Basic Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

It's that time of year for all things pumpkin! Now is the time to break out all those recipes you've been wanting to try with pumpkin as the star ingredient.  Carving pumpkins has been on everyone's list this week whether you have kids or not.  What's more fun then showing off your artistic abilities and then illuminating them with fire!  You just can't get away with that any other time of year.  It's a shame isn't it? Well don't throw those pumpkin seeds away, they make a mighty tasty snack.

Basic Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

• Pumpkin seeds, washed and dried
• salt (or whatever seasonings you like)
• 2 tsp butter

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Melt the butter and pour over the seeds.  Coat them completely. 
3. Spread the seeds out in and even layer (no overlapping) on a cookie sheet covered in tin foil. 
4. Sprinkle with salt. 
5. Bake until the seeds are golden brown.  Let cool slightly before eating. 

Witch's Hat's

Are you looking for a quick and easy snack for the kids or for a work treat? Here's one!  Found on Pinterest of course.  So simple and the kids loved them.  

These are great for kids to help you with.  Just apply the frosting to the bottom of a Hershey's Kiss and then let them place it in the center of the cookie!

Witch's Hat's

Ingredients

• 1 package fudge striped shortbread cookies
• 1 package hershey's kisses
• 1 tube orange frosting

Cooking Directions

1. Turn all of the cookies upside down so the stripe side is on the bottom.
2. line the bottom of a Hershey's Kiss with a ring of orange frosting and place frosting side down in the middle of the cookie. Press down slightly so the frosting pokes out from under the kiss.
3. Let dry before stacking.

Spicy Sausage, Chicken and Bean Pot

This little stew has by dad's name written all over it.  Three meats and lots of spice.  I'm sort of a spice wuss but I decided to give this a try anyway.  I really liked how flavorful it was and it hardly took any time to make.  It was definitely spicy and when I make it again I'll probably tone that down a bit by using a sweet Italian sausage instead but other than that it was exactly what I was looking for. 

I used chicken breasts because that's what I had on hand but next time I'd like to try the thighs as originally called for. The broth in this has such a great flavor and I loved the beans.  I might even add more beans next time.

Perfect cold weather meal here, give it a try!

Spicy Sausage, Chicken and Bean Pot
Modified slightly from Everyday with Rachael Ray September 2007

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 pound bulk hot Italian sausage
• 3/4 pound andouille sausage, cut on an angle into 1-inch lengths
• 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs cut into thirds
• salt and pepper
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 3 to 4 ribs celery, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 2 - 15.5 ounce cans cannellini beans
• 1 - 15.5 ounce can chicken broth
• 5 to 6 sprigs sage, leaves cut into thin strips and stems discarded

Cooking Directions

1. Use a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Crumble the Italian sausage and brown lightly, about 3 minutes. Add the andouille and cook until crisp on the edges, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Drain on a paper towel lined plate.
4. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to the pot. Cook until browned on both sides. About 2 minutes per side.
5. Add the onion, celery, carrots and bay leaf, season with salt and pepper and cook until softened, about 7-8 minutes.
6. Add the wine and simmer until nearly dry, about 5 minutes.
7. Return the sausages to the pot and add the cannellini beans, chicken broth and sage then cook until heated.

**The original recipe had a bread crumb topping, here is the recipe for that**

• 1/2 baguette
• 3 Tbsp butter, melted
• Flat leaf parsley, chopped (a generous handful)
• 3 to 4 sprigs thyme, leaves chopped and stems discarded

1. Preheat the broiler. 
2. Use a food processor to coarsely chop the baguette.  Toss the bread with the melted butter, parsley and thyme. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Scatter the bread mixture over the sausage and chicken and broil until browned. 2 to 3 minutes. 

Gramma's Hobo Dinners

I'm always hesitant to post one of my gramma's recipes.  I don't know if I'm weird that way or if you can relate to that, but I wouldn't want to publish some "top secret" recipe and get busted by my relatives so I try to keep the family recipes down to a minimum if possible.  This recipe seemed pretty safe since it was already published in the cookbook you see below.

The cookbook is from the Brisbin Women's Club and the cover of this awesome cookbook was painted by a local artist Cheryl DePuy Murray.  Isn't it beautiful?  My gramma gave me this cookbook in 1998 and I've cooked so many recipes out of it that many pages are stained and that's one thing I love about it.  This is one of those treasures from my gramma and my hometown that I will cherish and then hand down to my daughter.

As you can see from the picture above, I already veered off the recipe and didn't cook the hamburger first.  Gramma's instructions clearly indicate you should form a patty, season and then brown.  I didn't.  Sorry gramma. 

