5 Spice Pumpkindoodles

I bought Chinese 5-spice this week and discovered that it goes beautifully with pumpkin. I've always wanted to try pumpkin cookies, so I took this opportunity and used my homemade 5-spice pumpkin butter and made snickerdoodles with it. YUM! The warm spicy mix is perfect on sugar cookies warm from the oven...

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup pumpkin butter (see recipe HERE)
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
4 tsp Chinese 5-spice
Heat oven to 400.
Mix butter, shortening, sugar, and eggs thoroughly. Blend flour, cream of tartar, salt, and soda. Stir into butter mixture. Mix well. Shape dough into 1” balls and roll in 5-spice sugar (1/4 cup sugar and 4 tsp 5-spice mixed together).

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes

Ginger Blondies

I have enjoyed blondies (aka Butterscotch Brownies) since I was a kid. But in order to make them taste a bit more like Fall, this time I made them with dark brown sugar and crystallized ginger. Perfection!

1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9” square baking pan.

Melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, egg, vanilla and almond extract. Mix in flour and salt. Fold in ginger pieces.

Spread into prepared pan. Bake 20 minutes or until set and golden brown.

Cool on wire rack.

Grape Juice

If you have a lot of grapes, you gotta get hold of a steamer/juicer. A friend gave me a bunch of grapes today and loaned me hers. It is a super fun toy! My youngest son calls it the "still." LOL

It's so simple to do...

1. Fill the base 3/4 full of water. Place on stove.

2. Place the next part (I don't know what to call it???) on top of the base...

3. Place the steamer basket inside the last part and fill it full of washed grapes. Don't worry about taking them off the stems. Just get rid of any yucky ones, sticks and leaves.

4. Then place the hose where it belongs (making sure it is on all the way). Place the other end of the hose into a large pot on a chair next to the stove.

I started with this chair but realized it was too high

5. Turn the stove onto high heat until the water comes to a hard boil. Then turn down to medium-high heat to keep it at a good steam.

Wait until the juice stops flowing into the pot. You may have to fiddle with the hose to get it to flow. It took me about 30 minutes or so to get a full batch of juice.

6. Then remove the lid and the steamer basket very carefully. I put it on a baking tray next to the steamer on the stovetop. Empty out the pulp into a large bowl. You can dump it out or save it for your compost pile. Then refill the base with water and start the process again.

7. When all the grapes have been juiced. Put 1-2 cups of sugar per gallon into your juice. Then heat it to 190 for 10 minutes. Do not boil.

8. Pour into hot sterilized jars (pints or quarts) leaving 1/4" headspace. Place on lids and bands until finger tight. Process in boiling water canner for 20 minutes.

Turn canner off and let rest 5 minutes before removing.

9. Check seals after about 24 hours. Place any unsealed jars in the fridge and use right away. Place the rest on the shelf to be used with 12 months.

Overnight Oats

This is a quick, easy breakfast that has almost endless possibilities: pumpkin butter, jams, fresh fruits, curd...

pumpkin butter

blueberry lemon curd

chocolate banana

strawberry jam

Just follow this simple formula for whatever you choose.

Mix equal parts of oats, yogurt, and milk. Stir in whatever add-ins you want and 1 teaspoon of chia seeds.

Cover in small jar or bowl and refrigerate overnight.