Another Pumpkin Treat

Tonight, I made a dish that I remember having as a young girl during Halloween! The name of the dish is "Dinner in a Pumpkin" It turned out really well and it was yummy! It took a bit of time to prepare, but it was worth it. Thanks Mom!

Dinner in a Pumpkin

1 small to medium pumpkin
4 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 onion, chopped
1 10-oz. can cream of chicken soup
2 Tbs. Vegetable Oil

1 8-oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 1/2 to 2 lbs. ground beef

1 1/2 C. cooked rice

2 Tbs. Soy Sauce

2 Tbs. Brown Sugar

Directions: Cut off top of pumpkin; clean out seeds and pulp. In a large skillet, saute onion in oil until tender; add meat and brown. Drain drippings from skillet. Add soy sauce, brown sugar, mushrooms and soup; simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionaly. Add cooked rice and water chestnuts. Spoon mixture into pumpkin shell. Replace pumpkin top and place entire pumpkin, with filling on a baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour @ 350 degrees in oven or until inside meat of pumpkin is tender.

Put pumpkin on a place; remove top and serve. For your vegetable, scoop out cooked pumpkin and serve!

Serves about 6-8 people

I hope you enjoy it! Have a wonderful Halloween!

A Traditional Fall Flavor

Oh how I love smelling pumpkin mixed with spices during Autumn. This was the first pumpkin recipe I made of the season and I will be coming back to this recipe lots. 

This weekend I got online and found a DELICIOUS recipe for Pumpkin Cupcakes. I am sorry that I forgot who's blog I received this great recipe, but thank you! For any of you who do not know me... I think that cupcakes are one my favorite things to bake! In this area I am learning how to tweak and adjust ingredients quickly. (But mostly with the frosting) Tonight I will share with you the recipe and pictures to go along with it. I must admit, I did not take the pictures. My husband did and they look great. He is more skilled in the photo department than I am. (I know little to nothing about lighting and the settings on my tiny digital camera) Thanks Devin for helping me out!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

2 1/4 C. flour, sifted
1 1/3 C. sugar

1 T. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 C. butter, softened

2 eggs beaten

1 C. canned pumpkin (about half of a 15 oz. can)

3/4 C. milk

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Line cupcake pans with liners (this makes about 18 reg. size)

In a large bowl, sift dry ingredients together and set aside. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Mix in pumpkin. Alternate stirring in the dry ingredients and the milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl and stir until blended. Spoon into liners and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. 

Cream Cheese Frosting (Adapted from Cynthia Cockriel)

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 T. milk

6 T. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

3 C. powdered sugar

Cream together cream cheese, milk, butter and vanilla. Slowly add powdered sugar. You can add chopped nuts if you so desire. ( I would assume it is delicious and it would add wonderful texture.)

I have decided to bake wonderful things, you don't necessarily need all of the fancy equipment. I put the frosting on by placing it in a ziplock bag and cutting the tip. I just squirt it out in a circular motion. There isn't a need for a pastry bag. This is where your creativity can come in, have fun and decorate however you desire. 

When I made this recipe, I made miniature cupcakes. It made 36 small cupcakes and 6 regular sized cupcakes... I probably could have made a couple more regular sized cupcakes, or 6 to 12 more miniature cupcakes because some of them were a little larger than others, but they turned out great! I will definitely go back to this recipe throughout the years.

Friday Night Classic

Pizza is a Friday night classic dinner. I made it the other night... It was not on a Friday, but I decided that Pizza is not just for Friday nights. I remember my mom making homemade pizza often. We usually had pepperoni with cheese. I love pizza. 

On Wednesday I made a combination of toppings. I wanted to put mushrooms, onions, and green pepper on the side with the olives and hamburger... but we didn't have any of those things, so I made do with what we had. It turned out great. 

 Pizza Dough From: Annie Hamrick

1 Pkg. active dry yeast (2 1/2 tsp) 

1 C. warm water

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 TB vegetable oil

2 1/2 C. flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in remaining ingredients. Beat vigorously 20 strokes. Let rest 5 minutes. Roll dough out into a square. Put toppings of your choice on top. Bake on a cookie sheet. Cook until golden brown @ 425 Degrees about 20 min.

**The toppings that I used are as follows:
Half a can of tomato sauce
Italian Seasoning Sprinkled on sauce or on top of pizza
Canned Pineapple
Canadian Bacon
Canned Olives
Hamburger Meat
Mozzarella Cheese 

Today Is the Day

Hello Everyone!!
Today is the first day that I start my Food Blog. On this blog I hope to use and try recipes from my families. I will also find new recipes to cook for my dear family and friends! I hope that you enjoy reading the cooking family traditions that I will create as well as try out the recipes that I post. Please enjoy and feel free to comment if you have any suggestions or comments about the food. :)
I will also be posting some webisodes of things I cook.