Top each burger with onion rings.

Add some carrot

Next comes the potato (you can do this in whatever order you like, it makes no difference).

Top each patty with some butter, salt and pepper

Now wrap each packet up tightly in the tin foil so no juice can escape.

Bake and enjoy.

This little packet of goodness makes your house smell so good.  It's basically a really quick way to give everyone their very own pot roasts.  You can mix up the ingredients as much as you want and create your own favorites!

Gramma's Hobo Dinner

Marge Frelich

Ingredients

• 1 pound hamburger
• 1 large onion, sliced into thick slices
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and quartered
• 1 can mushrooms, drained (or fresh)
• 1 Tbsp butter
• salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Directions

1. Cut four tin foil pieces into 1 foot squares.
2. Patty the hamburger into 4 equal sized pieces. Season with salt and pepper. My gramma's recipe says to brown the burger on each side before adding it to the tin foil square but I forgot to do that.
3. Add equal onion slices to each patty, add 2 potato pieces, 2 carrot pieces, mushrooms and salt and pepper to each tin foil square on top of the hamburger.
4. Top each square with a piece of butter and fold the tin foil into a tight packet so no juices can escape.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for one hour or until the potato is done. One hour was perfect when I cooked mine.

Betty Crocker's Apple Pie

Apple pie is one of those dishes that I think pretty much everyone can get behind.  I've been eating apples like crazy lately because, well it's the season for them and there are ton's of local apples available.  I made this pie out of some Winesap apples that I had never tried before but were excellent. I made some pumpkin apple bread from them too, which I already posted about here. My neighbor brought me some apples he picked in the mountains near us call Pink Lady and they were also delicious.  Granny Smith are traditional apple pie apples but since there are so many out there and it is the season for them, why not try something new? 

Make (or buy) enough crust for two pies. 

Cut the apples thinly and mix them with the flour/sugar mixture.

Pile up into the prepared crust and begin working on the second crust.

As you can see, my dough was too soft and therefore my lattice top looks pretty pathetic but you get the idea.

Even with my messed up lattice crust this pie cooked up amazing.  Lots of flavor from the cinnamon and nutmeg but not overpowering the apple flavor.  The sticky sauce that was created from the flour and sugar mixture also held this pie together nicely when cutting.  I cut this pie when it was still warm and you can see that it stayed in one nice piece.

Now's the time to make a nice fresh apple pie, don't you think? 

Betty Crocker's Apple Pie

"Betty Crocker's New Cookbook" 1996 edition

Ingredients

• 1/2 to 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• dash salt
• 8 cups thinly sliced, peeled tart apples
• 2 Tbsp stick butter or margarine

Cooking Directions

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees
2. Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Thinly slice 8 cups of a tart apple such as granny smith; I used Winesap. This would be about 8 medium sized apples.
4. Pour the sugar mixture over the top of the sliced apples and coat evenly.
5. Place one of your prepared costs on the bottom of a pie dish, leaving a little overlap around the edges. Pour the apples on top of the bottom crust. Dot the butter over the apples. Cover the apples with the other pie crust and cut slits on the top to let steam escape.
6. Flute the edges of the pie crust and then cover the edges with some tin foil so they do not get over brown while baking.
7. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned. Remove the tin foil edging about 15 minutes prior to the finished baking time.

Dinner Club - Theme: Fall Foods

Big thank you to TiNeill for hosting our October Dinner Club.  I missed attending our September Dinner Club because I was sick so I'll thank Lisa for hosting that one as well.  I have no post for September however.  October dinner club was just a small group of us compared to some of the previous get-togethers because October is always super busy for everyone.  I loved the theme "Fall Foods".  We were instructed to either bring foods that had the Fall theme such as pumpkin, cranberry, apple and so on, or Halloween scary stuff.   Since TiNeill was this months host she made a delicious White Chicken Chili that you see above.  She also made a yummy Pumpkin Praline dessert that you see below.

Arriving at TiNeill's house was as it always is, which means her house is spotless and festive.  I really don't know how she manages to keep her house looking so good with a husband, two kids and a dog.  I aspire to be like that one day. Today is not that day though.

Crockpot Chicken Chili

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 tsp minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
• 2 cans white beans
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 pkg ranch dressing mix, powder
• 1 cup sour cream (I used light)
• 1/2 cup whipping cream

Cooking Directions

1. Drain and rinse beans thoroughly and toss them in the crockpot. Add everything else except the sour cream and whipping cream. Stir a little bit and cook on low for 7-10 hours.
2. Shred the chicken a little bit with two forks (this should be super easy - the chicken will be falling apart by this point). Stir in the sour cream and then the cream. Let sit for another 15 minutes or so to warm through. Serve.

