Pumpkin Pie

*from Libby's pumpkin pie filling can, and also available on allrecipes.com


1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 eggs
1 (15 ounce) can LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 (12 fluid ounce) can NESTLE® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Combine sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs lightly in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie shell.
Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F.; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. (Do not freeze as this will cause the crust to separate from the filling.)


My take: Love this recipe. So easy, and it's just classic pumpkin pie. So if you love pumpkin pie, you'll love this. Definitely a repeater. I most recently made it for our Christmas meal (picture above), and made a few leaf crust cut-outs to cover my knife pokes in the pie. :)

Pumpkin Roll

*From Libby's, found on allrecipes.com


Ingredients

1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar (optional)

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle towel with powdered sugar.
COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.
BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.
BEAT cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

My take: This recipe turned out well and was pretty yummy, but was very rich. I made this around Christmas time, an we had lots of other treats in the house, too. So...I don't even think we ended up finishing this. It was just so rich with all the cream cheese filling, so not my favorite. I might repeat this one, but it won't be at the top of my baking to-do list.

Chicken with Lemon-Leek Linguine

*From Cooking light Oct 2010 issue*

Chicken with Lemon-Leek Linguine

6 oz uncooked linguine
4 (6-oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 t. salt, divided
1/4 t. black pepper
1/4 C. flour
3 T. butter, divided
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 leek, trimmed, cut in half lengthwise, and thinly sliced (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 C. fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
2 T. fresh lemon juice
2 T. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain; keep warm.

2. Place chicken between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to an even thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 t. salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish; dredge chicken in flour, shaking to remove excess.

3. Heat 1 T. butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

4. Melt 1 T. butter in skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, leek, and remaining 1/4 t. salt; saute 4 minutes. Add broth and juice; cook 2 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half. Remove from heat; stir in remaining 1 T. butter. Add pasta to leek mixture; toss well to combine. Serve chicken over pasta mixture; sprinkle with parsley.

My take: So very good. And very healthy, too. We both really liked this meal. One important shortcut: I just bought the chicken filets (I think that's what they're called?) Basically they're already pounded flat for you, which I love. I'd never used leeks before, so I felt all cool cooking with something new. And I even got to reference my "Martha Stewart's Cooking School" book to learn how to cut up a leek. And I really liked the leek flavor. This recipe will definitely be a repeater.

Fall Vegetable Curry with Cashew Basmati Rice

*From Cooking Light Oct 2010 issue*

Fall Vegetable Curry

1 1/2 t. olive oil

1 cup diced peeled sweet potato

1 C. small caulifower florests

1/4 C. thinly sliced yellow onion

2 t. Madreas curry powder

1/2 C. organic vegetable broth

1/4 t. salt

1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 (14.5 oz) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained

2 T. chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 C. plain 2 % reduced-fat Greek yogurt

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sweet potato to pan; saute 3 minutes. Decrease heat to medium. Add cauliflower, onion, and curry powder; cook 1 minute, stirring mixture constantly. Add broth and next 3 ingredients (through tomatoes); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with cliantro; serve with yogurt.

Cashew Basmati Rice

Cook 1 C. basmati rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Stir in 1/4 C. unsalted cahew pieces and 1/4 t. salt.

My take: Jack loved this. It's such a healthy meal. It tasted pretty good, too, but I think a big draw is the health factor. And I have to mention that somehow cooking this made it difficult to breathe in our apartment. We kept coughing! I think it was from the spiciness of it. But it didn't seem crazy spicy when eating it. Spicy, yes, but not out of control. And the cashew basmati rice - awesome. I think this will be a repeat recipe, but we'll have to open our windows next time. :)

Michelle's Soft Sugar Cookies

*From allrecipes.com*

Michelle's Soft Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt


Directions

1.Cream the margarine and add the sugar gradually. Beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition.

2.Stir in the vanilla. Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt gradually to the creamed mixture, stirring in by hand. Cover and chill dough overnight.

3.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

4.Roll dough out on a floured surface to 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick and cut into your favorite shapes. Place cookies onto the prepared baking sheets.

5.Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 6 to 8 minutes or until cookie has a golden appearance.


My take: I've made sugar cookies in the past but never liked how they came out. Never soft enough. And I've never been a huge sugar cookie fan. I've always thought sugar cookie dough is better than the actual cookies. :) But I like making sugar cookies around the holidays because you get to do all the fun holiday shapes and decorate them. And in recent years I've had some great bakery sugar cookies (i.e. Smart Cookie - so good!) so I wanted to make some sugar cookies that I actually liked. And these passed the test. I'd like to try them again with a different frosting. This time I just used a simple icing recipe from my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook, but sometime I'd like to try a good cream cheese frosting. Yum. Anyways, this will now be my go-to sugar cookie recipe. Very good.

Panko Mozzarella Sticks

*From thepioneerwoman.com*

Panko Mozzarella Sticks

Ingredients
•16 pieces String Cheese, Removed From Wrappers
•½ cups All-purpose Flour
•2 whole Eggs
•3 Tablespoons Milk
•2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs (I Used Kikkomans)
•1 Tablespoon Dried Parsley Flakes
•Canola Oil, For Frying
•Marinara Sauce, For Dipping


Preparation Instructions

Slice string cheese pieces in half, for a total of 32 pieces.

Place flour in a small bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and milk.

In another separate bowl, combine panko bread crumbs with parsley flakes.

TO ASSEMBLE: One by one, roll mozzarella sticks in flour, then dunk in egg/milk mixture, then place in panko crumbs. Use your hand to sweep crumbs all over the mozzarella stick. Gently remove and place on a tray or cookie sheet. Repeat until all mozzarella sticks are coated.

***Place tray in freezer for 20 to 30 minutes to flash freeze.***

TO COOK: Heat 1 1/2 inches canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add mozzarella sticks 8 at a time. Watch closely and turn over to evenly brown, cooking less than 2 minutes. Do not allow cheese to bubble and leak.

Remove to a paper towel-lined plate.

Serve immediately with warm marinara sauce.

My take: I love mozzarella cheese sticks, so how can you go wrong with this? These were fairly easy, although I hate cooking with hot oil because it pops all over the place. But the cheese sticks were great, and I'd definitely make them again.