Pumpkin Pecan Cake

My baking thoughts have turned from summer baking to fall baking. And I thought that I would try something new with canned pumpkin besides the usual pumpkin pie. Not that I don't love pumpkin pie, but I just thought that I would find another use for the canned stuff.

This cake was really good. The cake itself is really moist, but with a bit of crunch with a pecan crumb layer. The cream cheese icing is always a favorite of most people and the caramel drizzled over top just adds so much more.


Crumb layer:
In a large bowl, combine;

2cups crushed Vanilla wafers (about 60 wafers)
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup butter, softened



Mix until crumbly.

Press into 3 greased and floured 9 in round baking pans.

Cake:

In another large bowl, beat;

1 package Spice cake mix

1 can (15oz) solid pack canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, just pumpkin)

4 eggs

1/2 cup butter, softened

Beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Then beat on high for 2 minutes.

Spread over crust in each pan

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Test with a toothpick.

Place the first layer of cake on a cake plate, crumb side down.

Cream together

2 pkg (8 oz each) Cream cheese

1 cup butter

2 tsp vanilla

8 cups icing sugar

Spread icing over the layers. Placing each layer on top of iced previous on. Make sure to put the cake crumb side down.

Ice the entire cake.

Arrange pecan halves around cake.

Drizzle with 1/2 cup (or more) of caramel ice cream topping, letting it run over the edges

Oh, how good does that look.



Enjoy!!

Store in the refridgerator. It actually tastes better cold rather than at room tempurature.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

This is great lunch idea that is so easy and so good. I actually made it for an RS activity and it was a hit. Of course the recipe is one of Debzees. She always has some good ones.

I normally make it with croissants, but didn't have any at this time, but I was craving the chicken salad, so I used the bread I had at home. I recommend it with croissants though. But I think anything stuffed into a croissant is fantastic.


4 cups chicken or turkey (you can use canned, I did)



Add:
1 cup finely sliced celery
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1 cup red grapes
Shredded lettuce (can be added later)


In another bowl whip
1/4 cup whipping cream

Then add:
1 cup mayonaise
1 tsp poultry seasoning (you can use chicken boullion, but the Poultry seasoning is better)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp curry (optional- not in original recipe, but I add curry to things whenever I can)

Mix all together.

Add Mayo mixture to chicken mixture. This is when you can add the lettuce. Add enough to 'fill-in' the mixture.

Spoon into bread or croissant.

The mixture can be kept in the fridge for a few days.

After Dinner Mints

I found this recipe when I was a little girl and made them once. I loved them. I hadn't thought of them in a long time and then out of the blue one day I thought "I need some of those after dinner mints'. I looked in all my usual recipe books hoping that it would be in one of them. No such luck. I had someone look in books at my moms house. No such luck. Then, its location came to me one day. It was destiny.

I had to make them. Oh, and they were just like I remember. I basically ate them by the handful. They are so easy. I mean, I made them when I was a kid. Not sure how old I was, but old enough to work a hand-held mixer I guess.

Ok, on to the recipe.

Mix together well;

2 1/2 cups icing sugar

3 tbsp butter, softened

3 tbsp cream

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

Dough should be stiff, but still pliable to roll.

Add more icing sugar or cream for correct consistency.

Divide into separate amounts to make different colors. I made blue and white and pink. You can really make any color you want.

mix in a few drops of food coloring for desired color.

Roll into a rope. 1/2 inch diameter

Cut into pieces.

Let stand on wax paper several hours or overnight.

I let mine sit overnight and then I put them in a containerand kept them in the fridge.

perfect popable mints.

Makes several dozen mints.

You can also press them into candy molds.

Homemade Ice Cream

Oh homemade ice cream. How much better can it get. This ice cream was so fresh and creamy, I really had to stop myself from eating it all.

My sister gave me an old ice cream maker that she had (she has two others). I tried several recipes to share with you guys, but thet just weren't good enough. My sister came for a visit and I asked her to bring her recipe with her. She has a basic vanilla and from that you can pretty much make anything.