Pecan Pumpkin Dessert

Ingredients

• 2 cans (15 oz) each solid pack pumpkin
• 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 pkg (18 1/4 oz) yellow cake mix
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
• 1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 carton (12 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed

Cooking Directions

1. Line a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan with waxed paper and coat the paper with cooking spray; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, milk and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with cake mix and drizzle with butter. Sprinkle with pecans.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Invert onto a large serving platter; carefully remove waxed paper. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Frost dessert. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 16 servings.

Melissa Y brought some delicious Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars.  Seriously a must try if you're a cheesecake lover.  This one was found off of Pinterest. 

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

Cheesecake Filling

• 3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cups + 2 Tbsp sugar, divided
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Apples

• 3 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping

• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup caramel topping

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender (or 2 forks) until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 9x13 baking pan lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
3. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 3/4 cup sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Then add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour over warm crust.
4. In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture.
5. For the streusel topping:
6. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. I like to really combine it by using my clean hands to thoroughly combine the butter into the mixture.
7. Sprinkle Streusel topping over apples. Bake 40-45 minutes, or until filling is set. Drizzle with caramel topping and let cool. Serve cold and enjoy! Makes 16 servings.

Lisa F was in attendance as well and she brought Macaroni and Cheese and Apple Cider.  I didn't photograph the Macaroni and Cheese because the recipe is top secret and I couldn't post it anyway.  She could have told me but then she would have had to kill me (name that movie). I just wanted to tell Lisa that it was cooked perfectly. ;)

I bought this cranberry salad and thought it was very good.  It reminded me of a salad that both TiNeill and I used to have growing up that was green and had crushed pineapple and mini marshmallows too.  Can't remember what it was called but man it was good.  I really liked this salad and in many of the reviews that I read for it people were using this to replace the regular cranberry sauce they usually served with Thanksgiving dinner.  Not a bad idea!  

Fresh Cranberry Salad

modified slightly from Allrecipes

Ingredients

• 1 pound bag cranberries
• 2 cups sugar (I used slightly less)
• 8 ounces miniature marshmallows
• 1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple with juice
• 1 1/2 cups red grapes, halved
• 1 cup whipped cream, unsweetened

Cooking Directions

1. The day before the dish is needed - place the fresh cranberries in a food processor or a blender and coarsely chop. pour in the granulated sugar and put in an airtight container overnight.
2. In a large bowl about 30 minutes before you plan to serve it place the chopped cranberry and sugar mixture and mix in the pineapple, marshmallows and red grape halves.
3. Right before you are ready to serve, fold in the unsweetened whipped cream.

Frontier Burger

It's grill season again in the South.  Isn't it funny how everywhere else in America it's grill season in the summer but it's too hot here, so I break out the grill in the Fall.  I pretty much just hide in the house or at the pool for the summer months around here.  Growing up in Montana made me less able to stay cool when it's hot....or maybe it had nothing to do with growing up on Montana.  I like to tell people that story, they always agree with me. Heeheehee

Either way, October is my month!  Regardless of where I'm at I always feel like I am at my most ambitious in October.  It doesn't hurt that it's followed by all the most awesome holiday's.  I like to break out paint and do projects.  It also explains why my daughter's middle name is Autumn. :)

I've been making this burger with all different types of ground meat and sometimes even mixing the meats for years.  It's basically like a meatloaf in burger form.  This is really more of a method then a recipe so feel free to change it up. 

I feel like the A1 sauce is essential in these burgers.  It just adds a tanginess that can't be duplicated.

I recently made a pretty spectacular dipping sauce that would be heaven on one of these burgers.  I promise to post about that very soon.

Frontier Burger

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef or turkey (or any ground meat or a mixture of several)
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1 Tbsp A1 sauce
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs *only if using a lean meat*
• 1/3 cup grated cheese of your choice, I use sharp cheddar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• Optional red pepper flakes, Tabasco sauce

Cooking Directions

1. In a medium bowl add all of the ingredients.
2. Use your hands or a sturdy wood spoon to mix all of the ingredients together.
3. Divide the meat mixture into 4 even amounts and patty.
4. Cook over medium heat in a skillet or griddle for about 5 minutes on each side.
5. Top with cheese during the last 3 minutes of cooking on the second side.