need:

Ingredients
6 T. butter, melted and cooled
1 3/4 cups sugar; divided use
3 large eggs; divided use
1 1/2 t. pure vanilla extract; divided use
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
1/3 cup water
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 T. pumpkin pie spice
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder'
1/2 t. salt
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, at room temp

Directions

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a bar pan (10x15 inch) with parchment paper and spray with non-stick spray. I like using Baker's Joy which has flour in it.

( I cut the parchment paper to fit perfectly in my bar pans : I doubled the recipe for a large group)
The parchment paper AND the cooking spray make for bars that won't stick and can be removed easily from pan.

. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. Set aside to cool slightly.

Pour cooled, melted butter over the top of 1 1/2 cups sugar that you have pre-measured out.

Mix just until the butter is incorporated into the sugar.

Next add the pumpkin, 2 of the eggs, 1 t. of the vanilla ....

and 1/2 c, water until smooth.

                                                                     once all ingrediants are incorporated, set aside.

In another bowl, measure out the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt;

Slowly, add the dry ingredients to the wet. If you have a stationary mixer, just let it run on low while you spoon the dry ingredients in. Use your spatula to scrape the sides as you go.

Once all the dry ingredients are incorporated, be sure to blend the mixture well on medium for several minutes until all is well blended and looks like this:

Next, pour the batter into your prepared bar pan. In my case (pans) as I doubled the recipe.

use your spatula to spread the batter evenly for even baking. Set aside.

Next it is time to make the cream cheese batter for the swirl. You can either clean the bowl and whisk attachment from your stationary mixer and use that, or in my case I used a different bowl and my hand mixer.
Measure out the softened cream cheese, remaining egg, remaining 1/4 c. sugar and remaining 1/2 t. of vanilla.

Beat until smooth and creamy.

Drop cream cheese mixture in evenly spaced portions over the pumpkin batter. I used a 1/4 cup dry measuring cup to scoop mixture out of bowl and dump onto cake batter.

Take a table knife and pull the knife tip through to swirl slightly into batter. (be careful not to rip the parchment paper!) There is no set technique for this or wrong or right way. I just pulled it through vertically back and forth in lines and then horizontally back and forth in lines until I got a desired marbling effect.

Here are my pans all ready to pop into the oven.

Bake at 350 degrees until center of the pumpkin batter (not cream cheese mixture) springs back when  touched, about 22-25 minutes.

As an added test for seeing if they are done, I used a cake tester in the pumpkin cake areas to see if it came out clean.

Let cool COMPLETELY in the pan. To cut, take a sharp knife and run under hot water in between cuts to get clean slices. Cut in 2 x 2 inch squares and serve.

                                          These bars are so flavorful and moist! ENJOY!

**This can be made in a 9x13 inch pan and served as a cake too! Just increase your cooking time  by 5-7 minutes.

Store these bars or cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Bring to room temp 30 minutes before serving. (or eat cold..they taste great that way too)

This recipe can be found and printed out on http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/ in the cookies and bars tab. It is under "pumpkin cake"

Recipe: Chicken Marsala (gluten free)

I'm so excited to share this recipe with all of you. Once again, this recipe comes from the McCormick Spice Packets that you can buy at the grocery store. They now sell these at the Walmart Super Center too and in fact have the largest selection of these spice packets to choose from. I  must say of all that I have tried so far, the Chicken Marsala is by far the best. In fact, according to Kevin this recipe is now neck in neck with my Chicken and Dumplings for the best recipe award. I have to agree...it is FABULOUS.

Here is what you will need to get started:

One McCormick Chicken Marsala Spice Packet (not pictured)

or

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. marjoram leaves

1 tsp minced dried onions

1/2 t. black pepper

1 tsp. basil leaves

3/4 parsley flakes (optional)

1/2 c. flour (or gluten free flour of choice such as rice, coconut or gfree all purpose flour mix)

1 t. salt

1 1/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts

3 T. butter, divided

2 T. olive oil

1 pkg. (8 oz) mushrooms (I like baby portobellas)

1/2 cup chicken broth

3/4 cup Marsala wine (not Sweet Marsala)*I bought a $5 bottle of this at Walmart and it worked well.

Directions:

Mix flour, garlic, marjoram, onions, salt and pepper in a shallow dish (I used a pie plate) Reserve 1 T. of this flour mixture for a later use.

Next, cut each breast in half if desired or you can leave them whole. Rinse in water to dampen them then,

                                                     coat each breast portion in the flour mixture.

                       Next, on medium/high heat melt 2 T of the butter and the oil in a large nonstick skillet.

 Next cook the coated breasts in the butter/oil mixture for 3-5 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

Remove from pan once browned on both sides (chicken will not be cooked all the way through at this point)and put the breasts on a plate and loosely cover with foil. Set aside.

Add sliced mushrooms to he skillet and cook and stir 5 minutes or until tender.

                                           Mix broth and reserved T. of flour/spice mixture.

        

                                                         Add to the skillet along with the marsala wine.
Bring to a boil, stirring to release browned bits in the bottom of the skillet. Next, put the breasts back into the pan.

Then, stir in remaining 1 T of butter and the basil; cover with lid and simmer (heat on the lowest setting) for 15 minutes or so or until chicken is done all the way through. I usually take a small paring knife and cut into one breast to check for doneness.                                                       

Once chicken is done, if the sauce is not thickening well, you can sprinkle in some WONDRA, a sauce thickening flour. Whisk it in until sauce is desired thickness.                                                                    

Serve on a platter, spooning sauce over the chicken. (optional: sprinkle parsley over the chicken as a garnish: I didn't)  I served this with home made mashed potatoes and green beans and it was wonderful.

This dish is a beautiful as it is DELICIOUS! Enjoy.