I know what some of you are thinking, "Christy, we all don't have ice cream makers or a sister with a spare one.". Well, don't worry, at the end of this post I will provide you with instructions to make it just with your freezer.


Beat;
2 eggs

Add;
2/3 cups sugar

Beat together until thick and cream-colored


Add;
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups cream
1/2 cup milk

mix well.



Pour into a chilled ice cream cylinder (must be chilled for atleast 24 hours)

Immediatly turn the handle clockwise slowly three or four times.

Let the mixture sit for two or three minutes and turn the handle clockwise again two or three times.




Continue this procedure for 15 - 20 minutes.

In the end it should start to look like this. This is when you add other ingredients. Although the plain vanilla is fantastic.

I used strawberries

Finely chopped strawberries. About 1 to 1 1/2 cups.

Add into your ice cream maker and mix with plastic spatula. (never use metal spoon)

Other add-in options are;

Pina colada- add upto a can of crushed pineapple (drained) and 1/4-1/2 cup fine coconut (add amounts that you want depending on how you want it to taste.

Mango- add 1 finely chopped mango

Cookies and cream- 1/2 cup (or more if you want) oreo cookies

Skor- (or pretty much any chocolate bar) 1/2 cup crushed chocolate bar

Peppermint- 1/4 cup crushed pepermint candy. Add af ew drops of food coloring and 1/8 tsp mint extract

Let me finish by saying YOU'RE WELCOME, because you will all be thanking me for this recipe.

FREEZER DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare your ice cream mixture

2. Put a deep baking dish, or bowl made of plastic, stainless steel or something durable in the freezer, and pour your custard mixture into it.

3. After forty-five minutes, open the door and check it.
As it starts to freeze near the edges, remove it from the freezer and stir it vigorously with a spatula or whisk. Really beat it up and break up any frozen sections. Return to freezer.

4. Continue to check the mixture every 30 minutes, stirring vigorously as it's freezing. If you have one, you can use a hand-held mixer for best results, or use a stick-blender or hand-held mixer.
But since we're going low-tech here, you can also use just a spatula or a sturdy whisk along with some modest physical effort.

5. Keep checking periodically and stirring while it freezes (by hand or with the electric mixer) until the ice cream is frozen. It will likely take 2-3 hours to be ready.

Quiche

Growing up, this was one of my fav meals. In fact every year on our birthdays, my mom would let us pick any meal we wanted and I always chose quiche. I thought that quiche would be so hard to make, but now that I have made it, I realize it isn't hard at all.

You can make your own pastry if you want, but I chose to just use a pre-made pie shell.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Bake 2 pie shells for 7-9 minutes. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 350 degrees.



In a bowl mix together:
3 eggs beaten
1 3/4 cup milk or cream
1tbsp Flour
1/8 tsp cayanne pepper
dash of nbutmeg
1/2 tsp dry mustard

In your pie shells layer:

1 cup bacon or ham (1/2 cup per shell)

1 cup cheese, Swiss or Montery (1/2 cup per shell)

1 can Mushrooms (divide between two shells) You can use fresh, but I seriously love the canned ones

Pour the egg mixture over top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until set.

Let cool 10-15 minutes before serving.

Scones

This recipe is a little tribute to Cranbrook.

I got this recipe at a cooking night I went to in Cranbrook. A friend of mine there would have a cooking night and share some of her great recipes. Thanks for this one TK.

I am not a huge fan of raisins or dates or currents or anything like that, but for some reason in this recipe I loved the currents. I have yet to try this recipe with blueberries. But I imagine that it will be so good too.


Cut together:

3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup buter


Mix in:

1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp stevia
2/3 cup black currents or blueberries



Add:
2/3 cup yogurt (any flavor)
1 egg
1/4 to 1/3 cup milk



Mix it all together. You may actually have to mix with your hands.

Roughly roll or push it out in to a circle

Cut the dough into 8 pieces

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes on a pan covered with parchement paper.

These are so good fresh from the oven with some butter.