Pumpkin Pie Butter

No, it isn’t made of pumpkin pie… But it does have pumpkin pie spice in it and is yummy enough to eat from a spoon!

First you need to make pumpkin puree (you can try this method HERE)

3 cups pumpkin puree

1/4 cup apple cider

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (my recipe HERE)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tablespoon orange juice

Combine pumpkin, cider, sugars, and spice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered, still stirring often, until it reduces down and gets thick. You can make it as thin or thick as you want.

Remove from heat and stir in extract and orange juice.

Let cool in fridge. Pour into jars or freezer containers. Store in fridge for up to 3 weeks or in freezer up to a year.

Spiced Cookie Butter

I hadn’t ever heard of cookie butter before, until I saw a recipe for it on-line. But now that I have discovered it and realized I can make it myself, I may have opened a Pandora’s box that I was not prepared for. This stuff is pure evil in a jar! And it is sitting right in my fridge, beckoning me every time I walk by. And I can’t eat just one spoonful! It wouldn’t be so bad if I wasn’t already thinking about what flavor to try next… AHHHHH!!!

6.75 oz of any flavor of plain crispy cookies (I used some plain tea biscuits and some ginger snaps)

4 Tablespoons powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (you could use any spice you like or none at all)

1/4 cup oil (coconut, sweet almond, rice bran…) *I used coconut but it turned into a rock in the fridge. The rice bran was better and I think almond would be nice, too.

3-4 Tablespoons cold water

Place cookies into food processor and pulse until they turn into fine crumbs.

Add sugars, spices and vanilla and pulse until well mixed.

Slowly pour in the oil and mix until well combined.

Then slowly add water (you may not need it all) and pulse until it is sticky but not too thin or wet.

 

   At this point is was still too gritty for me and I wanted my butter to have a smoother texture. So I kept pulsing until the butter was glossy and smooth.

Place in a jar or other airtight container and store in fridge.

You may want to take it out and bring to room temperature before eating. Or if you’re like me, you can just take a spoonful right out of the jar in the fridge every time you walk by… ;o)

Maple Pumpkin Butter

I decided to tackle the pile of pumpkins sitting on the hot tub today!

First step was to get them all baked and pureed. Super easy using this oven method!

Before I knew it, I had 25 cups of pumpkin! Fifteen cups went into the freezer and the other 10 got made into pumpkin butter. I’d never made it before, but from the recipes I saw on-line it didn’t seem too difficult. So, I made it up as I went along and am pretty darn pleased with the results!

spiced bourbon orange, pumpkin pie & maple

My mind is reeling with all kinds of ideas to do with them! If they work, I’ll post them here. But first, the Maple Pumpkin Butter recipe:

3 cups pumpkin puree (see recipe HERE)

1/4 cup apple cider (I used our homemade cider)

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 Tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon maple extract

pinch salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine pumpkin, cider, sugar and syrup in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered, still stirring often, until it reduces down and gets thick. You can make it as thin or thick as you want.

Remove from heat and stir in extracts,, salt and lemon juice.

Let cool in fridge. Pour into jars or freezer containers. Store in fridge for up to 3 weeks or in freezer up to a year.

Applesauce Muffins

Made these muffins for supper tonight. I confess they aren’t the best muffins I’ve ever had or even the best muffins I’ve ever made. But they were quick, easy, moist and could have any number of tasty variations that I will be trying in the future. So, here’s the recipe: mostly for my own reference, but feel free to try them yourself…

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup applesauce

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cloves

Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg, vanilla and applesauce. Mix well. Add dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.

Spoon into greased or papered muffin tins. Makes about 15 muffins.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until pick comes out clean.

Variations:

*apple cider glaze on top

* stir in chopped fresh apple, dried cranberries, raisins, chopped nuts

*top with streusel topping 

Chorizo Sausage

With the ground pork in my freezer, I am trying some sausage recipes on a smaller scale to see what I think. This one wasn’t my favorite, but I want to remember how I did it. On the other hand, it made a KILLER chili last night for supper!

2 pounds ground pork

1 1/2 Tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon each: oregano & cumin

1/4 teaspoon fennel seed

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/2 Tablespoon each: onion powder & pepper

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

Mix together well by hand or in a stand mixer. Freeze or use within 2 days.

Bacon Jalapeno Biscuits

I needed something to go along with the pot of chorizo chili for supper and had just chopped up the last of the jalapenos from the garden. So here is the result…

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup shortening or lard

1/4 cup crumbled bacon

2 Tablespoons minced fresh jalapeno

1/2 cup shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese

1 cup milk

Mix together dry ingredients. Cut in shortening or lard with a pastry cutter. Stir in bacon, jalapenos and cheese. Add milk and stir until just combined.

Drop onto greased baking sheet and bake at 450 for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve hot with butter.

Green Bean & Mizithra Carbonara

This is what you make when you don’t have peas or parmesan cheese but do have plenty of pasta and eggs… not to mention green beans and mizithra cheese. Turned out pretty tasty!

4 room temperature eggs

1/4 cup heavy cream

Whisk together and set aside.

1/4 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic

1/2 pound diced bacon

Sauté bacon in frying pan until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels. Pour off remaining grease. Sauté garlic and onion until tender.

1 pound pasta

2 cups fresh green beans

Cook pasta and beans in the same pot until tender.Drain.

1/4 cup butter

While pasta/beans is cooking, place butter in glass 9x13 baking dish. Put in the oven at 350 until butter melts.

As soon as pasta is drained, place in pan with butter and bacon mixture. Toss well. Slowly pour eggs & cream over pasta while stirring. The egg will cook with the hot pan and pasta.

3/4 to 1 cup grated mizithra cheese

salt & pepper, to taste

Toss with pasta and serve immediately.