Painted Pumpkins

I'm having so much fun painting pumpkins!

I'm on the fence with the blue one right now, just trying to decide if I want to add a little turquoise to my fall decor, but either way it's tons of fun. I love the shiny black spray paint. I found it at Walmart for a mere 99 cents! It really looks spooky. The pumpkin warts are kind of fun too. It took 2-3 coats with about 10 minutes in between each coat to get a nice opaque look. I had to eye ball the stripes with some cheap acrylic paint and a paint brush. I tried taping it off with painter's tape, but it stripped the pumpkin of it's white base coat.

For an Easy Peasy Zipper Free Pillowcase how to CLICK HERE

Home Fries

So these may not be the best for you, but they are delicious. You can cut your potatoes into cubes or whatever works for you. My kids beg me to cut them into fry shapes, so I do my best. We like ours with just salt and pepper, but you can get as adventurous as you want with sauces and seasonings.

All you need:

Potatoes (we used 12 for a family of 6)
Pure Canola Oil (fill your pan so that there is a 1/2 of an inch of oil in the pan
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut your potatoes into cubes or fry shapes. Too big and they take too long to cook, too small and they get very dry. Whether they are cubes or sticked I shoot for about 1/2 an inch wide.

Start by heating your oil up. I fry my potatoes on just above medium heat. It is important to get the oil sufficiently hot otherwise you will end up with really greasy potatoes. If it isn't hot enough the potatoes will absorb the oil all the way through and you will end up with a greasy mushy mess! When the oil is sufficiently hot it crisps the exterior and keeps the fries from absorbing to much of the grease. It should bubble and pop when you put the potatoes in the oil. If not, you haven't got your oil hot enough.

Once your oil has heated up, give it about 5 min, place your potatoes in the oil. You don't want any over crowding, so put a modest amount in. Overcrowding also ends up in mushy potatoes that don't have a crispy exterior. Turn them every minute or so until they are a golden delicious brown. You will find that your first batch takes a bit longer than the subsequent batches.

When your home fries have reached a golden brown complexion use a slotted tool to remove them onto a plate with a couple of napkins to absorb the excess grease.

Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immidiatley with your favorite sauces.

Truly Scrumptious!

Truly Scrumptious, These rolls are Truly Scrumptious!

When I was 13 we had a lady in our ward who taught early morning seminary in her home. She used to make cinnamon rolls on Fridays for all the kids. Her cinnamon rolls were legendary. I never got to go to her seminary class because they changed teachers the year I turned 14. I felt totally gypped! But I did get to have her cinnamon rolls once at a Christmas party. My whole adult life I have been trying to replicate those legendary cinnamon rolls. After lots of experimenting I have finally found a recipe that I think measures up! Anything less was an utter disappointment! Here it goes.

Ingredients
Dough:

2 1/4-ounce package yeast
1 cup warm water
1 cup scalded milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup shortening
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
7 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

1 cup melted butter, plus more for pan
1 1/2 cup sugar, plus more for pan
4 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Frosting:
1 1/2 stick of melted butter
1 package of cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
3-4 Tbs of cream or half and half (add until you have the consistency you want)
7 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl mix milk, sugar, melted butter, shortening, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Coat the bottom of baking pans with butter and sprinkle with sugar.

When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 30 by 9-inch rectangle. Mix sugar and cinnamon. I like to sprinkle a little bit of my cinnamon and sugar mixture around the edges of the dough to keep the butter from spilling off. Spread melted butter all over dough and sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon and sugar over the buttered dough. Role hotdog style and pinch edges together to seal. Cut into 1 1/2 inch slices.

Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until the dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Mix the melted butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and almond extract together until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar and mix until well incorporated. Add Cream or half and half until the frosting is the desired consistency. I like mine to be a little drippy.

Frost Cinnamon rolls as soon as the come out of the oven allowing the frosting to melt and drip all over the cinnamon rolls.

Enjoy. I know you will!

Ravioli Soup

I'd never tried ravioli soup until just this last year, it's now one of my favorites!

Ingredients:

3 TBS butter

1/2 a large onion

1 shallot

1 stalk of chopped celery

1 chopped red bell pepper

1 zucchini chopped

2 cloves of minced garlic

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 28 ounce cans of crushed tomatoes

3 cups of vegetable stock

1 Cup of hot water

chopped fresh basil

1 tsp of oregano flakes

1 Cup of cream

24 ounces of frozen raviolis

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute your onions and shallot in the butter until they are yellow and translucent.

2. Add in celery, bell pepper, zucchini, and garlic and toss for two minutes.

3. Add in tomatoes, stock, water, pepper flakes, basil, and oregano. 

4. Simmer for 1 hour and then blend on high for 2 min. Place soup base back into the pot.

5. Cook the raviolis according to manufacturer's instructions separately just before serving.

6. Add the cream to the tomato base, stir in completely and add in the raviolis. 

7. Salt and pepper to taste.

8. Serve and garnish with a bit of chopped basil. 

This soup is great with a crusty loaf of bread to sop up the tomato base. This is the best bread ever! Click here for a great tutorial!

Panna Cotta

This is a delicious fail proof recipe for an Italian Heavy Cream Custard, Panna Cotta

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup confectioner's sugar
2 Cups heavy cream
1 Cup whole milk
1 1/4-ounce envelope gelatin plus 1 tsp

1. Put the sugar, cream, and milk in a saucepan, turn the heat on to medium high, and stir steadily.
2. Remove the pan from heat just as its contents begin to bubble, but before they boil. While stirring, drizzle in all the gelatin. Continue to stir for 5 minutes, then empty the pan into a bowl. Stir occasionally while the mixture cools.
3. When cold, pour the mixture through a fine sieve into the ramekins and place them in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours, or even better, overnight. 
4. When ready to serve, bring water to a simmer in a small skillet. Loosen the custard from the sides of the ramekin using a knife blade. Put the ramekin bottom down in the skillet for 1 or 2 seconds, then turn it over onto an individual serving plate, shake to unmold the custard, and serve with your favorite berries.

Oh WOW!

Oh Wow! This really is the best Banana Bread ever! Just look at the way the sugar crystallized on the "crust" This recipe is a function of a little guesswork, and not quite having all of the right ingredients. It makes 1 regular sized loaf of banana bread. If you want to double the recipe use 3 eggs instead of 4

Ingredients:

2 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
6 TBS butter at room temperature
1 1/2 C white sugar
2 eggs
3 very ripe bananas
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
2. Mix 2 TBS sugar with 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Grease your loaf pan with butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
3. Mash bananas with a fork and beat with butter, sugar, and eggs for 1 min on medium speed.
4. Add in sour cream, buttermilk, extracts, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Beat at medium for 2 minutes.
5. Mix in flour until fully encorporated. Scrape down the sides and mix again.
6. Fill your loaf pan 2/3 full. 
6. Bake for 1 hr and 25 min to an hour and 30 min, or until it is a golden brown and a toothpick fully inserted comes out clean.

I was able to get 1 large loaf and one mini loaf out of the batter, although I only cooked the mini loaf for 55 min.

I wrapped each loaf with plastic wrap and then added some ribbon and tags.